Leaders Insight - with Matthew Jowett, CFO at

The role of Mentorship in Finance & Accountancy: How to find and be a mentor

I suspect Mentoring has always been around but the last decade or so has seen it rise to considerable prominence...Its value is probably greater now than it was throughout our history, or at least modern history.I have been exposed to mentoring and mentorship from every angle having proactively sought out my own mentors in the past and in time taken on the role of mentor to others. In my dual roles as a partner within The CFO Partnership and a board director of Sharp Consultancy for over a quarter of a century I have experienced it through osmosis and experience. Mentoring is something very close to my heart.Hopefully in this article I can explain why you should seek out a mentor for yourself, why your skills could make you a great mentor for others, how much satisfaction you might gain from mentoring others and one or two points on what makes a great mentor. Mentoring in Finance:Whilst mentoring can be beneficial in every type of employment and indeed, every walk of life, I believe it has particular relevance in the accountancy and finance sector.Accountants need to develop their management and leadership skills as they progress just like anyone else. They need to develop their self-knowledge and self-awareness like anyone else. They are, however, more exposed to issues regarding ethics and integrity than many other roles/industries. There can be and often is pressure for the results to be better than they are, perhaps to secure further lending or investment, please the boss, even keep their job. More than a few accountants have found themselves at His Majesty’s pleasure having done something they wouldn’t normally have done but have been pressured into. The finance leader (usually Finance Director or CFO) is the key sounding board for the owners/stakeholders; they are often the conscience of the owners. They probably need the ability to say ‘no’ more than other board members – and say yes and encourage. Whilst not responsible for operations, marketing, HR, IT (sometimes they are) and so on they transcend all those areas. They make a mistake – everything can go South very quickly.It is in part for the above reasons that the value of a mentor, someone who can be an independent sounding board, can question you and listen to you, offer opinions and advice is invaluable.Frequently a mentor helps you reach your decision and gives you the confidence to fulfil your plan. They help set challenges into perspective. They ask questions you haven’t thought of and allow you to see things through another person’s experiences. They are calming influencers and confidence builders. As a younger man early in my career I was told the best way of developing fast was to be a sponge, to absorb the greatest attributes of those around me and above me; to become an amalgamation of the best traits of those people. The challenge in accountancy and finance is you can easily find yourself at a relatively young (and hence relatively inexperienced) age in a fairly senior role with perhaps only one or two more senior finance people above you. Even if they are good, it is a very shallow talent pool to learn from. A mentor therefore can help you ‘mentally mature’, hone your decision making, cope with daily stresses, deal with difficult situations, improve as a manager or leader, manage upwards, improve your profile and credibility and build your own personal brand – in effect be the best version of yourself.However, it is worth noting what a mentor is NOT. They are not there to tell you what to do. They are not there to make decisions for you. They are not there to do your job for you. If that is what you are looking for then a mentor is not the solution.Why I became a Mentor:It was a very easy decision for me. By nature, I love helping others (it’s why I’ve loved recruitment for nearly 30 years) and I benefitted so much from formal and informal mentors myself.As an aside, a formal mentor is someone who takes responsibility for mentoring you. Informal mentors are people you surround yourself with who you know you can learn so much from just by being associated with them. There are dozens if not hundreds of people I would class as informal mentors to me; people who probably believe that I have helped them and probably don’t realise just how much they have helped me. Osmosis again!Mentoring someone is surprisingly two-way. You are there to benefit them, but you often benefit from the dynamic yourself. Mentees frequently inspire you to think differently in the same way you hope to inspire them. If you like helping people, then few things are as satisfying as being a mentor. When your mentee has a huge challenge and they are lost at sea, helping them find their way of navigating those choppy waters is one of the most satisfying things you can do. They feel fulfilled. You feel fulfilled.Finding a Mentor:It would be very difficult to try and find a random person to be your mentor. Chances are it will be someone you know well enough to admire and respect. Possibly a colleague, a customer, a supplier, a relative or a friend.You probably need to know them in advance to be sure you’d feel comfortable opening up to them; and be sure they would operate in the strictest of confidence.My first mentor was one of my customers. He was (is) a chartered accountant and at the time had been a partner in private equity for many years. He was inspirational, knowledgeable, vastly experienced in business and because of his private equity experience, had dealt with every size and type of business and every type of management team. I was very nervous asking him, but I plucked up the courage and was surprised by how flattered and delighted he was to be asked.Pick a mentor who might have enjoyed the career and experiences that you hope to achieve yourself. Luckily in finance it’s likely that you have already been exposed to such people.Identify who you’d want and simply ask them in a manner that shows how much you respect them. Give them a very easy way out so they don’t feel trapped in to agreeing ‘I know how very busy you are so there’s absolutely no problem at all if you haven’t got the time or for that matter, if being a mentor just doesn’t appeal to you’.How to be a good mentor:I suspect this is the one area I am least qualified to speak with authority on. I hope I’m a decent mentor, but would I be told if I wasn’t?There are some very sensible things that you can do or avoid doing though:Do ask what they want to get out of the meetingsDo ask what they don’t want to cover Do ask lots of questions; questions where the mentee presents the potential answers.Do explore reasoning; ‘Why’ is not an aggressive questionDo give ideas if requested toDo listenDon’t tellDon’t do it for themDo agree what actions they want to deliver before the next meeting (if that’s something they want you to do)Don’t berate them if they haven’t done what they said they were going to do – you aren’t their managerDon’t be emotional. Be factual. The regularity of the meetings is entirely up to the mentee. I always liked 1 hour every 2-3 months but that’s me. Final Thoughts:Finance is a multifaceted, technical, regulated and challenging discipline. It has huge risks if mistakes are made and can have more ethical/integrity dilemmas than many jobs. Having a mentor in finance can therefore have huge benefits.From a career development perspective, they can make all the difference. Therefore:Decide on what kind of support and advice you would like.Decide what you are trying to achieve in your business and your career.Figure out what kind of prson might have the experience that would be valuable.Do you know anyone like that?Don’t be shy, ask them. Ask them the way I mentioned earlier, and they’ll be flattered (and more likely to say yes).A dog may be for life, but a Mentor doesn’t have to be. If it isn’t working (they all lose their benefit over time) move on to another.Consider doing the same for someone else and mentoring them.

