Latest / The Diary of a CFO / Is the Climb to CFO Worth It?
Transcript
- 0:03Welcome back to the Diary of a CFO. Today I'm
- 0:06answering questions from my email newsletter
- 0:08subscribers. And one of the questions I asked
- 0:11them was, if we're having coffee and talking
- 0:14about work, what would you ask me? First of all,
- 0:18thank you so much for all of those who responded
- 0:21in this episode. I will answer four of the questions
- 0:25here and the rest either in other episodes or
- 0:28on the newsletter itself. If you're not subscribed
- 0:32yet, you can just go to thediaryofacfo .com.
- 0:35Here are the four questions of today. Number
- 0:38one, is the climb and reach to the CFO worth
- 0:41it? Number two, do you enjoy the work and the
- 0:45people? Number three, do you have work -life
- 0:48balance? And number four, what helped you get
- 0:51there? Let's dive in. So first question, is a
- 0:56climb and reach to CFO worth it? Well, to me,
- 1:02it absolutely is. Of course, some days are fulfilling,
- 1:07some others are tough. And every day I have to
- 1:10challenge myself to see things differently because
- 1:13as a CFO, it feels like you're playing defense
- 1:16and offense at all times. At the same time, you're
- 1:18trying to support the business growth and you
- 1:21have to minimize risk and say compliance with
- 1:24reporting or dead covenants. You have to grow
- 1:26your staff. You have to develop your staff. You
- 1:28have to make things better for them. At the same
- 1:31time, you are also participating on other process
- 1:35improvement or system improvement that are organization
- 1:38wide. Because at the end, the goal is to help
- 1:41everyone be better and be ready for what's ahead.
- 1:46Be ready for the future as well as how the business
- 1:50is growing. I do enjoy my role every single day.
- 1:55I feel like I have more impact. but also more
- 1:58responsibilities. It can be definitely stressful
- 2:01at times. And for me, the reason it's worth it
- 2:04is because I wanted to do it, and I did. So if
- 2:08it's not really in your plan, how does it fit
- 2:10in your own vision board with how you are and
- 2:14how it fits your aspirations is really something
- 2:18that's very subjective. For me, it's totally
- 2:20worth it because I've always been driven. I was
- 2:23never the one to sit around and wait to be trained.
- 2:27Sometimes I felt like others were getting automatic
- 2:29training, especially when we're back in the physical
- 2:32offices, when we're not remote, I should say.
- 2:35And I could hear my boss going from cubicle to
- 2:38cubicle, or office to office, and spending extra
- 2:41time at other people's desks, and only coming
- 2:44by and say, hey, Waseea, and move on. But I didn't
- 2:48see it as, oh my god. It means that I won't succeed.
- 2:52For me, it was like, OK, that's a great opportunity
- 2:54because I'm going to figure it out, and I'm going
- 2:56to write the process and share with the boss.
- 2:59And that's a little hack for you. If you're in
- 3:01a situation, you're like... where you feel like
- 3:03you actually need the training to go from point
- 3:05A to point D, let's say, and you only being shown
- 3:09point A to point B, document point A and point
- 3:12B and say, hey, I know this is not documented
- 3:14elsewhere, but I'm trying to understand this
- 3:16process. I already have A and B documented. Can
- 3:20you help me with C and D? And you will notice
- 3:23that a person, because they will see where this
- 3:25is going, that is beyond you, and that you're
- 3:28trying to make things bigger for the department,
- 3:30They will be willing to show you the way, because
- 3:34now you are documenting the process. You're making
- 3:36life easier for them and for others after you.
- 3:39So that's a little trick there. But for me, I
- 3:42wasn't the one sitting around. I was always driven,
- 3:44and I've been driven really for my whole life.
