18 – What CEOs want from their CFOs (interview with Bob Lipps)

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What do you think? What exactly do CEOs want from their CFOs? Maybe you have asked; maybe you haven’t.

Listen to this episode as I interview Bob Lipps who has worked with many ministry CEOs to glean a deeper understanding of what they truly desire. You will be pleased to know that you can readily grasp what they want, and you can become that valuable financial partner that will be appreciated by your CEO.

Also enjoy hearing about a new service that Bob is providing through the Global Center for Nonprofit Excellence. Assess and improve your organization through the lens of best practices in operational excellence.

16 – The Parable of the Good Innkeeper

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Enjoy this episode as we consider the parable of the Good Samaritan in Luke 10:25-37 from the perspective of the Good Innkeeper. These truths are apropos for financial leaders as they also are required to demonstrate compassion, constancy, and capacity in their roles. We need to serve well – just like the Good Innkeeper!

15 – How is Your CQ (Curiosity Intelligence)?

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Many leaders are mindful of IQ and EQ, but have you ever considered CQ? Listen to this episode to understand what Curiosity Intelligence is, why it’s important, and how to develop it for yourself and your team.

The key areas of Curiosity Intelligence are:

  • Interest…which leads to
  • Inquiry…which leads to
  • Innovation

Three questions that will help you grow in your Curiosity Intelligence are:

  1. What are we not doing that we should start doing?
  2. What are we doing poorly that we should improve?
  3. What are we doing that we should quit doing?

If you want to be successful as a financial leader, it is critical to expand your Curiosity Intelligence. Listen as these areas and questions are addressed.

13 – Organize Your Life with Microsoft OneNote

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How do you keep up with all the details of life? Easy – use Microsoft OneNote! Listen to this episode to explore a tool which can help you consolidate all your various notes in one place and maintain your sanity.

You will learn how to effectively use different notebooks, sections, and pages within the context of a financial leader’s role. You will explore how to use this system to capture meeting notes, random ideas, and to-do lists. This will greatly simplify tracking historical information, capturing current thoughts, and preparing for future interactions with your team.

Finally, you will hear about my top 10 items I like about OneNote –

  1. Automatic saving
  2. Ease in capturing screen shots
  3. Using sub-pages for related material
  4. Capturing meeting notes for all meeting participants to see
  5. Posting PDF documents
  6. Integration with Outlook
  7. Meaningful tagging system
  8. One-and-done typing
  9. Quick Notes functionality
  10. Powerful search function

12 – Five Characteristics of a Healthy Team

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How can you know if you have a healthy finance team? Listen to this episode to identify five essential areas in which your team needs to thrive.

  1. Christlike character
  2. Competencies
  3. Clarity
  4. Cohesiveness
  5. Communication

In this episode we will unpack how these elements can be better understood, connected, and developed.

11 – The First 90 Days of the CFO Role

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What does it take to effectively start in your new role as a CFO? This episode will give you specific recommendations and action items to build a solid foundation in your first 90 days.

This episode will cover the following topics –

  • First set of 30 days – Learning
    • Building relationships and understanding fundamentals
      • With your boss –
        • Situational awareness
        • Expectation desires
        • Style preferences
      • With your staff –
        • What are the greatest challenges before us?
        • What are the greatest opportunities before us?
        • What is the most important thing I could do to help you succeed in your role?
        • What would be critical for me to know about the culture and organization?
        • If you were me, what would you initially focus on?
  • Second set of 30 days – Assessing
    • Evaluating priorities and expanding awareness
      • Program model
      • Business model
      • Governance model
      • Relational model
  • Third set of 30 days – Planning
    • Summarizing priorities and finalizing action plans
      • Impact Grid
        • Integrity
        • Insight
      • Stewardship Star
        • Missional stewardship
        • Opportunity stewardship
        • Resource stewardship
        • Personnel stewardship
        • Information stewardship

10 – Cause for the Pause

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Wondering why there was a two year pause in this podcast? Listen to this episode to hear how the Lord used this platform to open a unique and unanticipated opportunity. I saw the implications of Proverbs 16:9 demonstrated in my life – “A man’s heart plans his way, but the Lord directs his steps.” I pray you are blessed by this testimony of God at work.

07 – Interview with Dave Cram

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Listen to the first podcast interview which is with Dave Cram. Dave previously served as the CFO for both Wycliffe Bible Translators and SIL, and he now serves as the SIL Treasurer. He has been a mentor and friend of mine for a number of years. Enjoy hearing his insights on how to fulfill your calling as a financial leader!

06 – CFO: Comprehensive Financial Orchestrator

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Recently I was asked to present this financial workshop at the annual MissioNexus conference. Glean some insights from Nehemiah in this podcast and then learn what it takes to implement Evaluation, Exploration, Explanation, and Execution as a CFO!

03 – (Part 1 of 4) Beyond the Box: Who you need to Be

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Listen in more detail to the three key perspectives you need to pursue in order to serve well as a CFO.

As I discuss on the podcast, here are the 12 key steps we have pursued in our exploration and implementation processes

  1. Assess the initial outcomes you desire
  2. Document this first iteration of desired outcomes
  3. Engage Subject Matter Experts to begin exploring possibilities
  4. Pursue a solution via a Request for Proposal process
  5. Evaluate with internal leaders
  6. Select vendor that we feel can best meet our needs
  7. Assemble implementation team
  8. Prepare schedule for design, integration, and implementation
  9. Communicate methodically about change
  10. Roll-out solution through phased in approach
  11. Monitor and fine-tune
  12. Celebrate accomplishment

01 – Why the Christian Nonprofit CFO Podcast?

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Thanks for taking time to check out the Christian Nonprofit CFO Podcast and for listening to this first episode. Learn the reason for the podcast in this episode and what I hope to accomplish through this endeavor. Stop by my website ChristianNonprofitCFO.com to leave a comment or give other feedback. Please join me in the journey of enhancing your CFO insight in order to expand your ministry’s impact!