Ahead honchos: number-crunchers need not apply. Camilla Berens talks to people at the top to find out what qualities and experiences count most if you want to move from CFO to CEO.
| Author | Berens, Camilla |
| Position | Business Careers - Chief Financial Officer, Chief Executive Officer |
In one of his more modest moments, Salvador Dali once said: "At the age of six I warned to be a cook. At seven I wanted to he Napoleon. And my ambition has been growing steadily ever since." Perhaps someone as prodigiously talented as Dali can be forgiven for making such a bold statement but, deep down, few of us can deny that we nurture grand ambitions--if not to be an emperor, then at least to be at the helm of our organisation.
For most of us, lapsing into the occasional daydream about what it would be like to step into our boss's shoes is probably as far as we will ever progress to being a captain of industry. But for those with serious ambitions to reach the top, accountancy--and management accountancy in particular--is often seen as good place to start.
Glenn Douglas chose to become a management accountant because he felt it would give him the widest scope to develop his career. Now chief executive of the Ashford and St Peter's Hospitals NHS Trust, Douglas stands by his decision and predicts that more and more directors of finance and chief executives in the public sector will come from a management accountancy background.
"You have a big advantage over chartered accountants if you want to move up," he says. "Auditors are very much archetypal accountants, whereas management accountants do seem to have a greater breadth of experience and are more forward-looking. If I were to advise anyone, I would say 'choose CIMA--it gives you a very good foundation'."
So, for those who are already FDs and have made it to the top of the finance function, how easy is it to make the next jump up? If you are aiming to take the reins of a blue-chip company, the answer is that you will have to work hard to impress. Surprisingly, only 60 chief executives in the FTSE 350 have come directly from the post of finance director. Although candidates with a strong grounding in finance might seem to be the natural contenders for the CEO's leather chair, they face strong competition from areas such as operations and sales and marketing.
But those FDs who have succeeded in securing the top job have proved themselves to be a good investment. A recent survey conducted by Financial Director magazine found that more than half of the FDs-turned-CEOs in the FTSE 350 had helped their companies to outperform the stock market average in terms of total shareholder return.
High performers include Paul Walker of accountancy software company Sage, Paul Pedley of property group...
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