- 3:46I was always a 4 .0 GPA student back in Ivory
- 3:50Coast before I came here at the age of 17 to
- 3:53the US. To me, math was like one of my favorite
- 3:57subjects. I wasn't just trying to be right. I
- 4:00had a little competition with some of my friends
- 4:02who say, can you finish the two hour test in
- 4:0430 minutes and still get an A? Yes. That's how
- 4:08extra I've been. For me, it's absolutely worth
- 4:13it because I wanted to do it one. And number
- 4:16two, some people looked at me funny when I said
- 4:20I wanted to become a CFO. first within the African
- 4:23community when I came here was all okay you're
- 4:26gonna be a African braider you're gonna do braids
- 4:31or you have to work out a Walmart try to be manager
- 4:34you know corporate America they don't promote
- 4:36people like us they don't do things like us you
- 4:39are young you are black you're African girl with
- 4:42an accent you won't be able to get there and
- 4:45then I started to realize I needed to shift the
- 4:49people around me, but also just keep quiet about
- 4:52some of the goals that I had, because people
- 4:54will be looking at me like, mm, I don't see it
- 4:57in you, because I haven't seen much people like
- 5:01you at certain level. I was driven. I was like,
- 5:04OK, thanks, but I'm still going to do it, especially
- 5:07because now it feels like it's not possible.
- 5:10I'm like, on my list. It's going to be done.
- 5:13For me, it's great to be here first because I
- 5:16wanted to do it too because people acted like
- 5:17I couldn't do it. I'm like, huh, that's my one
- 5:20of my favorite way to prove people wrong is like,
- 5:23ooh, I did it. And then number three, because
- 5:26I always felt like I could do more. I felt like
- 5:30I had the potential to do it. It wasn't that,
- 5:35oh, I just want to do it and I don't feel like
- 5:37I can. Like I always felt like it was in me and
- 5:41that. being able to operate at this level will
- 5:44allow me to really unleash my potential, really
- 5:49be operating within the realm of potential, my
- 5:53full potential. So I see it as something that's
- 5:57absolutely worth it, but then it comes back to
- 6:00you. Why do you want the role? Is it a part of
- 6:03status, influence, purpose? Because... Knowing
- 6:08that I can do something and being able to do
- 6:10it is incredibly fulfilling. Is a CFO worth it
- 6:13for you? If you are wondering whether this path
- 6:16is right for you, start by asking what kind of
- 6:20impact do I want to have? How does it fit with
- 6:23my overall vision, with my overall view of things,
- 6:27with things that I want to do, the rooms I want
- 6:28to be in, the places that I want to visit? For
- 6:32me, one more thing is it shouldn't be just about
- 6:35compensation or money. because I realized that
- 6:39there is a big gap between personal finance and
- 6:43being good at personal finance and actually doing
- 6:46the role of the CFO of working in finance. The
- 6:50reason I say that is because sometimes if you
- 6:53are not satisfied or content or you don't find
- 6:55a way to live within your mean, when you are
- 6:58let's say at a hundred K per year, it will still
- 7:01be difficult for you to do it even when you have
- 7:04more money. I know it's hard to understand is
- 7:06that, oh, because you have money, you say that.
- 7:08No, my car is a 2014 Toyota Highlander. I had
- 7:13it for 11 years and my daughter is 11 years.
- 7:16So you can see about when that car came into
- 7:19my life, right? Because I needed a bigger vehicle
- 7:22to be able to put in two car seats and a double
- 7:26stroller because my kids are back to back. They're
- 7:28only 17 months apart. So daughter born 2014 and
- 7:31my son in 2015. So need to be a vehicle. i'm
- 7:35still in the same car others will say oh you're
- 7:38cfo now you can afford a bigger vehicle, but
- 7:40for me I want financial freedom instead of having
- 7:44an extra thousand dollars of car payment for
- 7:48me I could save that one thousand dollars and
- 7:50go on vacation cash because that's 12 000 dollars
- 7:54can get you a good vacation and that's just the
- 7:57way i'm thinking about personal finance I guess
- 8:00I got this advice too for my first cfo she was
- 8:03like To live your best life here in America,
- 8:05you have to live below your means. And I've kept
- 8:08that with me. And so I don't do this role necessarily
- 8:13because I want to have the money. It's way more
- 8:16than that. And the reason it's way more than
- 8:19that is because I've trained myself to be disciplined
- 8:22with my personal finances where I don't resent
- 8:25what I do, like I have to do it for the money.
