Diary of a CFO | Financial Strategies for Smart Business Growth

Ademola Isimeme Odewade, MBA, ACA, BSc. (Economics)
  • 4.4 (7)
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Diary Of A CFO is a global Top 2.5% business finance podcast hosted by Ademola Odewade, MBA, ACA. Elite CFOs, founders and business leaders share practical strategies for cash flow, profitability, financial planning, AI-powered finance, leadership and sustainable business growth. Built for founders, CFOs, fractional CFOs, finance leaders and consultants who want to make smarter decisions, scale with confidence and lead with data. Expect real-world insights, proven frameworks and executive lessons for building stronger, more profitable businesses. Follow: @k-demsconsultingltd

  1. 2d ago

    Why Transformation Programmes Fail | Zhanna Zhuravleva | Diary of a CFO

    Why Transformation Programmes Fail | Zhanna Zhuravleva | Diary of a CFO Most transformation programmes fail because the organisation is quietly protecting the very thing you are trying to change. Cop a copy of my new book NOW: ⁠https://ademolaodewade.com⁠ Turn transformation experience into paid advisory work — Ethos (paid link): ⁠https://agent.askethos.com/refer/nd01w7e2eelw⁠ AI labs pay highly-skilled experts — Mercor (paid link): ⁠https://t.mercor.com/neABb⁠ Build the culture diagnostic deck in minutes — Gamma (paid link): ⁠https://try.gamma.app/f2d4kygskm1h⁠ Zhanna Zhuravleva grew up in Georgia and lived through war as a child, then built her career across Russia, Israel and the UK. She completed two master's degrees — finance and human resources — followed by postgraduate study, and taught finance, management and philosophy at a university in St. Petersburg. She started in industry as a Kaizen team leader and went on to lead HR and cultural transformation across organisations of more than 1,000 people in 40 countries. She is a Chartered Fellow of the CIPD, has run over 3,000 sessions with leaders, and founded Awake Conscious Play, a school of conscious leadership and leadership transformation. Early in her career she ran a textbook transformation — designed framework, defined KPIs, strong governance. Six months later almost nothing had changed. The organisation was not governed by its processes; it was governed by informal power. Everything since has been built on that finding. The 30% improvement in employee satisfaction and 10% reduction in turnover she reports came from no single initiative — a culture hub that put interns and juniors into the improvement process, people partners trained in coaching, and one-to-ones where the feedback actually changed the next decision. In this episode: Change fluency — why transformation is not a project with a start date and an end dateThe "inner game": why a fintech's people-first programme stalls because the tension is giving leaders their identity Three signals that tell you inside a week whether a culture is healthy — quality of disagreement, speed of bad news, and the gap between the official story and the underground story Diagnosis before prescription: the first 30 days run across Ken Wilber's four quadrants, not a rush to launch programmes Three types of values — declarative, conscious, unconscious — and which layer actually decides Why Meta making AI token consumption a performance metric produced engineers burning tokens instead of better decisions WEF Future of Jobs: 170 million roles created against 92 million displaced — recalibration, not replacement"AI is electricity with intelligence" — why this is an electricity moment rather than an internet one The 4D Compass for building trust: self, soul, soft, spiritWhy engagement surveys measure compliance — a purple, tribal culture scores high on engagement and low on trust What she protects if the HR budget is halved: leader development, and a culture diagnosis every year The mistake founders make at 100 employees — still leading as though there are 20Zhanna's recommendation for every CEO is Spiral Dynamics by Don Beck and Christopher Cowan. Her conscious leadership programmes — including Lila, the transformational game she has adapted for leaders and runs offline and online — are at: ⁠https://awake-play.co.uk/⁠ Upcoming cohorts: ⁠https://awake-play.co.uk/upcoming⁠ Connect with Zhanna on LinkedIn: ⁠https://www.linkedin.com/in/zhanna-zhuravleva-chartered-fcipd-03a0a622a/⁠ Hosted by Ademola Odewade — chartered accountant, author of Human-Led, AI-Powered Finance (foreword by Professor Dave Ulrich), and Founder of K-Dems Consulting. The King Dems Podcast. Growth Mindset, Leadership, AI and Business Insights. Ranked in the global top 2% of podcasts. Diary of a CFO. Finance leadership, unfiltered. Ranked in the global top 2.5% of podcasts. This description contains paid links. We may earn a commission at no extra cost to you.

