Broadening CFO skills can lead to new career vistas

HEADNOTE

For CFOs who want to challenge themselves, expand their skills, and achieve positions with greater rewards and responsibility, the career progression from CFO to COO or CEO appears to be a natural one.

Becoming the CFO of a hospital or healthcare

system can be the culmination of one's career or a starting place for even greater achievement. Today's CFO is expected to mold outcomes using strategic thinking and visionary planning, and drawing on experience executing a wide range of business ventures and managing the operational details of a modern healthcare facility CFOs who want to assume the CEO or COO role in a healthcare organization need to go beyond even these strategic skills. They also need to be willing to take risks and demonstrate a commitment to lifelong learning.

Three healthcare executives trained in finance who have moved beyond the CFO role to assume other senior positions in healthcare administration have insights into planning career growth. Craig Leach, MBA, CPA, recently was promoted to executive vice president for operations and COO at Torrance Memorial Hospital, Torrance, California, where he previously was the CFO. Michael M. Garko, MHA, CPA, is CFO at Valley Health System, Hemet, California, but also serves as "a leased finance executive consultant for operations" for a physician-owned management company that partners with Valley Health System. Steven R. Barron, MBA, president of St. Bernardine Medical Center, San Bernardino, California, has had a career that evolved from finance to operations within the organization, and also has served as president, COO, executive vice president, and CFO at other hospitals.

According to Barron, holding a CPA alone would not have been helpful to him in making his career moves, but the MBA is an important educational credential for any healthcare executive. "The MBA program should emphasize the skills that one needs to achieve one's aspirations," says Barron. "Instead of the usual, quantitative programs, I chose an MBA program that emphasized management and leadership competence. I felt I already possessed strong technical skills, but to make the transition to president, I needed to focus on developing skills in leadership, public speaking, and general management."

Making the Transition

All three executives agree on the importance of education, but stress that operations skills and experience are critical factors in making a transition from finance to operations. Craig Leach comments, "CFOs today can find plenty of opportunity for genuine career growth. Their leadership abilities and management experience can help them to grow professionally, opening up a range of challenging new roles. They have a global perspective that lets them see how each aspect of operations affects the status of the entire organization. By expanding on their essential skills and strengths, CFOs can make the transition to nonfinance administrative areas within the organization.

"For example, by utilizing the same negotiating abilities they have honed in working with financial interests, CFOs can negotiate contracts with physicians and physician groups, especially in a challenging managed care environment. Physician recruitment is another area in which CFOs can excel. Their knowledge of the marketplace can be valuable in persuading key physicians to join the team. So, clearly, some skills that CFOs use daily are transferable to operations."

Leach suggests, "CFOs should look at their place at the senior management table not only as a position of power and authority, but also as a learning opportunity. Then, moving to the next level becomes a natural progression, not a huge leap into the unknown."

Mike Garko says, "I had had my feet on the ground as CFO at Valley Health System for a couple of years when the CFO of the partnering physician management company left, and I was asked to step in. It has been exciting to remain in the financial area while having some operations responsibility. Taking on the finance and operations work with a managed care company that manages IPAs as well as staff-model physician groups has given me a whole new perspective. Now, I can see things from both the hospital's and the physicians' sides. It has been fascinating and challenging to try to reconcile the two viewpoints."

He adds, "I would advise young finance professionals to know all the details that affect each position in their department. They should be able to do the job of each person in the department if necessary. This immersion in the details will help keep their developing careers fresh and interesting. Finance professionals who want more challenge should seek opportunities for operations experience. For example, some organizations that have eliminated the COO role now have operations tasks available. A finance background and basic CFO skill set should be strong enough to bring a finance professional success in many operations roles. However, those aiming for the

CEO role may need to add to or strengthen their executive skills."

Steve Barron cautions that, although operations experience is vital for CFOs who want to attain top positions in healthcare administration, it may not be easy to acquire. He says, "CFOs are fortunate in that they hold positions at the executive level and have exposure to everything that is going on. At the same time, it is difficult for a CFO to escape the inevitable characterization as a technocrat and bean counter. It may be best to acquire operations skills by seizing opportunities as they arise, then move to another location where one is not known exclusively as `the finance person."'

Assessment of Aptitudes

Careful self-assessment is essential. Barron says, "It is important to know yourself and to avoid trying to become someone you are not. CEOs and CFOs share many important personality traits. Both groups are articulate, intelligent, and success-oriented. But in two key personality areas they differ. CFOs tend to be introverted and risk-averse, while CEOs generally are extroverted risk-takers, both personally and professionally.

"The skills needed are different, too," he continues. "Consider public speaking. Most CFOs think of themselves as good speakers, but actually what they are doing is professorial speaking, as in teaching a class. CFOs are comfortable in that role because they are experts in their subject matter. The CEO role, on the other hand, involves a lot of public speaking. At the drop of a hat, a CEO will be asked to `say a few words' at almost any type of gathering. A CEO should be comfortable in those situations, appearing completely at ease, and be able to think quickly and recall stories appropriate to the circumstances. The CEO is expected to be inspirational and to convey a message, almost like a political figure."

The best and most successful healthcare CEOs are those with a solid understanding of finance and its many subdisciplines. Happily, for CFOs who want to challenge themselves, expand their skills, and achieve positions with greater rewards and responsibility, the career progression from CFO to COO or CEO appears to be a natural one.

AUTHOR_AFFILIATION

Richard A. Swan, is senior vice president, Witt/Kieffer, Irvine, California. His e-mail address is dicks@wittkieffer.com.