Good morning. CFOs are strategic thinkers and problem solvers, but it sometimes also helps to learn from an impartial expert who’s walked in their shoes before. Russell Reynolds Associates, a leadership advisory firm, launched the RRA Mentor program in fall 2023 to bring together prominent chairs, independent directors, and former C-suite executives to mentor CEOs and CFOs.
“Since its launch, we have attracted an extraordinary group of notable former CEO and CFO mentors with experience across industries—including many Fortune 500 companies,” said Katherine “Kat” Armstrong, global practice co-leader of arts and culture at RRA. “The CFO Mentor program has been growing strongly in the U.S. market in particular.”
What’s behind more finance chiefs seeking mentors? “The CFO role is rapidly evolving,” Armstrong said. And that includes becoming the CEO’s strategic partner in maximizing value creation. “Incorporating mentors into transitions reduces derailment risks and accelerates performance and impact,” she said.
RRA matches CFOs with mentors who can share individualized skills and experiences, Armstrong said. In addition to supporting first-time CFOs, RRA Mentor is also available for experienced finance chiefs stepping into new positions or facing new opportunities and challenges. And the program is not limited to RRA clients, she said.
‘It’s a way for me to stay involved and to give back’
Jeff Epstein spent 25 years as a CFO at different companies, including Oracle, Nielsen, and DoubleClick. When he retired about 13 years ago, he recalled to Fortune, he asked himself: “Well, what am I to do with the rest of my life?”
He spends part of his time as an operating partner at the venture capital firm Bessemer Venture Partners, where he leads the Chief Financial Officer Council—the CFOs of Bessemer’s portfolio companies. He also serves on several boards and is a lecturer at Stanford.
One day, a friend approached him about becoming a mentor in Russell Reynolds’ CFO program, and he reached out. “It’s a way for me to stay involved and to give back,” Epstein said.
CFOs, Epstein explained, sometimes find it challenging to identify someone who can provide advice but who doesn’t have a stake in the outcome. For example, finance chiefs don’t want to ask certain things of the CEO or a board member—someone whose opinion of them could affect career advancement—and “so you need an independent person who cares.”
Esptein meets with his mentee once a month. At the beginning of their mentorship, he asked about their top priorities and the obstacles they faced. A big part of mentoring is helping a mentee learn how to eliminate said obstacles.
“Essentially what you do is what I did as a leader,” he said. “When I was chief financial officer, I talked to my direct reports. If you hire the right people, you’re not telling them what to do—you’re enabling them to do it.”
Sheryl Estrada
sheryl.estrada@fortune.com
Leaderboard
Cesar Perez was named CFO at Serta Simmons Bedding (SSB), effective July 8, reporting to newly appointed CEO Jim Loree. Perez joins SSB with 19 years of finance leadership experience, including at Electrolux, where he served as CFO for North America and as a member of the global CFO team. Cesar began his career at GE Appliances and spent over a decade in financial management positions.
Asheley Kinsey was named CFO at 8 Rivers Capital, LLC, a decarbonization technology developer. Kinsey brings 25 years of energy industry expertise to the role. He previously served as SVP of strategy, corporate development and energy transition at TC Energy. Before that, Kinsey spent nearly 15 years in the investment banking industry at RBC Capital Markets, Credit Suisse, and Morgan Stanley.
Big Deal
Tech services and software development jobs continue to lead new hiring in the tech industry, according to an analysis by CompTIA, the nonprofit association for the IT industry and workforce. The tech industry added an estimated 7,540 new workers in June, the biggest monthly increase in 2024.
However, that positive result was countered by the loss of 22,000 tech occupations throughout the economy. The tech unemployment rate experienced “an unexpected jump” to 3.7%, according to CompTIA. This correlates with the national unemployment rate increase for the month. New employer tech job postings declined by about 8,600 from May to June, but there were still 446,000 active postings for tech positions listed by employers.
“Despite pockets of growth, the recent data indicates a degree of downward pressure on tech employment,” Tim Herbert, chief research officer at CompTIA, said in a statement. “A combination of factors, including AI FOMO, likely contributes to segments of employers taking a wait-and-see approach with tech hiring.”
Going deeper
New research by Gallup finds that more than six in 10 U.S. women (63%) say it is hard for them to make their own health a top priority. Fifty-one percent of the women surveyed said work gets in the way.
Women in Gen Z (74%), millennials (70%), and Generation X (68%) who are between the ages of 18 and 59 are significantly more likely than baby boomers (52%) and those in the Silent Generation (39%) to report that it is hard for them to prioritize their health, according to Gallup.
The findings are based on a Hologic-Gallup online survey of 4,001 adult women across the U.S.
Overheard
“Given that being under pressure is becoming a normal day for many leaders, more actively managing remnants of the past is fast becoming a required survival skill.”
—Leadership expert and consultant Nik Kinley and IMD Business School Professor Shlomo Ben-Hur write in a new Fortune opinion piece about their research program, involving a review of over 1,200 studies to investigate how childhood shapes the leaders we are today. They are the authors of Rewriting Your Leadership Code: How your childhood made you the leader you are and what you can do about it.
