INTHEBLACK November 2025 - Magazine - Page 33
if I hadn’t been prepared to learn about
the business by working in a range of roles
in Australia. I made some lateral moves that
weren’t necessarily promotions, but by saying
yes, it opened doors.
I suppose ‘saying yes’ is an attitude
I have always had. I jumped at the chance
to work at Arnott’s very early in my career
after doing a student placement there. I took
the usual route when I graduated from
the University of New South Wales with
a Bachelor of Commerce in accounting
and finance.
I got a job with Macquarie Bank, but
I knew there was something else I wanted,
so when a finance role came up at Arnott’s,
I took it. I’d already worked there as a
student and what I loved about it,
compared to financial services, was how
tangible it was.
When you walk into a meeting at Arnott’s,
you’re discussing things like pricing changes,
promotions, or launching a new product or
flavour. Then soon after, you can walk into
a Coles or Woolworths and actually see
those changes in action. That immediacy
and visibility made me far more passionate
than anything I experienced in the financial
services sector.
After working across the business
in Sydney for seven years, I was offered
the chance to be the finance director (CFO)
in Indonesia. It was a big decision, because
it required my wife to give up her career
as a lawyer and for us to pack up and move
out of Australia. But we said yes straight
away. For us, it felt like it would be the
opportunity of a lifetime, which would give
me experience and exposure that I wouldn’t
get in Australia.
MY CHALLENGES
Working across cultures and languages
Being able to lead a team in the direction
you want it to go is a challenge for any CFO,
but doing that in another language, in
another country and in a culture that is not
your own, is extremely difficult.
When I first came to Indonesia, I realised
I needed to learn Indonesian (Bahasa
Indonesia) quickly because English was not
commonly spoken. I would be in meetings
where I would ask a question and there
would be an internal discussion about sales
numbers and commitments in Bahasa for
about 10 minutes. Then they would respond
to me in English with a lower number to
what they had spoken internally. This actually
helped me start to learn the language,
and numbers in particular, very early on.
I also had to work out how to influence
people in a way that appeals to them and that
they can understand. It’s different in every
market that I’m in. Some interactions have
to be very direct, and you have to provide
very clear direction on what you require. In
others, if you give one person responsibility,
they’ll run with it.
Then in another country, it’s all about the
team. No one wants to stand out too much,
they just want the whole team to succeed.
Every country is different, and it has taken
me years to understand how to motivate
people in the right way. I’m still learning.
Recently, I made the jump to a dual role
to test the waters in commercial by running
the Japan business. This was another moment
of seizing opportunities and saying yes.
It was a complex task, as I had to learn
not only the intricacies of sales and
marketing — I also needed to do this in one
of the most complex cultures in the world.
The Japanese business environment
is very diverse. A key focal point is respect
and authority. Coming in as an outsider,
I needed to ensure I had the utmost humility.
I would fly back and forth every month
with the sole purpose of spending time with
the team and customers, creating trust and
identifying opportunities.
It is amazing how finance can set you up
for success across all functions of a business.
The experience I’ve gained across other
markets has helped identify pockets of
opportunity in Japan. Empowering my team
to drive these opportunities has helped kick
some exciting goals in a brand-new market. ■
READ
an article on
must-have
CFO skills
LISTEN
to a podcast
episode on key
trends shaping the
future of finance
READ
an article about
global chocolate’s
ESG initiatives
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