The CFO Incubator today was addressed by James Logie-Smith, the CFO at Pinnacle Bakery & Integrated Ingredients.
James described his career to date, which commenced in the Chartered Accounting profession and progressed to include roles with Valspar and Sara Lee, in Australia and abroad. He also took the opportunity to complete a MBA at the Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University.
Using his career as a reference point, James described how he had deliberately sought to develop himself professionally by actively seeking out growth opportunities and backed himself to take risks where the reward was significant. These situations have taken the form of projects, study, relocations and job changes. This has helped him to overcome many of his limitations and gain experience faster than would otherwise have been possible, allowing him to progress to become a CFO.
With James’ current role in a business owned by a private equity firm, he also commented on the differences he perceived between corporate and private equity-backed organisations. He cited clear earnings growth requirements, shorter execution timeframes and a greater desire to see change implemented effectively and rapidly as three examples of the differences.
We are grateful to James for sharing his candid perspectives and advice on how to accelerate professional advancement.
If you would like to find out more about our CFO Incubator program, please visit our CFO Incubator page.
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