CFO Studio Magazine - CFO Innovation Award Winners

38 WWW.CFOSTUDIO.COM 2nd QUARTER 2015 Known as The Growth Strategist ® , Aldonna Ambler built and grew a suite of companies to help midsized B2B companies achieve accelerated growth with sustained profitability. A Certified Speaking Professional (CSP), Ambler has addressed over 2,000 audiences and hosted a syndicated online talk show about growth strategies for nine years. As a growth financing intermediary, Ambler raised over $1 billion for midsized companies. The winner of over two dozen prestigious national and statewide “entrepreneur of the year” awards, Ambler was inducted into the New Jersey Business Hall of Fame in April 2015. She is available to speak about “profitable resilient growth” and/or serve on the board of a growth-oriented B2B corporation (an NACD Board Leadership FELLOW). D avid Behrman recently spoke about transforming a legacy business. He’s the third-generation CEO of BehrmanHouse Publishing, which has been the primary provider of print educational material for Jewish supplementary schools since 1921. Behrman has clear memories of the family-owned book store, the printing presses, and the cost of free consulting being covered by the price of hardcover textbooks. Imagine where Behrman House would be today if its CEO couldn’t be optimistic, embrace digital technology, or face the challenge of reduced attention spans. Now, more than ever, entrepreneurial leaders must be optimistic. Optimism involves hopefulness and confidence about the future. Optimists tend to expect the best possible outcomes. Innovation becomes possible, which attracts bright employees and customers who crave new experiences. That does not mean that optimists are naïve or don’t expect to face some challenges along their way to success. On the contrary, being convinced that something great is possible has fueled Behrman’s willingness to stand up, not accept “no,” and keep going. The CFO’s Difficult Role The CFO who works with an optimistic CEO must be very resourceful. It’s typically the CFO who finds various financing options, and that permits the CEO to continue to be optimistic, stand up to challenges, and be creative. Often the CFO is expected to become the practical conscience of the company. Heart-to-heart CFO-to-CEO conversations include warnings about debt, equity, cash, and other risks. Behrman’s background and analytical mind led him to ask many of the same questions a CFO would ask. Behrman is exceptional. But in other situations, the optimism of a CEO can create additional tasks, challenges, and stress for his/her CFO, especially if the CEO’s optimism drifts into the realm of wishful thinking. There is a big difference. Instead of creating positive results, solving problems, and bringing out the best in others, a CEO with wishful thinking takes action based on hopes, makes projections based on guesses, and starts to rely on unsubstantiated information. Wishful thinking can lead a person to justify what he/she wants to believe is true. (Think about how many business growth plans were based on the housing bubble never bursting or subprime mortgages continuing.) When wishful thinking develops, the CFO gets shoved down the continuum toward skepticism and negativity. He/she is placed in the position of sounding alarms, guarding resources, and protecting people. Most readers of CFO Studio magazine undoubtedly know professional colleagues who have been placed in this difficult position. It’s unfortunate. Negativity, skepticism, and protective behavior can become habits. Remember, the behavior of a skeptical CFO can also push a CEO along the continuum from optimistic to wishful thinking. One of the most important attributes of a successful, growing company is the complementary partnership of an optimistic CEO and a practical CFO. It is clearly worth the effort to keep one another from drifting into wishful thinking or skepticism. C ALDONNA R. AMBLER CMC, CSP The Growth Strategist ® States of Mind Wishful thinking, optimism, practicality, and skepticism affect results in very real ways