Friday 26th April 2024

Six ways CFOs find the time to unlock their full potential

Call it the CFO conundrum. As your company’s most senior finance executive, you understand that your most important mission is to enable significant value creation. That means finding a way to shift from “just” keeping a complex finance function on the rails to establishing yourself as the CEO’s principal thought partner—rather than, as some CFOs confide, being considered “a glorified accountant.” For some CFOs, the challenge can be even more intense. Instead of being carefully prepped for succession over the course of years, they find themselves thrust into the top role unexpectedly, perhaps when the business is in distress, emerging from an ownership change, or dealing with a tail-event crisis (as occurred with the COVID-19 pandemic or as is playing out today with geopolitical conflicts). They simply must carry the mantle forward. Urgent requirements, including cash management, internal and external reporting, talent development, risks and controls, and scenario planning, can’t be wished away.

But even following the most favorable transitions, many CFOs ask how they can conjure up the massive amount of time required to run a company’s finance function and also be a thoughtful, strategy-first leader. And how, in the face of the enormous complexity of pressing and even competing demands, can they establish the credibility to have other senior leaders view them as the de facto “deputy CEO”? If only they had more time, they could be that kind of CFO. But because they’re not that kind of CFO, they need to scramble to invest even more time.

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Forget subtitles: YouTube now dubs videos with AI-generated voices

YouTube’s automatic dubbing system is competing with human firms to help creators scale the language barrier.

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Inside TSMC’s struggle to build a chip factory in the U.S. suburbs

Missed deadlines and tension among Taiwanese and American coworkers are plaguing the chip giant’s Phoenix expansion.

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'Putin Is My Enemy.' The Revolution of Yulia Navalnaya

In an exclusive interview with TIME, Yulia Navalnaya opens up about stepping into her late husband's position

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The Parents Who Regret Having Children

No one regrets having a child, or so it’s said. I’ve heard this logic often, usually after I’m asked if I have children, then, when I say I don’t, if I plan to. I tend to evade the question, as I find that the truth—I have no plans to be a parent—is likely to invite swift dissent. I’ll be told I’ll change my mind, that I’m wrong, and that while I’ll regret not having a child, people don’t regret the obverse. Close family, acquaintances, and total strangers have said this for years; I let it slide, knowing that, at the very least, the last part is a fiction.

These studies align with what I've found in my personal life: While most parents don’t regret having kids, some do. Perhaps in part because I’ve written publicly about choosing not to have children, I’ve had people, especially mothers, confide in me about parental regret, and frequently enough I’ve lost count.

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Inside Google’s Plans to Combat Election Misinformation

"Prebunking" is Google's latest effort to fight fake news.

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It Doesn't Take Long to Reset Your Gut Health With Small Lifestyle Changes

How long does it take to improve your gut health? Learn what research is saying and how you can reset your microbiome through diet.

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The U.S. announced an asbestos ban. What took so long? - Environment (No paywall)

Such a ban has been a long time coming, according to experts who contend that there are no safe levels of asbestos, a substance that still kills 40,000 people annually in the U.S. In all, over 50 countries have already banned the mineral, known to cause a laundry list of cancers including mesothelioma, a rare cancer of the membranes that line the lungs and abdomen. It’s also been shown to cause lung, larynx, ovarian, stomach, and colon cancer.

That’s part of the reason that Congress decided to significantly amend TSCA in 2016 under the Obama Administration. The hope is that this time the ban will stand up in court. Still, experts say that it doesn’t go far enough. While the rule covers the most widely used asbestos fiber, it doesn’t cover all six forms. It’s focused on banning gaskets, diaphragms containing asbestos used in the production of chlorine, and some automotive products like aftermarket brakes and linings.

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5 Tips For Creating A Professional Email Signature - Forbes (No paywall)

Enhance your professional email signature for maximum impact using these five simple yet effective tips.

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The Politics of Place and What It Means for Talent Strategy

The spring 2024 issue’s special report looks at how to take advantage of market opportunities in the digital space, and provides advice on building culture and friendships at work; maximizing the benefits of LLMs, corporate venture capital initiatives, and innovation contests; and scaling automation and digital health platform.

The spring 2024 issue’s special report looks at how to take advantage of market opportunities in the digital space, and provides advice on building culture and friendships at work; maximizing the benefits of LLMs, corporate venture capital initiatives, and innovation contests; and scaling automation and digital health platform.

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