The CFO of a company should always be approachable show their human side to their employees. While this does not mean hanging out with the employees after work, it does mean that the CFO should listen attentively to their employees and take interest in their thoughts, ideas and concerns. Your employees will work much harder for you if they respect you.
A very easy way to earn the respect of the employees is to practice what you preach. It is very easy to give direction and let people know what is expected of them. If you set down ground rules for the staff you should adhere to them as well. If you give them a rule and then they witness you breaking the same rule you have just lost credibility with them.
Another important aspect of CEO employment is the ability to manage and take an active role with the board of directors. You should not allow the board to make decisions and take actions without any input from you. If you roll up your sleeves and attack a problem right alongside of them it will increase their confidence in your abilities and will have a better idea of your work ethic and ideas to make the processes smoother.
The board members are responsible for many very important factors in the successes of the business. It is your job as the CFO or CEO to make sure that things run smoothly and to avoid any potentially negative actions by the board. If you stand on the side lines and just watch things happen you will ultimately be held responsible and could cause damage to the company or, even worse, lose your position in the company.
CEO careers are great but you have to understand that there will be times that you receive information and make decisions that may not be the best choice for the company. It is very important to show your employees that you can admit when you were wrong. You are human and make decisions at times that are not the best.
If you make a mistake or misjudge a situation and take an inappropriate action in result of it that you are able to step up and admit that you were wrong. You will earn a great amount of respect from everyone in the company if you can go to them and admit that your decision was the incorrect one. It is important to make amends as quickly as you can. If you know that you made a mistake and do not reconcile the error then the end result could be much worse.
If you are looking for CEO employment, be sure that you are ready for the responsibility and can give it a hundred percent. The most successful companies rely heavily on the leadership abilities of the CFO and CEO. You must be willing to give it everything you have and form a very good professional relationship with your employees and the members of the board of directors.