  2. 5d ago

    Business Valuation: Why Buyers Ignore Your EBITDA Multiple - Mark Mills, OBE

    Business valuation isn't a multiple of EBITDA. Cop a copy of my new book NOW: ⁠https://ademolaodewade.com⁠ Turn expertise into paid advisory work — Ethos (paid link): ⁠https://agent.askethos.com/refer/nd01w7e2eelw⁠ AI labs pay highly-skilled experts — Mercor (paid link): ⁠https://t.mercor.com/neABb⁠ Build the buyer deck in minutes — Gamma (paid link): ⁠https://try.gamma.app/f2d4kygskm1h⁠ Mark Mills OBE started Cardpoint plc from scratch in 2000. Two years later it floated on AIM at a £7 million valuation. By 2006 it was turning over £100 million a year on £19.8 million of EBITDA, and he exited in 2007 at £175 million. He now sells other people's businesses. One owner was told his company was worth £3 million. Mark sold it for just over £10 million. Nothing changed in the accounts — what changed was who the business was presented to, and why they needed it. In this episode: - Why bids from strategic buyers don't resemble a multiple of EBITDA - The £3m-to-£10m sale, and the buyer maths that produced it - Rule one of any business model: recurring income — learned from a payphone business that died in the 1991 recession - How Mark and his CFO reverse-engineered £100m of revenue onto a sheet of paper, then landed within 2% - Why "in three years" is a useless target and "by 31 August 2029" is not - Solving a working capital problem by finding a bank with too much physical cash - The one metric he never ignores when assessing a company for sale - FARM — why people work for Fun, Achievement, Recognition, then Money, in that order - Selling to strangers, and why referrals cannot scale a business - What AI actually changes about client acquisition and KPI monitoring - Realistic exit timelines: 12 to 30 months, not six Mark's book is Making Your Mark: How I Built a Fortune From £1.50 — and You Can Too. He offered listeners a free signed copy — email him at ⁠mark@mark.co.uk⁠ with your address and he'll send one out. More from Mark: www.mark.co.uk · ⁠linkedin.com/in/markrichardmills⁠ Hosted by Ademola Odewade — chartered accountant, author of Human-Led, AI-Powered Finance (foreword by Professor Dave Ulrich), and Founder of K-Dems Consulting. The King Dems Podcast. Growth Mindset, Leadership, AI and Business Insights. Ranked in the global top 2% of podcasts. Diary of a CFO. Finance leadership, unfiltered. Ranked in the global top 2.5% of podcasts.This description contains paid links. We may earn a commission at no extra cost to you. #BusinessValuation #ExitStrategy #DiaryOfACFO #KingDemsPodcast

  3. Aug 21

    AI, Bias & CFO Decision-Making Under Pressure | Dr David Rock

    What happens to financial judgement when AI, cognitive bias, uncertainty and executive pressure collide in the boardroom? In this episode of Diary of a CFO, Ademola Odewade sits down with Dr. David Rock, Co-Founder and CEO of the NeuroLeadership Institute and originator of the field of neuroleadership, for a powerful exploration of the neuroscience behind executive decision-making. This conversation goes beyond accounting and financial strategy. It examines the brain behind the numbers. Dr. Rock explains why even highly intelligent executives can make poor decisions under pressure, why recognising your own cognitive biases is harder than most leaders realise and how AI can either strengthen human judgement or encourage cognitive surrender. One principle captures the conversation perfectly: “Human in the lead, not human in the loop.” In this episode, you will learn: Why leadership creates three major cognitive challenges: capacity, self-regulation and social cognitionHow pressure and uncertainty can affect executive decision-makingWhy technical competence does not eliminate cognitive biasHow CFOs and finance leaders can use AI without outsourcing critical judgementWhy accountants, lawyers, marketers and other executives can interpret the same business information through completely different mental modelsHow the SEEDS framework helps teams identify patterns of biasHow the SCARF Model explains Status, Certainty, Autonomy, Relatedness and FairnessWhy stronger decision processes can matter more than relying on individual objectivity aloneWhy one of the most important jobs of a modern leader is simply to create clarity About Dr David Rock Dr. David Rock is Co-Founder and CEO of the NeuroLeadership Institute and the originator of the term neuroleadership. His work applies cognitive science to leadership, organisational behaviour and human performance. He is the author of Your Brain at Work and the forthcoming Good with Humans, which explores the neuroscience behind human motivation and the SCARF model. Connect with Dr David Rock NeuroLeadership Institute: https://www.neuroleadership.com/ NILES AI: https://www.askniles.ai/ Book: Good with Humans: Listen to Diary of a CFOSpotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/7JswbC0rNzS14f8dnj4sj0 Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/diary-of-a-cfo-financial-strategies-for-smart/id1820947348 YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@DiaryOfACFO