- 8:29There are other things around it, so it makes
- 8:32it even better. When money is not an issue for
- 8:36you to do the work that you want to do, I'm telling
- 8:39you, it's a great place to be in. That's for
- 8:43this first question about, is it worth it? Is
- 8:46it worth it to become a CFO? For me, absolutely.
- 8:48Now, next question. Do you enjoy the work and
- 8:52the people? Absolutely. I feel like as a CFO,
- 8:56I'm the bridge between functions and leadership,
- 8:58and it's incredibly rewarding. It's not always
- 9:01easy, but I'm enjoying the ride. As far as the
- 9:05people, I'm just very fortunate to be at ACE
- 9:07because I think that our founder, Grace Fritz,
- 9:10has created such a great culture. Because a lot
- 9:13of times, it's tone at the top. I can say that
- 9:16I never felt home like I feel home at ACE. And
- 9:21so, yes, I do enjoy it. I do enjoy working with
- 9:25my accounting team, making them more strategic.
- 9:28If you talk to them, they'll probably tell you,
- 9:30oh, Waseea is a lot. And I remember a couple
- 9:33of weeks ago, I was talking with my AP manager
- 9:36and it was after we had two new people joining
- 9:39our team. She said, Waseea, guess what I told
- 9:43them? I said, okay, tell me more. She said, I
- 9:45told the new people, Waseea is nice. Waseea smiles.
- 9:49She means business. I was like, oh my God, that
- 9:53makes me scared of me. But again, for me, I really
- 9:56want to elevate the team. It hurts me when I
- 10:00see potential not be fully realized. So I want
- 10:03them to grow. And yes, my standards could be
- 10:06high, but I want them to think beyond what they
- 10:08do every day. So for example, whether it's a
- 10:11bank reconciliation, I know it's part of the
- 10:14month in checklists and you say check, I check
- 10:16the bank. My next question will be how does that
- 10:19balance compared to the balance of the prior
- 10:22month? Do you think we're having issues in liquidity?
- 10:26So moving from I just did it to what does it
- 10:29mean? What to do with that information now? It's
- 10:32things that I really enjoy doing and I'm grateful
- 10:35that I work with a team that's receptive to grow
- 10:38and that appreciate to have a CFO that really
- 10:41want to invest in their success on the personal
- 10:45level, but also in technology, trying to remove
- 10:47all the roadblocks and getting them to be the
- 10:50best they can be really where they are. So I
- 10:52do enjoy what I do, the work that I do, the people
- 10:55I work with, my peers, my buddy, my COO, Shannon
- 10:59Stewart. My CEO, Martina, she's the bomb. She's
- 11:03just a great person to work with. So really enjoy
- 11:07my peers here and what I do. Now, next question.
- 11:11Do you have work -life balance? I get that one
- 11:15a lot, especially because I'm still active on
- 11:17LinkedIn. I'm doing this podcast and we know
- 11:20the CFRL is no joke. You've probably read some
- 11:23job descriptions. Now for me, I don't believe
- 11:25in work -life balance. I believe in work -life
- 11:29harmony. where your work and your life come together
- 11:33for you to have a rewarding and fulfilling life.
- 11:36I'm not about work -life balance. I'm more about
- 11:40work -life harmony. For example, what I learned
- 11:44on the job allows me to do other things that
- 11:47fulfill me, because I don't believe that fulfillment
- 11:50all come from one place. I also understand and
- 11:54came to realize that really corporate America
- 11:56was not built for you to be fulfilled. It was
- 11:59built to maximize shareholders' wealth. And so
- 12:02trying to get all your accomplishments, all your
- 12:05fulfillment out of your work, to me is a recipe
- 12:09for burnout and disappointment. It's that work
- 12:13-life harmony that allowed me to be my best self.
