The Human Side of Finance: What Makes a Great CFO w/ Pinky Raina

Apr 16, 2024

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Pinky is the Chief Financial Officer of Ideal Industries, a ~$400M manufacturing company with a global footprint. She leads several enterprise-wise transformation initiatives, enabling the company’s business model to adapt to changing market conditions and disruptive market forces. In her prior role as the CFO & COO at U.S. Soccer, Pinky led the organization through its challenges in a highly-visible media environment, including the Women's National Team Equal Pay Litigation. She was central to the company's most significant commercial, legal, operational, and financial events. In this conversation, she talks about what it means to be a strategic CFO and how she thinks about the human aspects of leading finance.

Mentioned on the Show:

Ideal Industries: https://www.idealindustries.com/us/en.html
View Pinky's profile at Ideal Industries: https://www.idealindustries.com/us/en/about/leadership/pinky-raina.html
Connect with Pinky on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/pinkyraina

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Connect with O’Brien McMahon on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/obrienmcmahon/
Learn more about O’Brien: https://obrienmcmahon.com/
O’Brien’s new book—How You Become You—is available now: https://a.co/d/22kZ0sV

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Timestamps:

(1:49) - Welcome Pinky!
(2:39) - What is a CFO’s job?
(4:15) - What does "accelerating value creation" mean to you?
(5:56) - What makes a good CFO?
(8:10) - Do your peers have the same mindset you do?
(9:48) - How handicapped are you working for a public company?
(11:29) - Why do public company executives care about short-term market changes?
(13:43) - Why is there a 3-5 year turnover rate for CEOs?
(15:40) - How did you develop your mindset?
(16:47) - How do you coach the people on your team?
(22:03) - What’s your mindset and what types of things are you looking for as a CFO?
(29:42) - Are you verbalizing your plan to your team on day one?
(32:40) - Who do you use as resources to help you navigate onboarding?
(34:08) - Can you talk about how you partnered with HR in onboarding?
(36:34) - Can you tell how you came to be in HR?
(39:28) - What surprised you the most about taking on an HR role?
(40:10) - What did you learn from your HR experience?
(43:26) - How do you plan succession roles?
(48:50) - As a CFO how do you think about talent and leadership development?
(55:04) - Do you have any final thoughts you’d like to share?