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My first 90 days as CFO and what I learned early on · The Diary of a CFO

0:01
Hello and welcome back to Diary of the CFO. I'm
0:05
Waseya Kaman and I'm grateful that you are still
0:09
on that journey with me as a newly appointed
0:11
CFO, sharing the lesson I learned and also insights
0:15
from other leaders. Today I want to focus about
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what I did right and could have done better in
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my first 90 days as a CFO. Let's dive in. The
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first thing I did right was meeting with my executive
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coach and one of my mentors before they won as
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a CFO. So we're talking 90 days. Now I'm going
0:38
to talk about the things I did before even stepping
0:41
into the role. Janine K. Brown is my executive
0:45
coach and we started working together about a
0:48
year or so ago when I became VP of Finance and
0:52
Controller at LEF. And so when I met with her,
0:55
I was like, hey, I have this new role. What should
0:58
I do? And the main advice she gave, among so
1:02
many others, was make sure you start out asking
1:06
the tough questions to your team. She advised
1:09
me to ask questions like, when was the last time
1:11
you looked for another job? What could be three
1:14
things you see here at work that you would want
1:17
to change if you could? So starting out... meeting
1:21
with my team, meeting with them one -on -one,
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making sure that I had a good pulse on my team
1:27
because that is such a key element in being successful
1:31
at this level of my career. And I did. And he
1:34
helped me out so much. The other thing was, again,
1:38
meeting with Carol Norton. She is one of my mentors.
1:43
She was on the board of Liv and that's how we
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connected and she accepted to be my mentor about
1:48
a year or so ago and she's on my personal board
1:50
of directors. And so when I met with her, her
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advice was more around reflecting on what worked
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and did not work in my prior role. Thinking about
2:01
it, making decision before day one of what I
2:05
was not going to do again. and what I was going
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to do instead. So for example, setting boundaries,
2:13
not starting out working 80 hours a week, but
2:16
rather spending time where it should be. So if
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I had eight hours in my day, how was I going
2:24
to be affected productive? And if there were
2:26
things that I didn't need to do, they will be
2:29
dropped off my list or things that were essential
2:32
by somebody else would do, I would delegate.
2:34
That could be done, too, in my personal one -on
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-one. So I have one -on -one with myself at the
2:40
end of every day. And one advice she gave me
2:43
about a year ago was to journal about my leadership.
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So after I go through the day, reflect on what
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I did well, what I didn't do so well, and what
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I could do better as I will look into the next
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day. So if I'm in meetings, I spoke too much.
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Listen more, Waseea. If I wasn't clear, if I
3:02
was insecure or I failed imposter syndrome, like,
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what are those things that are really shaping
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me as a leader and reflect on them? And one of
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the things I did prior to day one that I decided
3:14
to do based on what Carol said was blocking my
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calendar. So my former CFO, Alef Panayotamahendru,
3:22
suggested when I started there to block your
3:24
calendar for lunch, block your calendar for focus
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time. And so that was something that worked well
3:28
for me at Liv that I was like, yes, I'm going
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to keep doing that and protect my time to be
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able to take breaks during the day, to think
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and to actually work. Because sometimes you have
3:37
so many meetings, you're like, when is it that
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I'm going to do what I said I was going to do
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in the meetings? Meeting with them ahead of time
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helped me be ready that way before day one, whether
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it was about having a list of questions I was
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going to ask my staff, my peers, my boss, but
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also being able to reflect on the good habits,
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the good thing I did before that I wanted to
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do again, all the things that I didn't do so
4:02
well that I needed to change moving forward.
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And I'm incredibly grateful for these women,
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Janine and Carol, for that, but it also got me
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thinking about executives. As a whole, I used
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to think that executive coaches and communities
4:16
were overrated. Oh my goodness, no. It takes
4:20
a village to be successful in this role. Because
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when you think about it, who will a C -suite
4:25
or a top executive open to? The employees? No.
4:29
They'll probably be scared and run away. The
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auditors, the lawyers? Heck no. Everything you
4:34
say will be held against you in the future. The
4:37
boss and peers? They're probably in the same
4:39
mess. So, you know, you're venting great, but
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we're going through a struggle as well. Whether
4:44
you have a spouse or a therapist, your spouse
4:47
may be tired of hearing that stuff. Or, you know,
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they may be giving you advice and it feels good
4:53
to have someone that listens to you, but you
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may not have the practical solutions that you
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need in your role. And that's where having an
5:01
executive coach, being part of the community
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is so helpful. I'm grateful that I started working
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with Janine before becoming a CFO. I'm grateful
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that I was part of the CFO Leadership Council,
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a great community before becoming a CFO and being
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able to have a circle of friends like my finance
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sisterhood that we formed a couple years ago
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with the AICPA at the AICPA Future of Finance
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event. And so being able to have a network that
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allows you to talk to and be yourself is super
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helpful because it is a lot during those first
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90 days. the more prospective advice you can
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get, the better off you'll be. And I'm grateful
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I did, and it's something that worked incredibly
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well. And that lead me to point number two, which
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was how I was ready when it came to one -on -one.
