Could you be a lifer?

It's unusual, these days, to come across someone who's worked their whole career in one organisation. (Even the notorious loyalist Lord Browne spent time as CFO of at Standard Oil... shortly before it merged with BP, admittedly.) So my eye was drawn by this story about the retirement of Greater Manchester Passenger Transport Executive director general Chris Mulligan. Why's he on this blog? Well, he joined GMPTE in 1977 as a management accountant, became financial controller in 1985, FD in 1987, and DG in 1991.

So he's another finance professional who's proved more than capable of operating at the highest levels of general management (and in Mulligan's case, politics, too). But I was also struck by the acceleration in his career. Eight years to get to FC, then just two to FD and only another four until he took the top job. The lesson? A smart FC will find a posting that's got plenty of meat to it, get stuck in, but then have a clear idea of how they plan to sling-shot out of that position into wherever it is they want to go. Mulligan managed that in one organisation; but for most of us today, that means picking the right jobs, stretching ourselves and having a clear exit strategy.