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There will always be leadership battles in corporates, either bubbling under the surface away from the watchful eye of the public, or high-profile feuds that make the headlines.
Positions of power within corporates are highly sought after, and today's chief financial officers and finance directors are increasingly becoming aware that they now have a realistic opportunity of becoming chief executive officer.
The role of the CFO is evolving and there are more opportunities for the right kind of candidates to achieve CEO status, although not all CFOs have the potential. Such career issues came into focus last month when Phil Yea, group finance director at UK food and drink group Diageo, announced that he would leave the company after six years' service with the group and with Guinness before it merged with Grand Metropolitan in 1997 to create Diageo (see plO).
Yea refuted speculation that he had based his decision on the knowledge that he would not get the CEO position in the company that will become vacant when chief executive John McGrath retires at the end of the year. Chairman Tony Greener also retires this year.
CFOs are now expected to interact with their management boards, and in particular with the CEO, and contribute to strategic planning. Says Rucker McCarty, partner-in-charge at the chief financial officer practice of US executive search firm...