Becoming a more valuable CFO (outsource yourself)

Resumes/CV's are often a historical rendering of where you have been and what positions and responsibilities you were accountable for.  Unfortunately, the part that makes you most valuable to a future employer and your current employer is not what you were accountable for, but the impact you made with quantifiable achievements and often your skills may not always match the business need.  Worse yet, there may be little opportunity to practice your decision making on a new initiative without putting your job on the line resulting in many overly cautious, conservative and less impactful decisions being made by CFO's.  Training does no good if the exposure to new best practices comes with considerable risk of failure.  So how do you polish your skills without the stigma of the inevitable bumps and bruises of sticking of radically new ways of doing things?

Practice...Practice...Practice.  One of the few opportunities that CFO's at successful companies overlook in their own career development is volunteering their expertise to small or middle market companies that are often staffed with a low level general accountant or bookkeeper.  When we as CFO's examine our busy work and family schedule's we sometimes find a way to volunteer to be the voice of financial reason at our church or favorite not for profit charity.  That devotion of your time is often just that- charity.  I am advocating CFO's review their time spent in peer forums, industry training and technical training and examine if some real life experience wouldn't give you better feedback on the skills you need to keep sharp.

Recently I had a business contact tell me a member of his young professionals organization was in need of help negotiating with his current bank and reviewing his forecast and budget.  In less than 20 hours of my personal time I was able to help him develop a marketing document that reflected his current business initiatives, spot flaws in the budget process and challenge spending patterns and unprofitable business lines.  My organization has none of these same struggles and the sharpness of my analysis would wane if not for the opportunity to test my skills in an environment where change is necessary.  My only caveat is that your help is not charity- it may well be the life or death to an organization so make firm commitments to what your deliverables will be and be on time.  Be the same professional for them as your full time job.  When you reach a milestone of achievement with this experience, it will also be worthy of your resume/CV and when they say "Thank You", don't forget to thank them for making you a better CFO (and person).