Searchlight Newsletter – Q2 2019
Q2 2019 |
A Message from Keith Pearson, CEO & Vice Chairman
Once upon a time, the chief financial officer role was all about the numbers. But today, if you asked a CFO what keeps him or her up at night, the answer probably wouldn’t have anything to do with accounting.
We asked that question of the CFO panelists at our June 2019 Spotlight SeriesSM breakfast, and their answers were revealing. One said she loses sleep over cyber security. Another is keeping a wary eye on healthcare reform. One is laser-focused on organizational growth. Another spends a lot of time thinking about how to outsmart the competition.
These CFOs’ answers to this surprisingly complex question are a reflection of how the finance leader’s role has changed. CFOs today are an important part of their organizations’ strategic teams and are leading IT initiatives, developing human resources programs, training their future replacements, managing risk, monitoring cyber security and continuously scanning the regulatory environment and global trends to keep their organizations a step ahead of their competition.
The discussion at our recent Spotlight Series breakfast revealed the ever-expanding breadth of the CFO’s responsibilities and shared the increasing complexity and collaboration of this once-siloed role. To learn more, read our summary of the discussion in this issue.
Here at Pearson Partners, our team continues to grow and excel. I am extremely proud to share the news of two well-deserved promotions. In May, we named Renee Baker Arrington President & Chief Operating Officer. Renee has partnered with me on many strategic initiatives over the years and it gives me great pleasure to make her leadership role at Pearson Partners official. In June, we promoted Stephen Konstans to Senior Vice President and Financial Officers Practice Leader. Stephen has long focused on CFO and finance leader search expertise and I’m eager to see our clients realize even greater value as Stephen takes the helm to lead our financial officers practice area.
We are looking forward to our global partnership’s annual meeting in Dubai in October, where our partner consultants from 43 offices in 29 countries will convene to discuss trends in their businesses. With our clients and the global business climate evolving daily, it is a very exciting time to be in executive search and leadership consulting.
In This Issue
Quarterly Spotlight SeriesSM Breakfast:
The Changing Role of the Chief Financial Officer
At our recent Spotlight SeriesSM breakfast event, we invited a group of CFOs to talk about how they spend their days and what they worry about at night. Long gone are the days when a CFO’s sole focus was on finance. The increasingly complex responsibilities of finance leaders demand a diverse skill set and continuous attention to a variety of influences that challenge an organization in unexpected ways. A valued part of their organizations’ leadership teams, CFOs are making strategic contributions that establish a strong foundation for growth, competitiveness and future leadership.
Read MoreCase Study:
The Flawless Code for a Leading Information Technology Organization’s CEO
When the nation’s leading information technology professionals’ association, Society for Information Management (SIM), needed a new CEO, they knew they wanted to expand the scope of the role to meet the evolving demands of the profession and to do so, they enlisted the help of an executive search firm. Learn how Pearson Partners’ search experts Renee Arrington and Lisa Thompson helped SIM recruit the perfect match.
Read MoreWhite Paper:
Executive Talent 2025: What’s Now, New and Next in Global C-Suite Talent
What are the trends in recruiting and developing C-Suite leadership in the next five years? The Association of Executive Search and Leadership Consultants (AESC) has undertaken an intensive study to find out. Following on its report three years ago, Executive Talent 2020, the organization surveyed global business leaders to study their top challenges and priorities as well as expectations and plans for the next few years. Learn more and read the white paper in this issue.
Read MoreTips from the Leadership Coach:
Boutique Executive Search Firms Help Clients Win the War for Talent
At a time when hiring and retaining the best executives and reducing time-to-hire are crucial in winning the war for talent, boutique executive search firms have a clear advantage over large firms whose hands are tied by constraints like overreaching off-limits restrictions, often taking months to develop a slate of candidates that may not be the best fit. Today, organizations value the speed, agility and fewer constraints of boutique executive search firms with national and international footprints. Read eight tips on the many advantages of a boutique search firm.
Read MorePearson Partners Profile:
Custis Hoge, Advisory Board Member
Our newest member of our esteemed board of advisors, Custis Hoge, is a leading financial executive with a strong, client-focused management style. He strives to be a servant-leader to his teams and business colleagues. Learn why we invited Custis to join our advisory board and lend his expertise to our team by reading his Profile Q&A in this issue.
Read More
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