Earlier this month I had the amazing honor of being named the best medium company CFO by the Austin Business Journal. And while I have the title of CFO, this isn’t an individual accomplishment. It’s a representation of the amazing team that I get to work with every day. The inspiring executive and leadership teams here at WP Engine empower me and everyone else within the company to volunteer our very best each and every day. Just being a part of this family is an absolute honor; this award is icing on the cake.
Today, I want to take stock and look at some of the lessons I’ve learned as CFO of WP Engine, and at other points throughout my career.
Lesson 1: Be transparent and accountable.
Being an effective leader requires adherence to a set of core values and ensuring the team has a vision and a purpose. My values and my vision for my team have remained largely unchanged for more than a decade, and they include ensuring accountability and integrity flow through all actions; being quick and decisive, but ensuring decisions are informed; and ensuring that I can support operational responsibility while providing strategic direction and tactical input and assistance to the business at large.
One way to do that is to be completely transparent.
At WP Engine, one of our core values is to do the right thing, and that is a guiding principle for me personally and professionally. It’s why we openly share our numbers with our employees, when they’re good and when they’re bad. I lead through transparency and honesty. It holds me accountable (as I’m the one up in front of the entire team sharing the data, metrics, and trends analysis). Transparency that is coupled with education and context leads to informed decisions, and informed decisions fuel success.
Lesson 2: Be agile, but thoughtful.
When you work in a hyper-growth tech company, you have to be agile. It’s necessary to be open to trying new things, and to be efficient with resources. But the only way you can do that and still be building for the future is to rely on your experience. You have to know where you’re going, your end goal, and what investments have to be made during the growth journey. I am a firm believer in testing out different initiatives but being quick to measure success or lack thereof to determine if you should stay the course or make changes. But it’s easy to trip up if you throw caution to the wind and move fast for the sake of moving fast. In a fast-growth environment, speed and agility are imperative, but to be successful in that requires thought and expertise.
Lesson 3: Don’t be a ‘CF-No.’
A successful CFO understands the business and looks for ways to be involved in cross-functional efforts. It’s also important to avoid becoming what I call a “CF-no.” Those are generally CFOs who only focus on the pure financial impact of decisions. By truly understanding the business, the needs of your internal customers, and the present challenges, CFOs can be the best partner to help ensure effective growth while also investing for the future. For those aspiring to be a CFO, I recommend getting involved in as many cross-functional initiatives as you can. This will provide the best perspective for helping support the organization.
I have been fortunate throughout my career that my responsibilities include operations outside the typical CFO role, which is becoming more common. Today’s CFO has evolved into a respected leader not just in matters of finance but also in the strategic direction of the business. My role today includes People Operations (aka Employee Experience), Finance and Accounting, Legal, Training and Development, Facilities, IT, and Recruiting. I strive to not be a CF-No.
Even after a decade of being a CFO, I continue to develop as a strategic leader but these three lessons are fundamental to my continued growth.
April is the CFO of WP Engine. Having raised over $200 million in capital and completed more than 15 acquisitions, April appreciates the complexity of managing technology and services companies at various stages. In addition to leading the finance side of the house for both publicly and privately held companies, April has a passion for people and has lead the talent and culture teams for her various companies over the last decade. Follow April on Twitter @aprildowning1.
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