April 19, 2025
An incredible week in London discussing all things Finance Transformation was rounded off at Old Trafford on Thursday night as Manchester United gave us their most memorable comeback since 1999! It started off early Monday morning with a CFO Breakfast Briefing on 'Selecting Finance Transformation Leaders'.
A 40 minute Presentation over coffee and croissants finished with some very insightful questions. Firstly, whether I would actually recommend a Career in Finance Transformation?
After 25 years engaged in Transforming Finance either as Project Manager, Consultant or Finance Transformation Leader I have encountered the rough and the smooth. The Finance Transformation Jobs Market can be challenging but this is in large part due to the quality of candidates rather than a dearth of opportunities.
It is fair to say that there isn't a recognised 'Finance Transformation' Career Path and many come to it via the Big 4 Management Consultancies. As they had a challenging year in 2024 the quality of Candidates on the Market rose and it made securing new Clients a challenge for all.
However, if you position yourself well and focus on your USP or indeed USP's, you will attract the right opportunities on a consistent basis. It is important to have a specialist focus which helps you stand out from the crowd and make sure you can demonstrate success in this area.
I like to focus on what I call A2A, which is Assessment to Assurance, whereby I can help start you on the right track with a proven Business Case and a robust Finance Transformation Roadmap or I can Turnaround your existing Finance Transformation Program.
In summary I said yes I would recommend a Career in Finance Transformation you just need to find the right path for you and sometimes the fact that this isn't a prescribed path will help you even more when delivering in challenging times.
Secondly, I was asked of all the attributes, experience and skills that I had discussed in my Presentation what did I value the most?
For me this is always the ability to think and act under pressure. My Peers may disagree but I believe you can manage anything with management acumen and I value decision making under pressure as the most crucial. The ability to create time and space is not just the preserve of legendary centre midfielders. Never be rushed into your decisions.
Thirdly, as a Career in Finance Transformation can be quite a broad Church I was asked what particular Finance Transformation Role I liked the most?
This varied as I advanced through my Career and grew in experience. My preference is always to turn Vision into Reality. As we approach Go Live, the senses heighten and the adrenaline flows. Leave me anywhere near a Finance Transformation Implementation and I will naturally take over.
As my career expanded and I learned more from all the great people I met I would say that the Business Development Cycle of a Consulting Project fascinates me. How to appeal to potential Clients like the CFO's sat in front of me is something I never tire thinking of.
We then settled into a rapid fire round as 3 very experienced CFO's took over and said they had 10 minutes left and they wanted to know, in less than one sentence:
Turning the Status Quo on its head and challenging convention until BAU is Best In Class
For most Businesses it is the elimination of a paper Invoice, sad but true.
Switched on Finance Teams hungry to be better than they were yesterday, everyday!
The People, your People, their People and our People. The Technology is always easy.
Tough one, but if I needed to go round the World for 6 months I'd leave Martin Kirby FCICM in charge. Ok, ok so that went over a sentence!
A Career in Finance Transformation is very rewarding on an intellectual level, the challenges you will face bring about all the growth you could imagine. Its constantly evolving and yet always stays the same. Interesting hey.
Best Regards,
PS I was just above Maguire when he scored, the Stand moved.