Meet Alena Bennett, Expert Business Consultant for CFOs in the Financial Industry
For over 20 years Alena Bennett’s methods have influenced leaders in financial services including KPMG, BDO, EY and Xero
I recently presented to one of our Women with Influence members, Alena Bennett and her CFO Boardroom Program, the incredible group mentoring and mastermind program she has created.
Aa a business consultant in the financial services industry, Alena has become the go-to for CFOs to build their careers and thrive as a CFO of the future. She has also built the world’s first diagnostic identifying the skills required by CFO’s to lead with purpose and influence amongst change and uncertainty.
How she helps
Knowing her clients well she typically works with them on challenges such as:
teams functioning in silos and not collaborating effectively;
teams perceived as 'back office';
teams struggling to deliver Business As Usual (BAU) consistently resulting in significant overtime, stakeholder angst, last-minute changes and errors, staff overwhelm and burnout;
direct reports operating at 'manager' level, not 'leader' level;
don't have a succession plan
wanting to develop high performing or high potential talent
seeking their next career opportunity
they feel out of alignment with their purpose and are not sure how to reconnect with themselves in a risk-free way
And even better, she walks her talk.
Walking the walk as a business consultant for financial services
As a chartered accountant, Alena has led her own successes with extensive audit, finance, risk, communications and leadership expertise in Australia and the US. It was during this time she experienced how hard it was to roll from deadline to deadline with very little downtime, and how this experience was heavily impacted by the leader.
In her leadership roles, she chose to flip that approach and show others the positive impact of treating your team right. She soon found staff and leaders alike frequently approaching her to help navigate through their situations.
As a result, over the last 20 years, in her role as a business consultant in financial services, Alena has helped thousands of finance professionals across Australia become better leaders and deliver better results through team performance. Over the last quarter, Alena has even written her new book CFO of the Future, which is the leading guide to help CFOs navigate the future of work.
In our chat during the presentation earlier this month, Alena said something deeply profound. She said…
"Finance is a people job.
Most people think it’s a numbers job, but she says it’s actually about the people.
It’s the stuff that people do and people create that forms the basis of the numbers.
What happens with those numbers, in other words, the allocation of scarce resources, that is determined through the decisions of people."
And its this intentionality and purpose that really sets her apart as a business consultant in financial services and drives her focus on helping people and resources come together, especially during crunch times in their careers and roles as a CFO.
Giving radiant energy at home and at work
Alena is an inspiring wife and proud mum of two daughters. Her radiant energy that she brings is the same as the sunshine and ‘cheek’ she brings to her family and fun with her clients and on stage.
What I love most about Alena is the standard she holds her clients to. Humble, warm, driven and enthusiastic, she leaves every person she connects inspired, with a sense of belief and energy to elevate themselves. All key attributes that create the magnetic presence of a Woman With Influence!
You can connect with Alena on her LinkedIn profile here!
As a Woman with Influence, Alena is part of our Women with Influence Community, maybe you can see yourself being part of this community too!?