Read article

Welcome to the third instalment our insightful blog series ‘Leaders Insight’ where we continue to delve into the professional lives of these experienced senior-level experts and highlight their multifaceted expertise to inspire the next generation of CFOs.

In this chapter we caught up with Matthew Jowett, CFO at Kelling Group.

Kelling Group is a leading provider in the hire of specialist access equipment, access platforms, welfare unit hire and services to growing infrastructure and associated end markets. Kelling Group also recently won the award of Mid-Market Corporate of The Year in the 2023 The Yorkshires. Business Awards.

What, in your opinion, are the major differentiators between the role of a CFO and a Finance Director?

As a general rule, the role of CFO is more strategic and forward looking than that of a Finance Director. Whereas the Finance Director will spend the majority of their time in the Finance function, ensuring a solid financial foundation for the business and managing the ‘day-to-day’, a CFO typically spends more time in the wider business as well as managing external stakeholders e.g., investors, banks, key customers / suppliers. The reality can be very different, however, and depends on the size and nature of the business concerned; there is often quite a blurred line between the two roles, especially in smaller businesses where scale / complexity may not yet justify the cost of both in the organisation. As CFO, I am in my stride delivering a new banking facility, carrying out due diligence on an acquisition or presenting our 5-year plan to investors, but the thought of reviewing the month end consolidation or VAT return would give me cold sweats!

What do you think future leaders should prioritise or focus on most when they initially make the step up to CFO?

Build a good team around you to ensure you can delegate and focus the necessary time on the more strategic areas. If you don’t have the appropriate resource and expertise in the team, you’ll quickly get sucked down into too much detail and lose sight of the bigger picture.And on that note….

Spend time getting out and about in the business – you’ll need to force yourself to do this, it’s easy to get stuck behind the desk in the office. Speak to your staff root-and-branch and take a genuine interest; it’s amazing what you’ll learn and be able to bring back to the boardroom table. And take the time to learn your products and services inside out. Know your key costings and pricings to the penny; it will help you make better sense of your P&L and KPIs and to make better business decisions.

Your network is increasingly important as you step into a more strategic role. Being able to pick up the phone to a trusted advisory contact or an industry peer to sense check something new or unfamiliar is invaluable.

