'Masters of Money' - Strategies for Success from top SA CFO's
KC Rottok Chesaina recently published a book, ‘Masters of Money‘. I chatted to KC a few years back about his CA(SA) qualification journey, you can read that here.
Naturally, when I saw he’d published a book, I asked him to chat to me about his book.
He was good enough to chat to me on your behalf.
I also chatted to him about how and why he wrote the book and how much money he’s making from it :) Check that out here!
Why do I advise you to read it?
KC interviewed CFO’s from some of the top companies in South Africa. The book is a collection of their stories, backgrounds, experiences and strategic lessons. It’s really easy reading, and he approached the chats from a holistic perspective (ie: life, family, personal AND work elements). There are some great, relatable, and surprising stories in there.
Why should you read it?
When we see successful people, it’s easy to feel that they must’ve had a smoother path, that they haven’t faced some of the challenges we have. We often feel like the challenges in front of US are insurmountable, and we’ll never get past them. Or perhaps they have some magical, insane abilities that us ‘normal’ people just didn’t get. I know that you’ll find value here, because you’ll realise that just because you’re struggling, DOESN’T mean you’ll never get there. If these people can overcome some of these hectic challenges… SO CAN YOU!
I also think it’s a great glimpse of the lives and work involved professional roles that a lot of you aspire to. A little ‘behind-the-scenes’.
FEATURED COMPANIES INCLUDE MTN South Africa, JSE, Old Mutual, FirstRand, Capitec, Nedbank, Investec, Sanlam, Redefine Properties, Liberty, Discovery, Aspen Pharmacare, Life Healthcare, Woolworths, Pick n Pay, Massmart, Nampak, Sasol, Impala Platinum, Barloworld, Anglo American Platinum, Harmony Gold, Kumba Iron Ore, PPC, Exxaro, Tourvest, Mr Price and Nando’s.
KC's Current Projects and background about the book
CFO's who've had interesting challenges
I asked KC what his favourite chapters were. He said there were some CFO’s whose stories surprised him, and their openness in sharing their challenges and experiences make for really interesting reading.
In this clip, he chats a little about surprising challenges faced by:
- Glen Fullerton – Nampak
- Sean Capazorio – MTN South Africa
- Aarti Takoordeen – JSE
Why I love Abigail Muelelwa Mukhuba's (Sanlam) story
Three main reasons that Abigails’ story is relevant for you, which KC and I chatted about:
- ‘The shortest queue’
- Mid-life career changes
- Crying in the car at 3am
There are no textbooks for those challenges!
A big take-away from these stories is the fact that the challenges faced by these professionals would definitely not be solved by textbook answers, and that a lot of the solutions require WAY more than technical knowledge.
Challenges faced by the women CFOs
As a professional woman, I’ve faced my share of gender-based challenges. (And yes… I’ve OFTEN also been the one taking minutes because men think it’s the “womans’ job”!) Some of the women CFOs that KC interviewed shared their stories:
- Meroonisha Kerber – Impala Platinum
- Abigail Muelelwa Mukhuba – Sanlam
Again, I really recommend this as a read.