Ep. 236: Ashish Gupta - The Role of CFO in Developing a Sustainable Earnings Model

In this episode, host Adam Larson sits down with Ashish Gupta, CFO North America at Reckitt, to explore the CFO's role in driving a sustainable earning model for businesses. Discover how Ashish's diverse leadership experience across continents has influenced his approach to sustainable growth and learn valuable insights on strategy, transformation, and execution. Get ready to expand your financial knowledge and gain actionable tips for driving success in your organization.

Full Episode Transcript:
Adam:            Welcome back to Count Me In. Today we are joined by Ashish Gupta, CFO, North America, at Reckitt. Ashish has worked across various continents, and his international experience has greatly influenced his approach to developing a sustainable earnings model.

Ashish shares valuable insights on the importance of sustainable leadership. The link between strategy, transformation and execution, and the need for clear communication and business transformations. Join us as we delve into the CFO's role, in driving sustainable growth and empowering teams.

 Ashish, we're so excited to have you on the podcast, today. And you've had extensive leadership experience, across various continents. And maybe you could share with our audience, how has this international experience influenced your approach to a sustainable earnings model?

Ashish:           Hi, Adam, I am actually privileged to be talking to you, today. Yes, I've been lucky to have experience in various continents. But I must say that it has also been one of the challenges that I have faced. It has not been easy, but it's also been quite enriching and rewarding. It has taught me that there is no one-size-fits-all approach, either to leadership, or to developing a sustainable earnings model, or managing teams. 

Well, my greatest learnings have been two, in this situation. The first one, has been that leadership must be situational, and it must be relevant to the place and the situation you are in. And there could be different leadership styles that you could adopt. For example, you could be empathetic, but at the same time be decisive. You could be collaborative, but be very unambiguous. You could come across as vulnerable, but still be authentic about it. And that's what people appreciate, and that's what brings your whole self to work, really.

The second one is you also need to know, and as I said, that there's no one-size-fits all approach. You also need to know when to make a switch from one style to another, depending on how your team is reacting to it. For example, sometimes, we say that it's best to give feedback to people, at that moment.

But that may not be the right approach every time. Because, sometimes, we just want people to get over the emotions and have a calmer head. Before you go back and say, "Hey, look, in this instance, we could have done it a little bit differently." And, maybe, the people are more receptive, at that point of time, when that heat has settled down and they are more calm. 

So I would say that, it has taught me, also, because I've worked in different countries, different cultures. But people are people, so people are the same. They've got emotions, they like to be heard, they like to be respected, and that is universal. That does not change.

Adam:            Yes, the human experience is universal, no matter where you go and, I think, people forget that. Because they want to divide each other because of this or that, and the human experience is so universal, like you just said. And as you're going out through your career, I'm sure you've hit different things like transformation, strategy, execution. You've had to hit all these different things in your different leadership roles. How has that set of skills supported you, in driving success in the different organizations you've been a part of?

Ashish:           Well, Adam, you've just hit on three magic words in that. Which is strategy, transformation, and execution. And I think most of the organizations struggle with the relationship between these three to their teams. Because you cannot have a transformation before you have got a clear strategy, about how do you want to drive the business. And transformation is an outcome of your strategy, and execution is implementing that strategy and transformation. 

So, very often, teams, in the business, fail to see the link of the transformation that is, sometimes, being led by global teams, to the company's strategy. And, then, it becomes even more muddy when it comes to execution. And I love this quote from Einstein, I'm not a science buff, but I love what he said.

He said that, "If you can't explain to a six-year-old, then you don't understand it." And I think it's very true. And it may sound complex strategy, transformation, execution, but organizations need to keep it very simple. Because if people don't get it, then it doesn't reflect in teams not interested in executing a project or program. And it may sound something similar to Silent Resignation, that we talked about today, so people are not just interested.

With my experience, I have had experience, and I'm lucky to have experience on both sides. I've led global transformation programs from the corporate side, and I've been at the receiving end, and large markets of those transformation programs. I've always wanted to understand the strategy behind a transformation. Why are we implementing a project?

What's the corporate strategy in it?

What do we get out of it?

What do I get out of it? 

And that helps me put in the right execution force and resources behind it.

Adam:            So, you're speaking about leading transformation into the finance function. One of the times, I was reading about in a recent article you wrote, was the Group Transformation Finance Director at Reckitt. How is that experience? What things did you learn from that particular experience, that helped translate into what you're currently working on?

Ashish:           Well, it has been immensely useful to my learning, really, Adam. And, normally, if you see in any organization, there are about two to three centers of gravity in an organization. The first one really is the corporate headquarters; that drives the vision, purpose, and strategy for the company.

The second one, in many instances, is the geography or business unit headquarter, depending on how the organization is set up. And the third one, which I believe is the most important one, are the markets where the business actually gets delivered and, sometimes, there's a confusion.

But it's so true, that the transformation office always works for the markets to bring in that change and shift.

In my transformation roles, I was leading the selection and implementation of certain cutting-edge projects and tools, in various areas. Planning, forecasting, controllership and compliance, productivity. And, then, I'm currently working in the biggest market, which is U.S. So it has helped me to understand that once you understand the strategy be...