- 12:16So when I learned more about accounting finance,
- 12:18for example, I volunteered with the SBA as a
- 12:22score volunteer, and that is to provide free
- 12:24mentoring to small business owners. And one of
- 12:27the business owners I was able to mentor had
- 12:30a lash salon. She was doing lashes, and I was
- 12:34able to give her advice for free. We're meeting
- 12:37one hour a week. or even sometimes 30 minutes
- 12:40every other week just to check on her and allow
- 12:44her to grow her business. It just feels great
- 12:47to be able to help in that way. Similarly, now
- 12:50I'm on the board of HOPE, an organization that
- 12:52helps single parents complete their education
- 12:55degree. And I've been a treasurer for almost
- 12:57three years. I work on the budget, the strategic
- 13:00plan with the COO. I do it. Free because I'm
- 13:03able to have a job that pays me so I can do other
- 13:06things with that knowledge to really drive things
- 13:10that gives me again energy and fulfillment and
- 13:14so I'm able to learn from what I do at Hope bring
- 13:17it to ace because both are not -for -profit organization
- 13:20and I'm able to also learn from ace and bring
- 13:23it to hope and in return it make things better
- 13:26both at work and in the lives of people, because
- 13:29really at Hope, for example, we have participants
- 13:32that come in, sometimes is former stay at home
- 13:36mom that divorced and now need to go back and
- 13:39get an education. We had one that graduated not
- 13:42too long ago and shared her beautiful story at
- 13:45our gala we did in March. And she said that she
- 13:51went to the grocery store and her daughter wanted
- 13:54carrots. And she said, I didn't have the $1 to
- 13:57buy her carrots. Now she was living in the suburbs,
- 14:01in the Atlanta area, in Buford. If you know this
- 14:04area, you know it's a very nice area. But she
- 14:07had to let go because she had been to stay at
- 14:10home for 10 years. She had to start over. Now
- 14:13fast forward, she's a registered nurse. She has
- 14:16her own place. And she's able to afford all the
- 14:19carrots. But hope was there in that bridge to
- 14:21provide assistance for rent, assistance for childcare,
- 14:26also with groceries and other programs we have
- 14:28wrapped around services. And to see that growth,
- 14:31I mean, it's so rewarding, so fulfilling to do
- 14:35that. And to me, that's what part of work -life
- 14:39harmony is about. Because I don't think that
- 14:42you can completely turn off work. and just spending
- 14:46time with your family, or turn off what you're
- 14:48going on in your family and do work. Like, you're
- 14:52not a switch. To me, you're a human being. I
- 14:54try to have my life optimized so I don't show
- 14:57up grumpy at work, and I try to have my work
- 15:00optimized so I don't show up grumpy when I'm
- 15:02having dinner with my family, because those things
- 15:05will spill over. If you listen to the episode
- 15:07I had with Cindy Wilson, the former CFO of Kickstarter,
- 15:11she said it's so beautiful. She said leadership
- 15:13is her lifestyle. And so to me, it's about being
- 15:16disciplined with the choices that I make in my
- 15:21life, if I can say, and my work. And that means
- 15:23having and maintaining the right standards and
- 15:26the right boundaries. Yes, I'm incredibly disciplined
- 15:29with all these things. The only thing I think
- 15:31in my life that I'm not disciplined with is fitness
- 15:34and food. But everything else, I'm good. So for
- 15:39example, I think the choice of your spouse is
- 15:41important. I was willing to stay single. My parents
- 15:45were divorced, and I was like, if I don't find
- 15:47the right guy, I'm going to stay single. I was
- 15:49always driven. I was always ambitious. And I
- 15:53knew if I was going to marry, it would have to
- 15:56be with someone that's secure with themselves,
- 15:58that can be a true partner when we're raising
- 16:00kids, because I'm not going to shrink or dim
- 16:03my light to make somebody else feel better. And
- 16:06so when I met my husband, we'll be married now
- 16:0715 years. He was like, yes. I can do this. And
- 16:10so he's my best friend, my supporter. Love him
- 16:14so much. He supports me in whatever I'm doing,
- 16:17whatever ventures I'm getting or troubles I'm
- 16:20getting myself into. I cook, he cleans. I drop
- 16:24off the kids in the morning. He helps with the
- 16:26homework when they come in the afternoon. So
- 16:28we are a true team. Again, that concept of work
- 16:32life harmony, because sometimes we think of work
- 16:34life balance and we think, oh, I can work. 40
- 16:38hours, 20 hours, then I'll be fine because I
- 16:40have all this time for other things, but you
- 16:43could work 20 hours a week, but if you have the
- 16:46wrong spouse, you will still feel miserable.
