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1. Don’t doubt yourself
During his first exposure to the rigors of a publicly traded company, he found that the CFO role was not oriented in the direction he was initially expecting.
“I thought that I would be spending a lot more time on things like business strategy, and goal setting, leading the organization, building and developing talent,” he says. “But I was surprised how much time was spent on communicating with the board and with the investment community and how much time was spent untangling challenging organizational matters.”
At the time, Pat was doubting his abilities. Know that, if you’ve made it to CFO, it’s because other people have confidence in your abilities, so don’t doubt yourself, he now says. But back then, he felt compelled to demonstrate his mastery of every subject — overcommunicating in lengthy technical emails or presentations. “You unknowingly paint a picture of someone who is hopelessly in the weeds and doesn’t see the bigger picture,” he says.