CFO Bookshelf

You probably know about the best-selling book entitled American Icon which explains how an outsider turned around an ailing automotive company.But what set Alan Mulally apart from any other CEO? Why didn't he bring his Boeing managers to Ford with him? Is he as humble as we see him in the many interviews he conducts?Bryce Hoffman is the author of American Icon, and we learn more about this fascinating CEO along with his newest book about red team thinking. 

My favorite book about OKRs is Radical Focus by Christina Wodtke. Christina recently updated her book with a second edition which is the topic in this episode. We also talk about her dream job at Stanford University, why OKRs are not for every business, why some CEOs go wrong with OKRs, and why having a healthy culture is the starting point for implementing OKRs of any scale.

Geraldine Carter is a consultant to small CPA firms around the country, and her message is niching down and burying the billable hour by implementing value pricing.Geraldine is also the host of the Smart Strategy for CPA's podcast. But her message is not unique for CPA firms - it's universal - all professional services firms can gain meaningful insights from Geraldine's expertise.

While Simon Wardley is the creator of the visual strategy mapping construct called Wardley Mapping, I consider Ben Mosior one of the greatest teachers of this framework.In this show, we discuss how to get started with Wardley Mapping and the mindset to stick with it. 

The host of CFO Bookshelf bumped into Simon Wardley's writing on mapping strategy several years ago, and he couldn't put his content down.In this conversation, we talk about the strategy circle, the OODA loop, the 'why' of purpose, doctrine, and many other key concepts related to Wardley Mapping.

Greg Graves is the former CEO of the employee-owned engineering firm, Burns & McDonnell. In this show, he talks about going 'all in' regarding ESOPs and his book Create Amazing.

Brad Chase was the marketing mastermind behind one of the most successful software launches ever - Windows 95. He replicated this success while serving at Microsoft on several other high-profile projects.Brad is the author of Strategy First: How Businesses Win Big. In this episode, we discuss the big ideas in his book including the E-Strategy and simple formula that's simple, impactful, and memorable.

Jack McCullough is the CFO of all CFOs. He's the founder and President of The CFO Leadership Council with a membership of more than 1,800 financial leaders. Jack is the author of Rock Star CFOs which lists 9 traits of a great CFO, our topic in this fascinating and insightful interview.

Everybody Ought to Be Rich by David Farber is now one of my favorite books in the business history genre. It's the story of one of the greatest number 2 men of the modern business era, John Jakob Raskob - a name that every financial leader should know about.

If I'm going to listen to a data science and analytics expert for nearly an hour, that person better speak a language that I can understand and who is relatable.That person does exist, and his name is Jon Daniels of Bamboo HR. In this episode, he talks about data lakes, data warehousing, ETL, and data governance.He also provides simple strategies to go from no intelligence to business and artificial intelligence.