If you were asked to cook the books, would you? You may think, “Of course not.” Yet, why do CFOs do it? Aaron Beam was a co-founder of HealthSouth and their first CFO when his boss, Richard Scrushy, told him to fix the numbers so that the share price would not drop. Aaron faced an ethical dilemma.
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Paul Downs Reminds Us We Don’t Need to be Steve Jobs or Jeff Bezos
Periodically, I stumble across a book where I don’t want it to end. I found Boss Life by Paul Downs so absorbing, so real, and so transparent that I felt compelled to reach out to him for an interview. Not only did he agree to do so, but he also said, “Let’s take all the time you need to answer these questions.”
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Ron Baker Discusses Pricing, NPS, Metrics, and Much More
Not only is Ron Baker a long-time member of my mental board of mentors and experts, but he’s also seated at the head of the table. When he walks into my thought process, I stand. Yes, this revolutionary thinker on value pricing for professional services firms is that good. Accordingly, you are in for a treat.
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Dave Kellogg Addresses The Rule of 40, EPM, SaaS Metrics, and More
Dave Kellogg is the former CEO of Host Analytics now called Planful. Dave is a brilliant writer on his blog called Kellblog and he’s outstanding behind a mic too. Since leaving his CEO post, Dave has been consulting SaaS-based businesses in Silicon Valley, and we hit on many of the topics that are near and dear to him.
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HR’s Most Dangerous Podcasters Talk Talent, Technology and Their Trade
Bruce is able to coax the coolest podcasters in the HR space with some bourbon to join the show to talk about COVID, employee engagement, privacy issues surrounding technology, and numerous other topics in this colorful discussion. As a financial leader, whether you are new to HR or not, this show is for you.
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John Boyd’s Biographer on the OODA Loop, Strategy, and Careers
Maybe the name John Boyd does not ring a bell, but perhaps the OODA Loop will, the mental model created by one of the most gifted military strategists since Sun Tzu. I was so mesmerized by Robert Coram’s biography on John Boyd, I reached out to the author to talk about his book, a project that took him more than three years to write.
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Great But Unknown Business Books
Every year, I read the top 2-3 new business books that have been published. Beyond that, I still prefer reading obscure books, titles that fly under the radar. Accordingly, here are 20 obscure business titles ranging from management to marketing to small business.
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Connecting the Dots between Rowing and Business with Dan Boyne
I know nothing about rowing, yet I like reading books about this sport because the necessary ingredients for success are similar in business and for the leaders who steer them to never-ending finish lines. Accordingly, CFO Bookshelf was thrilled to interview author and rowing coach, Dan Boyne.
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Your CEO Wants You to Know These Fundamentals
Once upon a time, every business manager and leader in a mid-sized to large company read Charan’s and Bossidy’s classic, Execution: The Discipline of Getting Things Done. However, you may have missed a gem that Charan published about a decade later.
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Porter’s Five Forces on the Political Stage
When I saw the book, The Politics Industry, pop up in my LinkedIn feed authored by Katherine Gehl along with Michael Porter, I skimmed the viewable pages on Amazon. Brilliant content and creative – using Porter’s Five Forces on the political stage. More than brilliant – genius thinking. Within minutes, I was reaching out to Katherine Gehl on LinkedIn for an interview request.
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