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So I met with Carol, I met with Janine, I had
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all these group of friends that were like, oh,
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don't forget to do this, don't forget to do that,
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definitely do this, and not that. I was able
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to meet one -on -one with my team before we actually
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met in person. So the first week, I had about
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30 minutes with each team member. Then we were
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able to have a lunch and an actual in -person
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meeting. I had a whole agenda. We started with
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an icebreaker. I shared with them what my vision
6:17
was, what I was expecting from them, what they
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should expect from me as well. Because the same
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level of care and education you have for your
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boss and peers, you should have for your team
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if you're a leader. If you're going to present
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a deck to your boss about something important,
6:30
present also a deck to your team about something
6:33
important. So you want to have the same level
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of care because at this stage, you are doing
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your work through people. There's a lot of things
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you will not do yourself. I haven't booked a
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journal entry in the past, what, two years at
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least? And so you're working through people.
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And so you have to have that level of care and
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respect for them to help you, but also for you
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to help them. Because again, at this stage, yes,
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you're working through people. But your role
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as a leader is to facilitate that work, understanding
7:07
what the roadblocks are and removing them. I
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got a chance to meet with my team. Like I said,
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I was ready before I met with them. I had questions
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for them, but also I was able to show that I
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was here to build relationships. When I started,
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that was my main... goal was to build relationships.
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So yes, I met with my executive coach and mentor
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that gave me great advice, would help me meet
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my team and start sharing that vision that I
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wanted us to stabilize before we optimize. But
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then the whole thing that really helped me in
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those first 90 days was the focus on building
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relationships, getting to know people, because
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it's through people that you're going to get
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to know what's going on. What are the changes
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and that you will likely support or drive and
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what will be the implications of these changes
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throughout the organization. So I normally met
8:03
with my boss, my peers. I also met with employees,
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direct employees of my peers. Again, the more
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you have a chance to meet with people that are
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more frontline, the better off you are because
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it's the fastest way to learn about the business.
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And so I was ready for those one -on -ones as
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well. So before I met with my peers, the CEO,
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I made sure before day one also, that I went
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through our five -year strategic plan, that I
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went through our audited financial statement,
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that I came in ready with questions, questions
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for every single person I will have a meeting
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with. I did research on them, and I made sure
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I came prepared because at this level, they're
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busy. I'm busy trying to learn and deliver on
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the things I'm supposed to deliver on. meeting
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with the CEO or the chair of the finance committee,
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coming in ready and prepared is, oh my God, such
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a great way to start building relationship because
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people really don't ask for much care and respect.
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If you're able to show care and respect to whoever
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you're dealing with, whether it's your employees,
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your peers or whoever, the rest will come out.
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It will be easier. It will be easier to implement
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change. It will be easier to ask questions, to
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ask tough questions when people know that it
9:20
comes from a good place. And so that was my main
9:24
goal. And I'm glad I successfully did it because
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again, it's realizing that it is so important.
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It's so important to build those relationships
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right away. Another thing I did well was recording
9:38
anything that was training. So if I was in a
9:41
meeting and the person was going to show me,
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how do you access our accounting system? How
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do you do this? How do you get to that? I'll
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pause them and say, hey, can I record this piece
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of the meeting? Because I want it to be independent.
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So sooner you can get that independence and able
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to dig in stuff the way you want to. feel so
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good, okay, that you're not depending on someone
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to send you this report or that report. There's
10:03
something that already exists or where you can
10:05
find historically what was done, the better off
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you'll be. And that's what I did. And it helped
10:11
me so much because when I started a few weeks
10:14
later, my controller went on vacation. I was
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like, ooh, I'm glad I know where to get this.
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It does help to make sure you have the right
10:22
access, whether it's to a drive, to a bank account.
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Whatever it is that you identify as key things
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you should know and be able to get yourself,
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definitely do this. It helped me so much. And
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so the last thing that really helped me in my
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90 days, so besides being ready for my one -on
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-ones, recording the training, building those
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relationships, reflecting on what worked and
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what did not work, so I wouldn't repeat the same
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mistakes again, and elevate the great thing I
10:49
did was starting this podcast, The Diary of the
10:53
CFO. You may wonder, oh, that's someone like
10:55
Dayo's CEO, Stephen Bartlett. Yes, it is. Because
10:58
when I was like, I want to do a podcast about
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my journey. Oh, I want it to be a diary. I was
11:02
like, yeah, I'm so sticking it from you, Stephen.
