Fairfield University and The Connecticut Chapter of the CFO Alliance will hold a roundtable discussion on Wednesday, Dec. 8 at 7:30 a.m. designed to help area chief financial officers become more effective leaders.

The roundtable, to be held at Fairfield's Dolan School of Business and hosted by The CFO Alliance's Connecticut Chapter, will focus on how CFOs can build the credibility they need to exert more influence within their organizations. This event promises to be an enlightening opportunity for these business executives who are charged with managing the financial responsibilities of their respective corporations. The CFO Alliance is a national association of chief financial officers that currently has 1,500 members.

Donald Gibson, Ph.D., professor of management and chair of the management department at the Dolan School, will facilitate the roundtable. The discussion will focus on identifying and sharing strategies and tactics to help participants develop and sustain leadership capabilities.

Among the specific issues to be addressed by this roundtable:

• How influence is essential to CFOs.
  
• How CFOs can build credibility as a leader.
  
• Best practices to deal with the problem of "influence without authority."
  
• Putting influence tactics to work.

The ticket price for non-members and basic CFO Alliance members is $30. For CFO Alliance all-inclusive members and first-time attendees, there is no charge.

Fairfield became an academic partner of the CFO Alliance last year. Norm Solomon, Ph. D., dean of the Dolan School of Business, sees the partnership as a great opportunity to engage with regional corporations. "These roundtables have proven to be an avenue for sharing the expertise of our faculty members and alumni, while discussing topical, pressing business issues."

The partnership with Fairfield comes as the CFO Alliance expands its organization within Connecticut. It was founded by finance and accounting executives to provide themselves with a networking platform to discuss critical opportunities and challenges. Alliance members serve either in management or executive-level positions in publicly traded or privately held companies around the globe.

Image: Dr. Don Gibson, professor of management, will facilitate a CFO Alliance roundtable on identifying and sharing strategies and tactics to help participants develop and sustain leadership capabilities.

About The CFO Alliance
Founded in 2007, The CFO Alliance provides CFOs with an exclusive live events network and a knowledge based, online community where members can collaborate, discuss critical issues and share knowledge among their peers. The CFO Alliance, powered by relationships with best-in-class Academic, Media, Industry, and Sponsor Partners, produces bi-monthly, interactive, discussion-oriented Breakfast Roundtables in each of its markets.

The Dolan School of Business was established in 1978, and received full accreditation of its graduate and undergraduate programs by the AACSB International - The Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business on March 6, 1997. In 2000, the School's advancement was further recognized: It was named the Charles F. Dolan School of Business in response to a very generous gift of $25 million from Charles F. Dolan, founder and chairman of Cablevision Systems Corporation and long-time friend and trustee of the University.

The School is housed in a state-of-the-art facility with eleven classrooms, three computer labs, eight group workrooms and outstanding media and technology equipment. The building has extensive lounge and meeting areas for student activities and unrivaled offices for faculty and staff. The School's faculty is dedicated to teaching excellence and they have the unique ability to bridge the gap between theory and practice because of their business experience and strong academic backgrounds.

CFO Alliance contact: Lindsay Kershner, lindsay.kershner@thecfoalliance.org, (484) 354-6767

Posted On: 11-17-2010 10:11 AM

Volume: 43 Number: 119