5 Reasons why CFOs don't Tweet (and 5 Reasons why they should)

In leading our firm's activity over the past year on Twitter, I have noticed that many Chief Financial Officers aren't active on Twitter. And I wondered why. So I spoke with CFOs and asked them “Why aren’t you on Twitter?”

These are reasons CFOs are NOT active on Twitter:

1) Twitter is complicated. Yes, it is complicated. It takes a long time to get the feel of the rules of the game. In a way, it is like learning a new language. You have to speak less, spell different, say things in shorthand, do things like @, #, RT, DM, and bit.ly.

2) Who cares what I have to say? Who will listen? Why should anyone care if you went to a concert, or what you ate for breakfast? It is not intuitive for people (born before 1985) to share this kind of information in public.

3) What am I going to tweet about? Your job? Your life? Your interest in collecting little spoons from around the world?

4) Regulatory concerns. A CFO of a public company is restricted up the regulatory Ying-yang of what they can say in public about the Company they work for.

5) Perception is that people who tweet aren’t very busy. CFOs are supposed to be busy people. If a CFO is tweeting, it shows that they are doing something other than work.

On the other hand, since we started our Twitter activity, I have also come across Chief Financial Officers that are active on Twitter. And I wondered why. So I spoke with CFOs and asked them “Why are you on Twitter?”

These are reasons why CFOs ARE active on Twitter:

1) Personal Branding. Tweeting allows you to communicate your ideas and influence what others think about you. [If you don’t know why personal branding is important, read these: How Important is Your Personal Brand by Santhie Goundar and You are So Much More Than a Job Title by Cindy Kraft.]

2) Following interesting people. There are many interesting people in the world, and they have something to say and articles to share. A progressive Senior Financial Executive wants to learn more from people with different points of view. Twitter is a great place to find others to learn from.

3) Network with people you never would have connected with. As CFO, there are people you can follow that you would never have connected with personally. You can use Twitter to listen to and interact with Investors, Industry thought leaders and Customers. Those CFOs that use Twitter regularly find it very powerful.

4) Add value to my employer. Not only do you add to your personal brand as a CFO who Tweets, but you add value to your employer as well. If you look good, they look good too.

5) Share interests with others. Whether your interests are work related, such as being an Excel Guru or a GAAP Master, or life related like your passion for skiing, golf or Barbequing, people who follow you will know about it. It makes for interesting conversations and better connections when you do meet with them in person.

If you are a CFO who Tweets, go ahead and tweet the following: I’m a #CFOwhoTweets

If you are a CFO who doesn't tweet yet, what are you waiting for?

BlackBerry: Blessing or Curse?

Last week, I was one of the millions of BlackBerry users that spent a few hours cursing their BlackBerry because it wasn’t receiving emails. Once I found out that it was RIM’s fault, I was one of millions cursing RIM for the service outage (yet again).

And that got me thinking.

For all of us that rely on this device to keep us connected, is our BlackBerry a blessing or a curse?


Let’s count our Blessings…

• Our Blackberry lets us know what’s going on. In today’s age, immediate information is a key for success. With the correct information in our hands sooner, we are able to make better decisions quicker.
• We are in the office when we’re out of the office. We don’t have to be tied down to a desk to get ‘work’ done. We can be at lunch, waiting for an appointment, be getting dressed in the morning or walking around our company, and be constantly aware of what is going on. We can even be at the beach half way around the world, and still be ‘working’.
• Our calendar (when synced with our desktop) allows us to always know what our schedule is, who we are meeting, where and when.
• I particularly enjoy the Instant messaging application between BlackBerry’s. It has taken the concept of IM and turned it truly anywhere.

Now for the Curses…

• We always know what’s going on. Wouldn’t it be nice to take a break sometime?
• We are always in the office. Wouldn’t it be nice to spend time with other people (especially the people we love) and give them our full attention, showing them that they are important? Wouldn’t it be nice to take a real vacation?
• We always have the day planned. An unplanned day once in a while wouldn’t be so terrible. It would give us time to think.
• Personally, IM’ing while in the bathroom isn’t much better than taking a phone call while in there.
  

What’s the solution?

The BlackBerry is a great tool, although it’s not nicknamed the CrackBerry for nothing. It can be very addictive. As a user, you have the power to make it helpful, and not have it take over your life.

Some employers have instituted rules regarding BlackBerry usage off hours to take into account Work Life Balance issues. See here for a recent article in the news.

While I agree with the idea that BlackBerry usage should not intrude on personal time, creating rules for employees may be a bit much.

A few years ago I went to a remote cottage with my children, and one of the great ideas behind this vacation was that there was no cell phone coverage. This way I wouldn’t be able to check messages and it would force me to relax. As I was exploring the area near the cottage, I was on top of a rocky ledge overlooking the lake, and my BlackBerry started buzzing. I spent the next few days standing at the top of that ledge with my BlackBerry held high, looking like I was the Statue of Liberty.

Since then I’m a bit better with my BlackBerry. I’m turning the vibrate option off more often, and turning it off completely more often too. Being at my child’s birthday party or having dinner with my wife does not need me checking my emails every 2 minutes.

In the end, you are in charge of how you spend your time. A BlackBerry can give you more control of your time, and can be a useful tool to allow you to achieve better Work Life Balance. But if you find that the device is changing the balance to more Work and less Life, it’s time to turn it off more often.

The most overlooked skill in Accounting

Little boys and girls who want to be accountants when they grow up are usually interested in accounting because they LOVE numbers. They love adding, subtracting, number puzzles and like the idea of counting money.

This may have been the ideal profile for an accounting career in the past, but accountants today are required to be much more than analyzers of numbers. Accountants today are looked up to by business people to assist in making business decisions, preferably profitable ones. Successful accountants are not only able to analyze the decision options and make recommendations, but also have strong communication abililities, specifically written communication.

The accountant's involvement with the corporate MD&A (Management Discussion & Analysis) is a great example of how accountants are relied upon to provide analysis that need to be expressed clearly.

From my experience, accounting professionals with solid written communication abilities will have better career opportunities. While looking for your next career opportunity (or your next hire), keep in mind that a resume showcases written communication, a key success indicator.