  4. Aug 16

    AI Won’t Replace You. Someone Using AI Will | Ashley Stahl on Career Reinvention

    Sponsored by BetterHelp. Start your growth journey with a credentialed therapist and get 10% off at ⁠https://betterhelp.com/kingdems Ashley Stahl believes the future of work will not simply be about AI replacing humans. The bigger risk is being replaced by someone who knows how to use AI better than you. In this episode of Diary Of A CFO, Ashley Stahl joins Ademola Odewade for a powerful conversation about career reinvention, artificial intelligence, leadership, personal branding, intuition, entrepreneurship and finding meaningful work. Ashley’s own career has been anything but linear. She moved from national security into career coaching, entrepreneurship, authorship and helping experts turn their ideas into powerful signature talks. Her journey demonstrates why the skills developed in one chapter of your career may become your competitive advantage in the next. One of Ashley’s central ideas is simple: you cannot think your way into career clarity. You have to explore your way into it. Careers are experiments. Reinvention requires the willingness to test, learn, fail, recalibrate and move again. We explore: Why successful careers are no longer linearHow to know when your career is genuinely misalignedThe difference between your values and your skill setWhy career transitions should not automatically be fearedHow Ashley moved from national security into entrepreneurshipWhy a TEDx talk transformed her careerHow storytelling can create business opportunitiesWhy intuition matters in leadership and business decisionsThe difference between intuition and impulsivenessHow executives can create space for better decisionsWhy clarity comes from experimentation rather than overthinkingHow transferable skills can power career reinventionHow AI will reshape careersWhy employees who learn to leverage AI could outperform those who resist itWhy follower count may be one of the most overrated personal-brand metricsHow executives can build authority through ideas rather than viralityAshley explains that her TEDx experience became a major catalyst for her new career and showed her the commercial and professional power of developing a signature message. And on AI, her message is especially important: AI still requires strong prompts, strategic thinking and people who understand how to deploy it effectively. If you are a CFO, finance leader, executive, entrepreneur or ambitious professional wondering how to remain relevant as AI transforms work, this conversation is for you. 🎧 Diary Of A CFO explores the strategies, technologies and leadership principles shaping the future of finance and business. 🛠️ Explore the tools we use to create, grow and scale our podcasts and digital ecosystem: https://kingdemspodcast.com/tools

  5. Aug 5

    How CFOs Can Turn AI Investment Into ROI | Oluchi Ikechi-D’Amico

    Sponsored by BetterHelp. Start your growth journey with a credentialed therapist and get 10% off at https://betterhelp.com/kingdems How can CFOs and business leaders turn AI investment into measurable financial value? Oluchi Ikechi-D’Amico, Founder and CEO of Fully Bossed, joins Ademola Odewade on Diary Of A CFO to explain why successful AI transformation requires more than purchasing technology. Organisations must change behaviours, strengthen leadership capabilities and connect AI adoption to measurable outcomes such as revenue growth, cost reduction, operational efficiency and return on investment. Oluchi spent nearly two decades advising CEOs, boards and major financial institutions. Her experience includes senior roles at Accenture and EY-Parthenon, more than 30 transformation and M&A programmes and transactions with a combined value exceeding $15 billion. In this episode, you will learn: Why many organisations invest billions in AI without achieving the expected ROIHow CFOs can measure the business value of AI adoptionThe difference between adopting AI and enabling behavioural changeHow AI can reduce costs, improve efficiency and create new revenue opportunitiesWhy transformation programmes fail without effective leadershipHow to define the right KPIs before investing in business transformationWhy human judgement, storytelling and executive presence remain essentialHow Oluchi evaluated the risk of leaving an EY partner role to build Fully BossedWhat major M&A and organisational transformation programmes involveWhy leadership is defined by impact rather than job title Oluchi’s message to finance leaders is clear: AI can generate the report, but it cannot replace your ability to challenge the assumptions, defend the analysis and influence decisions in the boardroom. This conversation is essential listening for CFOs, finance directors, CEOs, founders, investors and transformation leaders seeking to generate measurable returns from AI. Watch the full video episode:https://youtu.be/ob5n15FUbaM Connect with Oluchi Ikechi-D’Amico:https://www.linkedin.com/in/oli-ikechi/ Discover Fully Bossed:https://fullybossed.com/ Explore the tools and resources I use to power my podcasts, business and content at: ⁠https://kingdemspodcast.com/tools Follow Diary Of A CFO for financial strategies, AI insights and practical leadership lessons for smarter business growth. What is the biggest barrier preventing organisations from achieving a return on their AI investments?

