As Labor Day approaches and vacations end, CFOs have one month to meet third-quarter numbers. Concurrently, they’re adjusting Q4 forecasts and laying the foundation for 2025 budgets (the latter involves adjusting assumptions around the macroeconomy, political turmoil and the capital markets).
In reality, though, finance professionals are always under tremendous pressure. The awareness of enormous responsibilities is constant—even in the dog days of summer. But “it’s lonely at the top,” as the saying goes. A CFO’s work and projects are not just high-impact but usually highly confidential.
As a result, today’s CFOs need to look out for themselves as much as they do their organizations. StrategicCFO360 spoke with Sunil S. Deshmukh, the global board chair for the Institute of Management Accountants, to get some perspective on the importance of the CFO’s mental health. A leadership coach, Deshmukh discussed an underappreciated challenge for CFOs and other executives: mental stress and loneliness.
CFOs increasingly face challenges across business functions, from cyber risk to talent gaps to maintaining rigorous finance and accounting controls. How much does all that weigh on their mental health?
As a C-Suite executive, the CFO is in a position of immense responsibility and, typically, stress. This has always been the case, of course. But new challenges make for new sources of anxiety. Today’s CFO has an area of responsibility larger and more unpredictable than the CFO of yesteryear. With ever-evolving risks and threats to a company’s finances and operations, CFOs must continuously interpret what’s happening in their external environment and assess how it will impact the company.
The mental burden is enormous, and this often also feeds into a sense of isolation as CFOs are swamped by their work and have few people who can relate to their problems.
Why do CFOs and other C-Suite executives often lack emotional, psychological and professional support, and how does that negatively impact their performance?
The CFO, like any C-Suite member, is in their own category regarding responsibility. You can undoubtedly bond with lower-level employees or with friends and family, but do they understand what weighs on you? Can you turn to them for support and actionable advice?
That isn’t to say that personal, non-work relationships aren’t helpful—indeed, they are vital to well-being. However, a senior leader has a unique role and needs peer support.
Organizations must recognize how much a C-Suite executive’s lack of a healthy mental state negatively impacts performance. Is a senior leader making the best decisions when they’re mentally overwhelmed, lonely or depressed? Probably not. It’s sad to say, but often, organizations only deal with an employee’s issues when there’s a business case. But in this kind of situation, I would say there’s an obvious business case: a burned-out CFO isn’t the best CFO.
What measures should organizations take to ensure better support to combat mental ill health and loneliness among CFOs, and why is it important to do so?
Organizations can seek professional executive coaches and advisors to help boost leaders’ well-being. Given the potential negative impact on an executive’s psychological duress, it’s worth the investment.
An organization can and should encourage a work-life balance and promote a supportive company culture for employees at every level. More organizations are starting to understand the importance of that. However, there’s often an assumption that it need not apply to the C-Suite since they’re in charge and make good money. But psychological distress is an equal opportunity victimizer—it will come for the C-Suite as much as an entry-level employee. Organizational acknowledgment of this reality is a necessary first step.
What is your advice to CFOs? How should they navigate these issues day-to-day while shouldering their duties?
CFOs should try to take solace in personal relationships and peer group networking while also confiding in those closest to them. Some professional organizations provide opportunities and mentoring programs for CFOs to network with one another as members. When I worked in Singapore, I started an external peer support group with a corporate networking organization to discuss issues confidentially.
In these groups, CFOs might discuss more personal problems alongside best practices in their field. CFOs may be colleagues or competitors, but that doesn’t stop them from being supportive friends. I am open to meeting and connecting with fellow C-Suite members one-on-one to lend insight and a listening ear.
