Transitioning from Second-in-Charge to CFO

A senior finance executive, working as the 2iC to the CFO at a large Australian food and beverage manufacturer, was seeking her first CFO role. While she had performed many of the CFO’s responsibilities—overseeing budgets, working on major investment and financing decisions, managing risk, and leading finance teams—she lacked the official title and struggled to confidently communicate her readiness for the role. Her primary challenge was shifting her mindset from task-oriented execution to strategic leadership, branding herself as a CFO, and articulating her accomplishments in a way that would resonate with C-suite executives and board members.

Our coaching sessions focused on developing her communication skills, positioning her as a strategic leader rather than a task-oriented executor. We began by assessing her current achievements and responsibilities, and reframing them to highlight her strategic impact on the business. Through mock interviews, we worked on transforming her messaging from “what she did” to “how she led” the finance function. Additionally, we addressed mindset shifts, helping her adopt the perspective of a CFO—thinking about long-term financial planning, risk mitigation, and organisational leadership at a high level. We also worked on her personal branding, refining her resume, LinkedIn profile, and professional narrative to showcase her as a seasoned financial leader ready to take on the CFO role.

We developed a strategic branding plan to help her communicate her experience with confidence, emphasising the breadth and depth of her work. She learned how to articulate her ability to lead the finance function, manage risk, and provide strategic direction to the board. We practised positioning her as someone who wasn’t just ready for the CFO role but who had effectively been performing those duties already. In addition to refining her interview technique, we built her confidence in presenting herself as a capable and visionary leader in the C-suite.

The client successfully transitioned from viewing herself as a “second-in-charge” to embodying the mindset of a CFO. She secured multiple interviews for CFO positions, and in her interviews, she was able to clearly communicate her value as a strategic financial leader. Ultimately, she received an offer for a CFO role at a mid-sized food distribution company. The confidence she gained in branding herself as a CFO, along with the skills developed through the coaching process, helped her to elevate her career.