  6. Jul 27

    How Busy Professionals Can Use AI to Invest Smarter | Eric Chu, CFA

    Sponsored by BetterHelp. Start your growth journey with a credentialed therapist and get 10% off at https://betterhelp.com/kingdems Eric Chu, CFA, CEO and co-founder of TradeDesk Securities, joins Diary Of A CFO to explain how busy professionals can use AI to research investments more efficiently without outsourcing their judgement. For professionals with investable income but limited time, this conversation offers a practical framework for thinking about AI, financial regulation, risk management and long-term investing. Eric built his career across investment banking, hedge funds and data centre development before co-founding an SEC-registered broker-dealer designed specifically for working professionals in their 30s and 40s. His experience during the 2008 financial crisis, including receiving a job offer from Bear Stearns that disappeared when the firm collapsed, shaped the disciplined approach to risk that now underpins TradeDesk Securities. You will learn in this episode: Why AI’s biggest advantage for investors is time, not information (23:11)What happens inside a data centre when you send an AI prompt (20:38)Why Eric describes the Bear Stearns collapse as his first real lesson in humility (14:27)The regulatory requirements TradeDesk Securities follows as a FINRA and SIPC member (18:17)Why individual investors may have a structural advantage over professional fund managers (28:03)How Eric and his team build trust in a highly regulated financial industry through direct expertise (31:44)Where AI in finance could go next, including sector-specific AI engines (33:58)Eric’s honest and non-committal perspective on cryptocurrency as an asset class (38:07) Guest: Eric Chu, CFA, is CEO and co-founder of TradeDesk Securities, an SEC-registered broker-dealer created to help working professionals invest using AI-powered insights and portfolio tools. He holds an MBA from NYU Stern and has spent almost 20 years working across investment banking, hedge funds and public company finance. His experience includes senior roles developing and financing data centre platforms across Asia. Links Guest LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/eric-chu-cfa-7159567/Guest company: https://www.tradesk.co/ Diary Of A CFO ranks in the Global Top 3% on Listen Notes and reaches audiences across 130+ countries. Explore the tools behind our podcast network: https://kingdemspodcast.com/tools #DiaryOfACFO #AIInvesting #Investing #FinancialStrategy #ArtificialIntelligence #WealthManagement #RiskManagement #FutureOfFinance

  7. Jul 21

    How a Nobel Peace Prize Laureate Builds Lasting Impact | Lameen Abdul-Malik | Diary Of A CFO

    Sponsored by BetterHelp. Start your growth journey with a credentialed therapist and get 10% off at https://betterhelp.com/kingdems What separates leaders who achieve success from those who create lasting impact? In this episode of Diary Of A CFO, host Ademola Odewade sits down with Lameen Abdul-Malik, a Nobel Peace Prize laureate, transformation advisor, lawyer and former International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) leader, to explore how leaders build systems, develop future leaders and create impact that lasts for generations. From Nobel Peace Prize-winning work to Africa's development, healthcare transformation and leadership, this conversation is packed with practical lessons every executive can apply. Drawing on more than 25 years of international leadership, Lameen shares lessons from helping establish Zambia's first cancer hospital, contributing to the Nobel Peace Prize-winning work of the IAEA and advising governments, CEOs and institutions across Africa. He explains why great leadership is measured not by titles or recognition, but by the lives transformed and the systems left behind. In this episode, you'll learn: • Why impact matters more than outputs and activity• How world-class leaders build systems instead of chasing recognition• The leadership lessons behind the Nobel Peace Prize journey• Why succession planning determines whether leadership truly succeeds• How to measure qualitative impact alongside quantitative metrics• Why mindset always comes before skillset and toolset• Lessons from building Zambia's first cancer hospital• The biggest opportunities for Africa's future development• How to define success on your own terms instead of society's expectations• Why humility, service and courage are competitive advantages for modern leaders Guest Links: 🔗 LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/lameen-abdul-malik/📖 Book: IMPACT Framework Power Your Growth With The Same Tools We Use: We run the Diary Of A CFO and The King Dems Podcast ecosystem using best-in-class AI, business, finance, productivity and media tools trusted by founders and executives. Explore our complete tool stack:https://kingdemspodcast.com/tools Smarter tools. Better growth. Bigger wins. Hosted by Ademola Odewade, MBA, ACA, BSc (Economics) If you enjoyed this episode, please follow Diary Of A CFO on Spotify and leave a rating. Your support helps us educate, inspire and empower more leaders across the world. #DiaryOfACFO #Leadership #BusinessStrategy #ExecutiveLeadership #NobelPeacePrize #Transformation #Impact #Africa #Innovation #CFO #SystemsThinking #BusinessGrowth #Economics #Legacy