- 16:49If you have so much chaos in your home, you will
- 16:52still feel miserable even if you work 20 hours
- 16:54a week. It's really that idea of work -life harmony.
- 16:59And so just like at life, I was disciplined and
- 17:03thank God for my husband at work. I know I cannot
- 17:06do 80 hours a week. And so I block my time. I
- 17:10let people know ahead of time, I'm gonna be off.
- 17:13When I'm off, even if I see a text or a notification,
- 17:16I do not respond because the reality is you train
- 17:22people to treat you a certain way. Because I've
- 17:26seen people who are not director, don't even
- 17:29get to the CFO, and they work so many hours.
- 17:33Now, it is fine the first few years of your career
- 17:35when you're young and you don't have much responsibilities.
- 17:38I did that. I did that. I worked long hours when
- 17:42I was like 22, 23, 24, 25, 26. But then you have
- 17:47to be careful not to make it a habit. Otherwise,
- 17:51you will always feel burnout. overworked and
- 17:54underpaid, regardless of the company you work
- 17:56for, regardless of the boss you have, regardless
- 18:00of your title, whether you are analyst or CFO,
- 18:03you will always feel that way if you don't know
- 18:05how to set boundaries because unconsciously you
- 18:08are training people to treat you that way. And
- 18:11so, again, this has worked for me for quite some
- 18:14years now. I block my time in the morning. Now
- 18:17I'm starting to block my time in the evening.
- 18:19because sometimes I'm in so many meetings, I'm
- 18:22like, okay, let me call that time to do it. And
- 18:25I oftentimes show offline. I actually turn my
- 18:29status on Teams as offline, even though I'm still
- 18:32working, but I don't want to be disturbed, right?
- 18:35And I want to show also the right signal. I don't
- 18:38do it all the time, but. We're in finance and
- 18:40accounting, we know how we can get. So back to
- 18:43the questions, Wasia, do you have work -life
- 18:45balance? My answer is this is not applicable.
- 18:48I do have work -life harmony. I have a job I
- 18:53love, the people I truly enjoy working with,
- 18:55where I feel I'm actually operating within my
- 18:58full potential. It allows me to do this podcast.
- 19:01And that tells you I'm not working 100 hours
- 19:04a week, right? Because I have time to do this,
- 19:05to do speaking, to coach, and also, most importantly,
- 19:09to enjoy my kids and spend quality time with
- 19:13my whole family. Now, next question. What helped
- 19:17you get there? My first answer is always, thank
- 19:23you, God. for allowing me to be at the right
- 19:26place at the right time with the right people.
- 19:29And now I am actually very intentional of being
- 19:33in the right places and connecting with the right
- 19:35people. The second thing is I always had a clear
- 19:39vision of what success looks like for me. And
- 19:42I've been doing this a little more of spending
- 19:45more time with myself. I've actually scheduled
- 19:48a self -retreat where I would just meet me. In
- 19:52the month of November, I'm going to book an hotel
- 19:56room not too far from my house and just spend
- 20:00one or two nights there to reflect. So I think
- 20:04having that clear vision of success have been
- 20:07so important to me because, you know, life goes
- 20:09bam, bam, bam, bam, bam, and you don't realize
- 20:12three months have gone by, a year has gone by.
