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Diane Creel knows firsthand what it's like to serve on a board where public discussions are not encouraged. A few years ago, she was asked by investors to join the board of directors of a company facing a financial crisis. She agreed, hoping to help bring the company back to black.The rest of the story is an unfortunate lesson that can happen when the board is seen by CEOs, particularly the CEOs who are chairing them. Creel quickly learned that no opposition was encouraged and real conversations about risk and strategy were rare. When she raises concerns, they will be…
As of the end of 2024, S&P 500 members held 31% of their current assets in cash. According to data from JP Morgan Asset Management, technology and real estate companies earn about 46% of their current assets in cash. A portion of the excess cash from large companies is held in FDIC insurance bank accounts, but a significant portion is not the case. FDIC is guaranteed up to $250,000 per depositor per financial institution. Therefore, companies with tens of millions of cash on their balance sheets must either invest liquidity in securities, money market funds or engage in complex financial…
Important takeouts: Restructuring often leaves uncertainty and liberation, and it is important for CEOs to deal with emotional fallouts and strategies. The silence after Reorg is a warning sign and is not reassuring. Leaders need to create space for honest dialogue and emotional connection. Equipping your manager to lead empathy and support can greatly improve your team's resilience and performance. Culture is rebuilt through everyday interactions rather than formal messaging. Trust, recognition, and transparency are keys to reinvigorating employees. In spreadsheets, restructuring decisions often make sense. Roles are integrated, teams merge, and leadership charts are redrawn with strategic accuracy. But…
As artificial intelligence implements operations, strategies and infrastructure more deeply, directors are being asked to provide monitoring on systems that do not exist when most board structures are built.meanwhile CBMGames Global Director Sheila Bangalore, Director of Paloma Health and Stoneage Waterblast Tools and Director of Credit Suisse Funds, Samantha Kappagoda, Chief Data Scientist at Nugherati Partners, shared his strategy for adapting to this moment of AI supervision. Some practices worth considering:Be careful when monitoring. AI monitoring does not always fit well with existing committees. Some boards have moved AI to audit or risk, while others have created standalone monitoring channels.…
How can financial leaders manage uncertainty skillfully? The first step is to determine what kind of uncertainty we are talking about, says Hilary Norris, CFO of financial management software company GTREASURY. Uncertainty is provided in at least three different types, which are from a macro perspective. Currently, US companies have experienced two out of three, one of which is related to AI. In the interview below, Norris, whose year of corporate finance brought her to the UK, Asia Pacific, the Netherlands and the US, explains why CFOs tend to handle uncertainty better than others. The Oxford University Grade also reveals…
When Harley-Davidson announced a successor to longtime CEO Jochen Zeitz this spring, the motorcycle maker probably didn’t expect to be slammed into a proxy brawl over it. But that’s exactly what happened as activist investor H Partners came roaring in, accusing the board of botching the succession process and demanding a total leadership overhaul.H’s argument? The board’s preferred successor was chosen behind closed doors, without sufficient strategic clarity or outside search. Harley fired back, calling the claims self-serving. But the damage was done: Shareholders—already grumpy with a share price down 35 percent over the prior year— had a front-row seat…
Over the past few years, the work of corporate board members has become much more difficult. Directors had to take on more responsibility and address more complicated decisions under extremely difficult economic circumstances. Yet hundreds of new directors are appointed each year, and certain trends emerge from appointments where many committees reveal the value of new candidates.According to Heidrick & Struddles 2025 Board Monitor US, the Fortune 500 company filled 379 board sheets in 2024. The characteristics of these appointees are as follows:73% of the appointees had previous board experience. 88% of the appointees had international experience. 72% of appointed…
One big beautiful invoice, HR 1, not everything is beautiful and comes with some big numbers. The Congressional Budget Office estimates that over the next decade, it will add $3.4 trillion more debt to the US balance sheet than if the law had not passed. Cutting federal spending on Medicaid and SNAP will reduce household resources by $1 trillion, according to the CBO. Calculate the impact of the dollar on reductions and tax incentives for the production and consumption of clean energy? It's more than just a number. However, for most US companies and their CFOs, the OBBA offers a…
CFO leadership in the age of artificial intelligence and rapid growth is the focus of today’s Secrets of Rockstar CFOs episode. Host Jack McCullough chats with Davinder Athwal, the former CFO of Philadelphia-based Phenom, an AI-powered HR technology company and unicorn. They explore Davinder’s unique career journey, from his early days in the UK, and how his diverse background shaped his approach to finance and strategy.Davinder shares his ideas on building world-class teams, navigating rapid growth and the critical role of AI in transforming the job market. But he also stresses the importance of keeping an eye on what truly…
James Redfern, CFO at Reltio, has seen a radical change in the B2B software market since joining Accenture as a strategic consultant in the late 1990s. Having spent 10 years as executive director of Morgan Stanley's Technology Investment Bank, he has a keen eye on the details of his SaaS business model and the requirements of private capital providers when investing in the software business. At Reltio, a data management and unified platform, Redfern's job is to guide SaaS companies through the arrival of AI, a fundamental market shift. Luckily, Reltio has adaptable capital and has $100 million banks from…