  8. Jul 13

    The Truth About Leadership Nobody Teaches You | Dr. Suzy Burke

    Sponsored by BetterHelp. Start your growth journey with a credentialed therapist and get 10% off at https://betterhelp.com/kingdems Why do brilliant business strategies fail despite strong financial plans, ambitious targets and carefully designed performance measures? Dr. Suzy Burke argues that strategy may live in a slide deck, but culture lives in what happens on Tuesday morning. Dr. Suzy Burke is an organisational psychologist, four-time founder, former Fortune 20 executive, co-founder of Accountability Inc. and lead author of Headamentals: How Leaders Can Crack Negative Self-Talk. In this practical conversation with Ademola Odewade, she explains why CFOs and business leaders must look beyond financial performance to understand the culture, accountability and human behaviour driving the numbers. In this episode, you will learn: Why brilliant strategies fail faster and more expensively inside broken culturesHow CFOs can identify cultural problems before they become financially expensiveWhy accountability should be a daily operating habit, not a disciplinary toolThe three areas to examine when inheriting a struggling organisationHow clarity, visible scorecards, named owners and weekly check-ins improve executionWhy metrics only create value when people take ownership of the outcomesHow healthy cultures surface bad news before it damages performanceWhy senior executives receive less honest feedback as they riseHow psychological safety strengthens decision-making, innovation and executionWhy measurement bridges the gap between vision and financial performanceHow leaders can balance short-term pressures with long-term sustainabilityWhich human capabilities AI cannot replaceHow AI can reduce administrative work and preserve time for judgement, relationships and trustWhy a leader’s negative self-talk can influence the performance of an entire team Dr. Burke also shares lessons from Xerox, her approach to sustainable culture change and the systems leaders can use to turn strategy into measurable execution. This conversation is a powerful reminder that financial results do not exist independently of people. Culture shapes behaviour, behaviour shapes execution and execution ultimately shapes the numbers. Connect with Dr. Suzy Burke: Website: https://www.suzyburke.phd/ LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/suzy-burke-phd-ab77071a Headamentals: https://headamentals.com/ Book: https://www.amazon.com/Headamentals-Leaders-Defeat-Negative-Self-Talk/dp/1774585898 Discover Diary Of A CFO: YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@DiaryOfACFO Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/7JswbC0rNzS14f8dnj4sj0 Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/diary-of-a-cfo-financial-strategies-for-smart/id1820947348 Amazon Music: https://music.amazon.co.uk/podcasts/3e37b332-e747-4fda-9295-fa9d5e922463/diary-of-a-cfo-financial-strategies-for-smart-business-growth Newsletter: https://newsletter.kingdemspodcast.com/ Tools and resources: https://kingdemspodcast.com/tools Hosted by Ademola Odewade, MBA, ACA, BSc (Economics), Chartered Accountant, former Big Four professional and founder and CEO of K-Dems Consulting Ltd. Subscribe, share this episode with a CFO or business leader in your network and tell us: What is the clearest sign that an organisation’s culture is beginning to damage its financial performance? #CFO #FinancialLeadership #OrganizationalCulture #StrategyExecution #ArtificialIntelligence

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Diary Of A CFO is a global Top 2.5% business finance podcast hosted by Ademola Odewade, MBA, ACA. Elite CFOs, founders and business leaders share practical strategies for cash flow, profitability, financial planning, AI-powered finance, leadership and sustainable business growth. Built for founders, CFOs, fractional CFOs, finance leaders and consultants who want to make smarter decisions, scale with confidence and lead with data. Expect real-world insights, proven frameworks and executive lessons for building stronger, more profitable businesses. Follow: @k-demsconsultingltd

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