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I love your podcast, by the way, if you ever
11:07
listen to this. But I was like, okay, diary of
11:09
the CFO. Don't want to overthink, overcomplicate.
11:11
Maybe the name would change the future, but it
11:13
is what it is now. Diary of the CFO. And it allowed
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me to make time to meet with about... what, five
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different CFOs in those 90 days. Many of them
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were CFOs that were CFOs now for the first time
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or the second time. The Matt Ziegler, the Scott
11:31
Myers, the Jessica McLean at CFO at Girl Scout
11:35
Financial. People that were pouring information,
11:40
guidance. It's easy to be an expert these days,
11:42
especially with AI. You can go on AI, go on different
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websites, you can put together something like
11:48
a cheat sheet or a quote or whatever, and bam,
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you're an expert. But there's nothing like hearing
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from people who have the experience because they
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have substance. And substance is what I desperately
12:00
needed as a step into the CFO role. Because as
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I like to say, there's not always a lot of information
12:07
about how to get in the role, how to get started
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in the role. There's a lot of information about
12:13
how you're successful in the role, but how do
12:16
you even get that job? How do you accelerate
12:19
your learning your first 90 days to even say,
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yeah, I know I have to go beyond the numbers.
12:25
I have to go beyond that technology. I have to
12:27
be a dad. I know that, but is the actual in the
12:31
weeds of the job itself. That kind of advice
12:34
was so amazing. And yes, I probably released
12:39
a few episodes so far, but They're in the work.
12:42
They were amazing. But during the 90 days, I
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got to speak with these incredible, incredible
12:48
business leaders who poured even more knowledge
12:52
into my life. So this allows me to reach out
12:56
because now there are people that I always wanted
12:58
to talk to. I'm like, hey, do you want to be
13:00
on my podcast? So it's like a way to say, hey,
13:03
I really wanted to talk to you for all these
13:05
years. But now I have an excuse. I have a podcast.
13:07
That's why I want to talk to you. But they have
13:09
been on my hit list the whole time. So, so grateful
13:12
for this podcast and what it allowed me to do
13:16
and learn in those first 90 days and be able
13:19
to implement also right away. And this is all
13:23
good. You may wonder, okay, Waseea, you did all
13:25
this thing great. You built a relationship. You
13:27
started the podcast. Again, I know starting the
13:30
podcast was crazy as I'm starting this role,
13:32
but so incredibly rewarding. But what could I
13:36
have done better? Okay. The number one thing
13:41
was I could have worked more with our executive
13:45
admin. I got into the role and I was like, oh,
13:49
calendar. No, I'm good. I only help there. Travel
13:52
receipt, drafting. No, I'm good. I got this.
13:55
I felt like I was going to bother if I asked.
13:58
And so one month went by. I was kind of OK. By
14:03
the second month, I was swamped. I couldn't keep
14:09
up with what was my calendar. People were trying
14:11
to have meeting with me. I didn't know where
14:13
my calendar was, what was what. I would spend
14:16
30 minutes or an hour trying to draft an email
14:19
when I would have asked to draft an email. And
14:23
when I did, I was so amazed. I was like, man,
14:25
I should have done it sooner because it seemed
14:28
like it's not much, but it compounds. So the
14:31
30 minutes you spend extra trying to coordinate
14:34
a calendar invite with a vendor or trying to
14:39
coordinate with meeting with somebody else that
14:41
has also a busy calendar. The travel receipt,
14:44
I mean, it was embarrassing. We went to a conference
14:47
and we came back and we used a system called
14:50
Ramp, R -A -M -P, for our travel experience.
14:54
A great system, AI powered, all that. You spend
14:58
something, you automatically get an alert. You
15:02
get an email. All you have to do is click, submit
15:05
your receipt. You move on. Sounds very easy.
15:08
I came back sick from that conference. So I fell
15:12
off the wagon. I got messages that my card has
15:16
been locked and I'm the CFO. So you know that
15:18
the person doing the admin, the expenses, reports
15:22
eventually into me. And here I am on the bad
15:25
people's list. of, Waseea, you need to submit
15:29
your expense reports. Thank you, Atisha, for
15:32
keeping me on track. And she was like, she sent
15:35
me a couple of emails. She said, oh, Waseea,
15:37
your expense reimbursement. Then she suddenly
15:40
sending me DMs on Teams. Oh, Waseea, your expense
15:43
reimbursement. And then she said, Waseea, you
15:45
do know you have an executive admin that can
15:47
help you. Do you want me to delegate to her?