- 20:15Look at 2025 already. If you don't take time
- 20:18to really define what success will look like
- 20:20for you, then you'll be distracted by the success
- 20:24of others. You'll see others on social media
- 20:27and say, man, I'm behind. You'll hear some advice
- 20:30and get, oh, maybe I should recalculate my route
- 20:32and do this and do that. You end up being aimless.
- 20:36And so not having a clear vision of I'm going
- 20:38to do this and this and this, of course, being
- 20:41flexible along the way, but having that vision
- 20:44of what success looks like for me. Not necessarily
- 20:47in terms of role or title. I didn't know what
- 20:49the different steps I'll go to become a CF. I
- 20:51didn't know I'll do FPNA at some point and be
- 20:54controlled. I didn't know all these things. I
- 20:56just wanted to have this. Having flexibility
- 20:58in between, but really having that clear vision
- 21:01of success for you, for me was all about work
- 21:04-life harmony. I love numbers. I love a certain
- 21:08type of discipline. And so bringing all this
- 21:10together was very important to me. The third
- 21:13thing is I worked hard for a long time. You cannot
- 21:16hack yourself into success. There is no shortcut.
- 21:21I saw a survey of Gen Z. How much money do you
- 21:24think you're going to make? A million dollars.
- 21:27Now, okay. You're going to have to do a lot of
- 21:31work before you get there, right? But for me,
- 21:33I worked hard for a very long time. My vacations
- 21:37were modest. I remember When I got out of school
- 21:41and I wanted to be a CPA, I told my husband I
- 21:43cannot get pregnant for the next two years. Because
- 21:46back then, when you were taking the CPA, you
- 21:49had an 18 months window between the time you
- 21:53passed the first test to the last one. And so
- 21:57I was like, OK, no babies during this time. I
- 22:00will wake up in the morning, I will study from
- 22:03five to six a .m., and I'm not an early bird,
- 22:05so it tells you how much extra work I was willing
- 22:09to do for this. Sometimes it will be after month
- 22:12-end, but after work, even if I ended at 6 p
- 22:14.m., I will make a point of either going to the
- 22:17food court at the mall or a Whole Food Market,
- 22:20they had tables at a time, and I could sit there
- 22:23and do some studying. I will squeeze some studying
- 22:26on my lunch break while I'm doing two, three
- 22:28-people jobs. I worked hard for a long time.
- 22:31Same for my CMA, same for my MBA. Now people
- 22:34see all these letters and like, oh, you did it
- 22:36in like three years. No, it took me like eight,
- 22:38nine years to get all of them. But I worked hard
- 22:41for a long time and I did them because somebody
- 22:43said, you need to do it or CMA, you need to do
- 22:46it. And then when I was tired of doing all these
- 22:48things, that's when I sat down and reflected
- 22:50a little more about, okay, what else do I need?
- 22:53Because all these certifications are not working.
- 22:55You can hear that in other episodes. But the
- 22:58reality is you have to work hard for a long time
- 23:01because that's how you will know how to work
- 23:03smart. There is no shortcuts to that. Of course,
- 23:07it helps to have mentors and sponsors and people
- 23:10speaking to your life. Certain things you have
- 23:12to experience for yourself and you have to be
- 23:14willing to put in the work. I will say give yourself
- 23:17a deadline of I'm not going to do this for X
- 23:20amount of years because it's unsustainable. You
- 23:23have to enjoy your life. But I did work hard
- 23:26for a long time. And so now when I think about
- 23:30accounting and finance, I did AP, I did AR, I
- 23:33did payroll, I did treasury, I did inventory
- 23:36management, I did FP &A, I did taxes, I did some
- 23:40supply chain, helping with procurement, helping
- 23:42with HR, 401k audit. The list goes on because
- 23:45I've done so, so many things. because I wanted
- 23:49to touch all these different things. Now, you
- 23:50don't have to do this, but you have to be willing
- 23:53to put in the work. Whatever you do, do it at
- 23:56100%. The fourth thing, so the first thing was,
- 24:00thank God for being in the right place at the
- 24:01right time, and now I'm more intentional about
- 24:03surrounding myself with the right people. Number
- 24:06two, I have a clear vision of what success looks
- 24:08like for me. Three, I worked hard for a long
- 24:13time, so now I know how to work smart. And then
- 24:16number four, I was not afraid of investing in
- 24:21me, meaning I was not afraid of paying for things
- 24:25like courses, certifications, executive coaching,
- 24:29even when my company would not pay for it or
- 24:32reimburse me in full. I know sometimes we feel
- 24:35like, oh, the company is not paying for it. I'm
- 24:37not going to do it. No, I'm still going to do
- 24:41it because I know it's important. How do I get
- 24:44into speaking? Because I realized that when you
- 24:46speak at a conference, you go there for free.
