Future-proofing your business, yourself and your children
A CFO Dinner, held on 20 August at The Stack in Cape Town, had eight business executives reflecting on the uplifting initiatives they are involved in, and how they are making themselves future-ready.
On 20 August, eight high-calibre finance executives gathered at The Stack in Cape Town for a lively CFO Dinner. The evening, hosted by CFO South Africa in partnership with Standard Bank, was punctured by laughs, common ground and sharp insights.
After a jovial half an hour of networking and drinks, CFO South Africa’s managing director Joël Roerig introduced the theme of the evening: Future-ready CFOs, where the eight executives were asked questions like “How do CFOs prepare themselves, their company and their country for the future?”.’
“What excites CFOs most about the future is the endless opportunities of technological progress,” Joël said, adding that this has a shadow side as well. “What if competitors outsmart us? What does the tech revolution mean for our people?”
The executives determined that the immediate economic future prospects of South Africa are at the top of CFOs’ ‘worry lists’. The dinner guests then listed the uplifting initiatives each of them are involved in, both from a corporate perspective and on a very personal and individual level.
All the positive and transformational initiatives that happen to make South Africa a better place proved incredibly uplifting when compared to the stark truth of South Africa’s economic crisis. It showed that each executive at the dinner was not only future-ready, but ready to change the future.
Special guest Graeme Codrington, one of Africa’s best-informed futurists, shared some of his valuable insights; a fascinating breakdown of the first, second, third and fourth industrial revolutions; and an overview of his recently released book (co-written with
Nikki Bush) called Future-proof your child, which contains lessons for adults, business and
CFOs in particular. He cited five X-factors for future-proofing children and the Cape Town attendees agreed this applied to them just as much:
• Creativity, breaking conventions and thinking outside the box
• Resilience
• A love for learning
• Knowing yourself
• Relating to others.
Graeme’s insights ignited many passionate conversations among the CFOs, ranging from the ever-changing accounting standards, the power of simplicity and raising children to the best ways to allow for innovation and experimentation in a corporate setting. By the time dessert arrived, the debate was so warm and lively that the CFOs – who barely knew each other before – could have easily been mistaken for a group of close friends.