Reflecting on your first couple of years in the role of CFO what were the pitfalls you wish you had been aware of and would advise future leaders to try and avoid?

Pace yourself! Map out key objectives over a sensible / realistic timeframe and don’t try to do too much too quickly. Identify and execute the quick wins and by all means make your mark but take your time to understand the key dynamics in the business (and the industry, if the new role involves a change in that regard) before making too many strategic / structural changes – you’ll spread yourself too thin and, potentially, cause chaos!

On a related point, never underestimate how reluctant some people can be to change, however small it might seem to you…ensure you engage with the workforce and bring them on a particular journey with you at the earliest opportunity.

Finally, back yourself. You’re in this role for a reason – somebody has recognised your expertise and/or potential and you might well be surprised just how well your prior roles have prepared you for this. Don’t be afraid to ask the daft or obvious questions that no-one else is asking.

What are your opinions about the relationship between a CFO and CEO? What is critically important in building a successful partnership and providing the right support to the CEO?

I’ve been lucky enough to work with some great CEOs and a healthy relationship is crucial – you’ll spend more time speaking to them than you do your other half!In addition to the official job description, as CFO you’ll need to be the sounding board, voice of reason, agony aunt and many other things to the CEO.My observation is that being the CEO can be quite a lonely existence – ultimately the buck stops with you for everything in the business – so to have a trusted confidant in your CFO, who understands your strategy but who can provide challenge in a ‘closed’ environment, is essential.

What new key skills or attributes do you think the next generation of CFO’s are going to need to develop?

The fundamental skills will always be required – strategic thinking, commercial negotiation etc etc. In terms of specifics, there is a lot of talk around AI at the moment, and it is something we’re looking at in our business. I’m not suggesting that CFOs will need to become experts in the inner workings of this, but they will need to understand its capabilities and consider the impact, both in terms of opportunities (e.g. automating processes) and risk (e.g. more sophisticated fraud attacks etc).But standing back, this is just about being adaptable and embracing change – if you asked the same question to a CFO twenty-five years ago, you could probably replace “AI” in the response, with “the Internet”. Or four years ago it would have been the ability to adapt quickly and steer the business through a pandemic.

When considering a new CFO job opportunity what do you believe are the most important things for candidates to consider when deciding, in order to have the best chance of a successful move?

Do your homework and make sure you find the right business and the right team for you.

We’ve already talked about the crucial relationship with the CEO – do you align with their vision for the future? If not, you could be in for a very uncomfortable journey.

Who are the key stakeholders? Plc world is very different to private company world, for example, and has different demands for a CFO. Which suits you best?

How big is the business and where is it on the maturity curve?

What are the key challenges and aspirations for the business, and does this suit your skillset and ambition?

Is there a transformational event on the horizon and what would this mean for you?

Away from core accounting knowledge, what personality traits have been critical to your success as a CFO? Are these natural or have you worked on developing them?

Be inquisitive, tenacious and challenge the status quo - this is fundamental to driving organisational change and implementing new strategies. I love being told something can’t be done in response to a suggestion that could clearly add-value – so I can prove it can! Don’t get me started on “we’ve always done it this way” …

Also, you spend a huge amount of time dealing with people matters. Strong interpersonal skills are essential, as is the need to adapt for different cohorts of employees across the business. This also plays into the requirement to build strong relationships with external stakeholders.

Attention to detail is paramount; as CFO you’re often dealing with highly analytical counterparties. Likewise, missing something important in the small print of a contract can be very costly down the line.

Whether these are my natural characteristics – perhaps - but all were ingrained / beaten into me (!) before I moved into industry during my years in Corporate Finance, for which (in hindsight) I’m very grateful.

What is the one single best piece of advice you were given early in your career that still holds true today?

The “5 Whys”. I still use this technique today when I want to get to the root cause of a problem. Look it up and use it – so simple and effective!

Sharp Consultancy specialises in the recruitment of temporary, interim and permanent finance professionals. With offices in Leeds and Sheffield our highly experienced team of consultants recruit for positions throughout Yorkshire and beyond. CONTACT US today and see how we can help.

Leaders Insight - with Matthew Jowett, CFO at Kelling Group