- 24:49OK? So that was a nice way for me. The companies
- 24:54are going to pay for it. OK, maybe I need to
- 24:56be on some panel. They will usually waive your
- 24:59registration fee, probably pay for your hotel,
- 25:01but you will at least get something waived. But
- 25:05that's just something. Otherwise, again, back
- 25:07to personal finance. But how are you investing
- 25:10in yourself? You can't just say, I'm not going
- 25:12to invest in me because to me, your best investment
- 25:18is in yourself. Whatever it is. your best investment
- 25:24in yourself. And I even had a quote that I posted
- 25:26on LinkedIn a couple years ago that said, your
- 25:29career is almost like a new venture. Sometimes
- 25:33you have to invest your own money before other
- 25:36investors are willing to invest in. Those four
- 25:39things really combined allow me to realize Not
- 25:44only things that helped me, but also what makes
- 25:47people successful in their careers. For me, it's
- 25:50two words. If you have a pen, you can write it
- 25:52down now. If you're driving, don't do it. But
- 25:55to me, it boils down to two things. Positioning
- 25:58and networking. Positioning is really your credibility
- 26:02and visibility. And networking with people that
- 26:06are two to five steps ahead of you or away from
- 26:10you in other... That's why I structured my CFO
- 26:13bootcamp that way. If you have not heard of it,
- 26:16you can go to wassiacommand .com. The next cohort
- 26:19starts August 8th of 2025. By the time I'm doing
- 26:23this recording. Because you need to work on the
- 26:26right project to gain credibility. You work hard,
- 26:29but you want to work hard on the right project,
- 26:31not on doing the same thing over and over again
- 26:34for years. You want to work on the right project,
- 26:37have the right positioning. That's the first
- 26:39level. That's what's going to give you credibility
- 26:41because you can actually do the things that you're
- 26:44supposed to do, that you say you can do. And
- 26:46once you have the outcomes from doing those things,
- 26:50visibility is what you should work on next so
- 26:53that you can work more on the first level, credibility.
- 26:56So the right project will allow you to have the
- 26:58right visibility if you're working on it, not
- 27:00just assuming it's going to do the talk for you.
- 27:03But all of that is amplified by networking, having
- 27:07the right people, like a sponsor that will help
- 27:10you be on the right project, like a mentor, personal
- 27:13board of directors that will speak into you so
- 27:16you can realize what are those right projects
- 27:19to start with. And being able to know who are
- 27:23the people that you should be visible to, the
- 27:26people that will allow you to amplify your work.
- 27:30in your organization and also outside of your
- 27:33organization. So if there was a formula to me,
- 27:36it will be positioning X networking equal unstoppable
- 27:40growth. So that is what in a nutshell helped
- 27:44me get to where I am. I worked hard for a long
- 27:47time. I wasn't afraid to pay when I needed to.
- 27:51I became intentional about being in the right
- 27:53places, hanging out with the right people. Also
- 27:57having a clear vision of what success looks like
- 28:00for me. This all allowed me to realize that really,
- 28:04if I was to go back, so if today I'm like, what's
- 28:06here? What would you tell your younger self?
