TSH S3 E04 | Liz O’Neil - The Pathway to CFO, Moving a Young Family to China, Career as an In-House Chartered Accountant

This conversation we hear from Liz O’Neil and her journey that has seen her work for large Corporates such as Lion Breweries, Spark, Fonterra, and most recently Coca-Cola Euro-Pacific Partners as CFO of New Zealand and the Pacific Islands. Hear about her journey where she didn’t take the traditional Chartered Accountancy path into a professional accounting firm and started in-house. Liz has had a wide ranging career from finance, business analyst and strategy roles to managing the Fonterra Farms in Beijing China. If you are interested in hearing her leadership tips as she has learnt what it means to lead through others and take your blinkers off you will love this conversation. 

#CFO  #CocaCola #Leadership #WorkinginChina #TakingTheBlinkersOff #podcast #LIVESMARTER #thestoryhub #CharteredAccoutant #Careerjourney #Success

Time Stamps:

1:18 Early Life and an Alternative Gap Year at Lion Breweries

7:52 Career Learnings Starting Out as an In-House Accountant

13:52 Becoming a Chartered Accountant - Why Did You Choose to be In-House?

16:26 What Does it Mean to “Take the Blinkers Off? & Developing Curiosity

20:29 Be More Curious with Liz’s Favourite Questions

22:44 Move to Spark, Multiple Roles & Restructures - Building Resilience

26:59 First Leadership Role, Favourite Leadership lessons

30:56 How to make Learning a Lifestyle

35:31 Leaving Spark Without a Next Step

38:56 Moving to China as a family of 4, Managing Fonterra’s Beijing Farms

44:18 Leading through Others, Cross-Cultural Leadership Challenges 

47:08 Leading through Change Effectively

49:26 Managing Work & Family Life

50:27 How to Grow in your Ability to Reflect

53:54 Final Thoughts