15:51
And so I was like, yeah, I should have done it
15:53
before. So, yeah, it felt bad, but yeah, all
15:55
these things takes time. And if you're not asking
15:58
or getting the help we need with what may seem
16:01
small, yes, you'll be swamped on things you shouldn't
16:04
be swamped about. And so that's something I could
16:06
have done better. I could have reached out and
16:09
asked our admins to help me with some of those
16:11
things a bit faster. Now, the second thing I
16:14
could have done better was having a good habit
16:18
or routine in place for working out and prepping
16:21
meals. What I realized is, in the first 90 days,
16:26
especially as a CFO, there is so much to learn.
16:29
Even when you work eight hours a day, at the
16:33
end of the day, you are so exhausted. Okay? I
16:37
would crash. And it's not like I would be 15
16:41
hours. It wasn't a 15 -hour or a 12 -hour workday.
16:44
Sometimes it was just eight hours, but the amount
16:47
of information you're getting... Mentally, physically,
16:51
it's very hard because you have to filter the
16:54
new things, trying to have a different perspective
16:56
and not go, oh, and my former company did that,
16:59
this, that. You have to be able to have different
17:02
compartment in your own head as you are learning
17:05
those things with an objective mindset. This
17:08
is hard. And so for me, I didn't have a good
17:11
workout or meal plan routine, which means that
17:14
During my first three months, I mostly cooked
17:18
from chick -fil -a. I cooked chick -fil -a once
17:21
a week, for sure, during those 90 days. We ate
17:25
out a lot. Posting on LinkedIn, for example,
17:28
because I had a system, posting twice a week,
17:30
I didn't miss a beat, okay? I was on, you see
17:33
me on LinkedIn because this thing will be scheduled
17:34
two, three, four weeks ahead of time. It was
17:37
going in. I had my scheduled time. I didn't have
17:39
something like this for work. So when it came
17:42
to missing the gym, It's not like I miss a beat
17:44
or two. I miss the whole song. I gained like
17:48
three pounds in those three months because I
17:51
didn't have a system. And so the things that
17:52
you have already system for, good system for,
17:55
before getting into that kind of role will help
17:58
you. If you didn't have a system, it's going
18:01
to get worse. If you had a good system, you'll
18:03
be able to keep doing. So I think not having
18:06
a system for meal prep and working out really
18:09
took a toll on me. and also necessarily didn't
18:12
have a good system for handling stress. For me,
18:15
it was Cheetos and chocolate. So guess what I
18:19
did? I got into the Cheetos. And I used to say
18:23
that I was a recovering Cheetos and chocolate
18:25
addict. I did take some of my kids' Halloween
18:28
candy. That's a big confession. I wouldn't say
18:32
steal, but take. It was a lot of candy anyway.
18:37
That's where those things can get you, right?
18:39
So... Being able to have a good system in place
18:42
for how you handle stress uncertainty, how you
18:44
handle meal prep, how you handle working out.
18:47
This thing will help because it is a lot. And
18:50
at some point I felt like maybe if I had a wife,
18:53
it would be easier. But I've been married to
18:55
the same guy for the past 14 years, so that's
18:57
not an option now. But yeah, it's a lot. And
18:59
having the right system in place ahead of time
19:02
definitely helped. And the third thing that I
19:07
could have done easier. or that I didn't do so
19:10
well was being easier on myself. I was, ooh,
19:17
such a taskmaster on me. I imposed deadlines
19:21
on me that I didn't need to. I wanted to have
19:24
the right answers. But again, I was in my first
19:27
few weeks in the roles. I had to get comfortable
19:29
not knowing, not having the right answers right
19:32
away. Why is there such a variance in this line
19:35
on your audited financial statement? I'm learning.
19:38
I don't know, but I would stress myself trying
19:41
to learn it quickly and headaches and ibuprofen
19:46
was my best friend. I imposed so much on myself
19:50
that I actually at some point felt like I was
19:52
a bad mom. I would crash after work. And again,
19:55
that was even when I was working just eight hours
19:57
in a day. I didn't have the energy of playing
20:01
football or chess with my son or doing my daughter's
20:04
hair. And I think... If I had not set that many
20:09
crazy deadlines, I would have still been fine.
