CFO Studio Magazine with Craig Steeneck, CFO, Pinnacle Foods

vantage point and influence platform, with access to investors, boards, and the rest of the C-suite that is ideal for those aspiring to business leadership roles. “The real opportunity for CFOs seeking the chief executive role lies in the things you choose to be a part of and the experiences you build while in the financial role,” Kendall adds. “The financial role gives you a great perspective of the overall business and the performance levers in the business. You can choose to focus on keeping score and issuing backward-looking financial statements, or you can strive to understand the market dynamics that shape the company, and be part of developing and setting the strategy of the company, and be an important part of leading and managing the execution of that strategy.” Open to New Experiences Kendall honed his financial leadership, but more importantly, he developed broader executive leadership skills. A position with the burgeoning MonoSol Rx presented himwith the chance to lead a company, financially and strategically, from the outset. “I was attracted to the opportunity that a startup like Monosol Rx presented, especially since I had been with startups and turnarounds before,” he recalls. “I knew the market, and I knew the operational and other business processes that would help the company to grow.” He also saw, in then-CEO Schobel, a partner and collaborator in creating growth and success for MonoSol Rx. “I had a seamless relationship with Mark,” he says. “It was a partnership that capitalized on complementary skills that was successful from our first days together in 2006.” The way they collaborated drove MonoSol Rx’s culture, Kendall says, characterizing the working relationship as fluid. “We transitioned roles seamlessly as needed. From the start, we knew that as MonoSol Rx moved from a purely R&D company proving its technology to a more commercial stage with production schedules and customers to delight, the CEO’s role would be less technical and more broad business-focused.” Healthy Tension Working closely with Schobel gave Kendall some valuable insights about the signs of a good CFO- CEO relationship. “In a best-case scenario, the two leaders share a view and take steps together to move the company ahead,” says Kendall. “A CFO and CEO should be collaborative and inclusive and there should be a ‘healthy tension’ between their views. This relationship is a duet where each leader has strengths and weaknesses, but the two in collaboration are able to have vision, create and set a strategy, and ensure execution. The boundaries between executive roles do not have to be bright lines.” Because of his or her wide-ranging responsibilities, a CFO is in an ideal position to understand and influence a company, he adds. In his new role as CEO, Kendall expects his CFO to have a broad and informed internal perspective of the company, as well as a nuanced view of the larger specialty pharmaceutical and drug-development landscape. If a CFO is spending his or her time overly focused on producing financials and score keeping without keeping sight of the business overall, that’s a mistake, Kendall believes. “Growing companies and dealing effectively with the complex issues in themarkets require attention and focus at the top, and no one person can be everywhere all the time or right all the time,” he says. “The CEO andCFOhave towork together and speak as one.” A Formula for Success “MonoSol Rx leadership faces the same challenges presented to every pharmaceutical company, from the economy to regulatory hurdles,” Kendall says. “But our company is profitable, and we anticipate that we’ll continue to successfully move forward, propelled in part by a seamless CFO-and-CEO working relationship.” C 3rd QUARTER 2015 WWW.CFOSTUDIO.COM 13 Get published in CFO Studio magazine. Find out more at www.cfostudio.com + D uring his tenure as CFO, and later as COO — a good interim step on the way to becoming CEO — Kendall deepened his pharmaceutical industry knowledge and experience. While he remained CFO, he led funding rounds that raised both debt and equity. Simultaneously, Kendall led the manufacturing and operations processes, the business development and marketing functions, and the quality and regulatory functions. It was a natural progression and an important part of gaining additional knowledge and experience specific to the pharmaceutical industry. “In the early stages of MonoSol Rx, we needed someone with a technical background like Mark — who was a named inventor on 12 patents ranging from diagnostic tests to controlled-release systems — at the top,” explains Kendall. “But for MonoSol Rx to grow successfully, the company also needed someone to partner with and complement Mark. That person needed a good grounding in finance, and experience with developing long-term strategy, building organizations, and operating businesses for growth.” Kendall fit the bill. Today, for example, in addition to two approved products leveraging MonoSol Rx’s proprietary PharmFilm drug delivery technology — Suboxone, for the treatment of opioid dependence, and the post-operative nausea and vomiting treatment Zuplenz — the company has a growing development pipeline of more than 10 PharmFilm products. As Monosol Rx Evolved, so Did Kendall “THE FINANCIAL ROLE GIVES YOU A GREAT PERSPECTIVE OF THE PERFORMANCE LEVERS IN THE BUSINESS.”