- 28:09I would say work on two things, positioning and
- 28:12networking. But now I realize that if I had been
- 28:16more intentional and more strategic about my
- 28:20positioning and networking early on, who knows
- 28:23where I'll be today, right? Because I do believe
- 28:25that's what leads to unstoppable growth. I love
- 28:30this quote by Seneca that said, luck is what
- 28:33happens when preparation means opportunity. For
- 28:35me, luck is what happens when positioning meets
- 28:38networking. And I can give you a simple example.
- 28:42I get an opportunity to teach a segment of Wharton
- 28:45Online's first ever FPNA program. Now, here's
- 28:48how it happened. Positioning. One, when it comes
- 28:51to credibility, I actually led FPNA. Two, visibility.
- 28:55I made it visible on LinkedIn. and I also made
- 28:58it visible on different stages. And I had recently
- 29:02spoken at the AICPA CFO Conference of 2024, and
- 29:06the director of the program at Wharton, whom
- 29:10I had connected with about a year or two before
- 29:12he got that role, noticed. So visibility, credibility,
- 29:18and now networking with people when they don't
- 29:21even have the title. that you may be aiming for.
- 29:24And that's something that we often miss is I
- 29:26didn't network with him because he was the director
- 29:30of program for that FPNA program at Wharton.
- 29:32He didn't have that role when we connected years
- 29:34ago, right? Now he has it. He's in my LinkedIn
- 29:38feed. He sees some things like, hey, let's talk.
- 29:40I'm working on this. We talk for 30 minutes and
- 29:44bam, I got the role. I get to start teaching.
- 29:48And something that I thought would happen at
- 29:50age 50, just happened at age 38. So I do believe
- 29:54that positioning and networking are things that
- 29:58really make you unstoppable in your career and
- 30:01really anything in life when you think about
- 30:04it. That's why I'm so excited about the results
- 30:07and the success stories I'm starting hearing
- 30:09from my CFO Boothkin cohort. I have one person
- 30:12saying, oh, Waseya, I just did some of the things
- 30:14we talked about, LinkedIn, and now I'm getting
- 30:17emails about roles that I always wanted to do.
- 30:20She was always in accounting, now she's getting
- 30:22FPNA role. And that was, again, positioning,
- 30:25getting her to understand what is it that you've
- 30:27been doing that's already FPNA before you have
- 30:30the title. Who should you be networking with?
- 30:33What should you be posting about? What should
- 30:35you be doing to attract those roles? And sure
- 30:38enough, it's working. So for me, positioning
- 30:40and networking is everything when it comes to
- 30:43how you will get to where you want to be. So
- 30:47that's what helped me get there. I'll say the
- 30:49positioning networking I learned toward the end
- 30:52of the journey, and that's what I make that about
- 30:53teaching now. But it worked for me in so many
- 30:56ways, still working for me in so many ways, and
- 30:58I cannot recommend it enough. So happy I have
- 31:02answered the questions that you had submitted
- 31:05and thank you again to everyone who has these
- 31:09questions and your questions are exactly why
- 31:12I do this. I can probably fill in my voice. I'm
- 31:15excited about doing this, about sharing and helping
- 31:19others because that's what I, I wish I had at
- 31:22some point in my career as well. And again, if
- 31:25you are wondering whether the path to the CFO
- 31:28is right for you, start by asking. What kind
- 31:31of impact do I want to have? And how am I being
- 31:35intentional about showing it, especially in terms
- 31:37of positioning and networking? If you got questions
- 31:42you want me to answer, whether it's leadership,
- 31:44your team, or growing in your role, the best
- 31:46way to ask is through my newsletter. You can
- 31:49subscribe at TheDiaryOfACFO .com. And that's
- 31:53it for today's episode of the Diary of a CFO.
- 31:56Thank you so much for tuning in. If you enjoyed
- 31:59the show, don't forget to like, review, subscribe,
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- 32:31the email is ask at the diary of a CFO .com.
- 32:35See you soon.