20:14
Thank God I got great feedback from my boss,
20:17
from the board, from my team. They're happy I'm
20:19
on the team and the company that I'm happy I'm
20:22
on their team as well. If I had been a little
20:25
easier on me, I would have probably saved myself
20:27
some gray hair, because yes, there is some that
20:30
I started seeing around the top of my head. And
20:34
if you know what my hairstyle looks like, I only
20:36
have hair in the top of my head. So it's hard
20:39
to miss them now. But I think that's something
20:42
I need to do better moving forward. So being
20:44
easy on myself, having a better workout and meal
20:48
prep routine and definitely work better with
20:50
our executive admins. That's something that I
20:53
could have known better that I'm planning on
20:55
doing better. So you all hold me accountable
20:58
for this. Overall, I will say... this whole journey
21:03
as a new CFO showed me something that or reinforced
21:08
something I had I thought I have seen before,
21:11
which was the fact that we don't have programs
21:16
or courses to bridge that gap. In one of my first
21:21
episodes, I shared how I wanted to do a program
21:23
called the Office of the CFO Bootcamp to help
21:26
people see their blind spot where they may be
21:30
stuck. in their careers and what it will really
21:33
take for them to get those roles, but also learn
21:38
what it takes to lead at the highest level of
21:40
the finance organization. And what I was thinking
21:43
about was maybe doing a three -week cohort. Some
21:46
videos will be on demand, some video will be
21:48
live sessions with me going over executive presence,
21:52
for example, watching a recording of that, but
21:54
then... have a live session with me, a group
21:57
coaching session on how do you revamp your LinkedIn
21:59
or what do you need to do online so your executive
22:02
presence is also felt online or that you show
22:05
that you are leadership material or next level
22:08
ready. Things like how do you implement a software?
22:12
How do you lead change? So that's some of the
22:14
things that I wanted to do. Of course, have zero
22:17
time to work on it during my first 90 days and
22:20
you can understand why. Hopefully, at some point,
22:22
it will come together. So definitely subscribe
22:25
to my newsletter or my website, wassiakaman .com.
22:29
So you know when it goes live. I think it's needed
22:31
because we see a lot of advice of what good CFO
22:35
do, what the CFO is doing. You're leading beyond
22:39
the numbers. You're in technology. You're forward
22:42
thinking. You're a strategic business partner.
22:44
But how do you get the job in the first place?
22:47
And when you get the job, what are some of the
22:48
things that you should be doing? or you should
22:51
have done prior to get the job so you can thrive
22:53
in that role. That was one of the things that
22:56
really came out from those first 90 days, because
22:58
I would like to send my controller to something
23:01
like that as a CFO. Because I realized, CFOs,
23:05
we don't always have that much time, that much
23:07
spare time to develop and grow our team. So the
23:11
more program can help the team develop those
23:14
strategic skills, the executive presence skills.
23:20
eventually pays out. It's rewarding not only
23:23
for the employee, but also for the CFO to know
23:25
that I'm growing my staff. You know, even if
23:27
I have limited time, I can send them to a program
23:30
like that and they can grow. That was something
23:32
that I will always feel when I was a controller.
23:35
Oh, maybe my CFO doesn't have time for me, but
23:38
now I see the calendar of the CFO, I'm like,
23:40
shit. They probably wanted to spend time with
23:43
me. They probably never had a chance, never had
23:45
that time. So... Looking forward to it. So that's
23:49
my recap of my first 90 days. Thank you so much
23:54
for being here with me and embarking on this
23:57
journey. I'm super grateful for the people who
24:00
came on as guests. Super grateful for you as
24:03
listeners, the people who have been sharing,
24:05
engaging, leaving me so many sweet notes about,
24:08
yes, Waseea, keep going. Because yes, at some
24:10
point I was like, no, maybe I need to stop this
24:13
podcast, but. It's been so rewarding and so helpful
24:17
to many. So thank you so much. Again, if you
24:21
have any topic you'd like me to cover in the
24:23
future episode, don't forget to email me at ask
24:27
at thediaryofthecfo .com. Again, the email address
24:30
is ask at thediaryofthecfo .com. That's it for
24:33
today's episode. Hope you enjoyed it, because
24:36
I did. Don't forget to like, subscribe, five
24:39
-star review, and also follow. and listen to
24:43
the whole thing. Guys, I see you. Later! And
24:48
that's it for today's episode of The Diary of
24:50
the CFO. I hope you enjoyed it as much as I did.
24:53
Thank you so much for tuning in. Don't forget
24:55
to share, subscribe, like, and also if you have
24:59
any other topic you'd like me to cover in the
25:01
future, don't forget to email me at ask at thediaryofthecfo
25:05
.com. I am super excited about this journey as
25:09
we try to help make better leaders and help leaders
25:11
be better at life. See you soon.