Tale Breeze

LinkedIn Marketing for Finance Leaders

🟢 We create tailored content for CFOs & Senior Finance professionals including thought leadership articles, industry insights and compelling stories to establish a strong online presence.

🟣 Crafting engaging LinkedIn posts and articles on behalf of CFOs, aligning with their individual style and expertise to enhance thought leadership and audience engagement.

🟣 Coaching professionals to increase their visibility at workplace, helping them get career growth 
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🟢 Working with VPs & Directors & guiding them to get to the CFO levels
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🔴 Helping CFOs and Senior finance professionals learn to write and express their views. Getting them to showcase their thought leadership

Linkedin Personal Branding for CFOs, Finance Leaders + Finance Leaders Career Coaching

Silverpush

Chief Financial Officer

dentsu international

(1) Worked as the Group CFO for Dentsu Aegis Network Malaysia, comprising of 10+ individual agencies all part of my remit. 

(2) It covered Media, Creative, Out-of-home, Digital side of the business

(3) The overall ARR for the combined business was around GBP 300m.

CFO for India operations of Wunderman International and Wunderman Production (MSC worldwide)

(1) Wunderman International (world’s top digital, CRM and mobile agency) and 

(2) MSC Worldwide (production, creative execution and analytics).

CFO India 

Director Of Finance And Operations

Cheil Worldwide - Marketing solutions company under the Samsung Group

Deputy General Manager - Finance

Publicis Groupe

•	Head the finance function of two of the world’s largest media agencies ZenithOptimedia  and Starcom Worldwide (media divisions of Publicis Groupe) for PAN India. 

•	Manage the annual turnover of more EURO ~200 million with overall responsibility of the P&L

•	Responsible for integration of newly acquired Digital agency “Resultrix” into the Groupe. along with integration of Finance Operations.

Finance Controller / Vice President Finance - India

Associate Director Finance

Finance Manager

Finance Manager (Contractual)

Bad Decisions Bad Phase

CFO (Chief Failure Officer)

American Airlines

- Was responsible for setting up the entire finance office for American Airlines (AA) in India. 

- AA was a new airline which was starting its Operations into India with a daily direct non-stop flight from Chicago to New Delhi. 

- Was the first finance employee hired in India and was reporting into London office. 

- Was involved and responsible for the setting up of statutory licences for an AA office in India.

Finance Analyst

American Express

Managed the finance operations for the American Express Travel Division. Was responsible for looking after the APAC markets majorly Australia, Singapore and New Zealand. Was a part of American Express Financial Centre East (FCE) located at Gurgaon catering to Eastern part of the world. The other Financial Centre (West) - FCW is situated at Phoenix, Arizona USA.

Analyst

Air India Limited

Assistant Supervisor - Finance

Are you looking for a new job, LinkedIn brand building, or career growth mentoring? 

You are a senior finance professional? 

I'll help you fix that.

My mission is to help professionals 
• increase their visibility
• influence impact at work
• and achieve their career goals

I do this by coaching them on 

➡️ how to communicate effectively, 
➡️ build business partnering skills, 
➡️ create and share valuable content, 
➡️ and adopt a growth mindset.

I am a mentor and coach for present and future CFOs. 

I have over 20 years of experience in finance, strategy and leadership roles, working with global and regional companies across various industries.

If you are an individual looking to not get stagnated in your career, if you are ambitious and want to make a mark at your workplace, reach out to me. 

My coordinates to reach me are:
✅ Email: officialmehtag@gmail.com 
✅ DM me here on Linkedin
✅ Website : https://gauravmehta.me
✅ Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@CFOGhostwriter?sub_confirmation=1

Find tools for career growth here 

✅ https://topmate.io/gaurav

This morning something a bit annoying happened in my building.

I was going down in the lift. It stopped on the 8th floor. A lady standing there put her arm inside to stop the door from closing. But she didn’t enter. She just stood there, blocking the door, waiting for someone to come.

I was the only other person in the lift.

- She didn’t even look at me.
- She didn’t say please wait.
- She didn’t say excuse me.

Nothing.

And I just stood there, waiting. Getting a little irritated. Generally it happens and you wait for 5-10 seconds and thats fine. But when its close to a minute, it gets on your nerves. It’s about basic courtesy.  Then a little girl maybe 9 or 10 years old, came running towards the lift. She quickly entered looked at me and said -- thank you uncle.

My entire frustration disappeared. That one thank you from the little girl showed more maturity than her mother’s silence. The basics of communication and humility.

I have seen this across my work too. Esp in finance, when we talk to business teams, our words matter. We may know more. We may have the numbers. We may feel entitled. But how we say things decides whether people listen to us or avoid us.

Be like that little girl.

#Humility

Gaurav Mehta

ex-CFO • Helping you use Linkedin for business & growth

I am stepping down from my CFO role.

I resign. 

I told this to my CEO. The reason?

→ I live 60 kms apart
→ We don't offer WFH flexibility
→ I cant commute for 5 hours daily

The long commute was eating up into my health. My productivity had taken a hit. And it was high time I prioritised what matters most. My health.

I have zero regrets. 
What I started thereafter, my own work of 

→ Working with Finance leaders & mentoring them
→ Content writing for Senior Finance Leaders
→ Job search support for Finance Leaders
→ Training to build strong work presence

and periodic support to young start-ups with their senior finance needs.

I never realised earlier, how purposeful this work has been. How meaningful and mentally stimulating it is, solving problems of finance leaders in my community.

If I would have thought of leaving my job to pursue this, I may never have been able to take this decision. But the exhausting travel time to work, it became the catalyst.

I am not saying leave your job if you are just unhappy. 

All I am saying is
• find that catalyst
• use that catalyst
• channelise the energy

It might be the push you need to take that leap of faith. 

Sometimes, the most challenging circumstances can lead to the most fulfilling opportunities. For me, it was the exhausting commute. For you, it could be something entirely different.

#Purpose #Commute

7pm, I was in the office

working on something important

I got a call from my daughter. She urgently needed to speak to me. One of her teacher was leaving the school & tomorrow was supposed to be the last day. She now wanted to buy a gift for her mam and wanted me back home immediately to take her to a shop to buy the gift.

I had to finish this important work but since it was not really urgent I packed my bag and left for home. Upon reaching home, I was welcomed to a change of plan and now she  wanted to gift something which could be self made and hence special.

Decided to make a greeting card, a small hamper box with small little items like chocolate, key chain etc and custom wrap it herself

I stood there with my laptop bag, back home for no reason, leaving behind important work. Yeah in literal terms, my early return got wasted however, something more meaningful happened.

- She knew that I will come when she called
- She knew that I will not let her down
- She knew on change of plan, I will not be mad
- She knew she could bank on me for her work

and that TRUST is a much bigger prize for me than the actual purpose of visiting shop to buy a gift for the teacher.

As a leader many a times- 

- you may not be required
- your team will solve the problem themselves
- you effort will be redundant

BUT still

Be there for your team
Show yourself around

Let them feel 
YOU ARE AVAILABLE TO THEM

Building that trust takes time
over such failed instances 

But still continue being a good leader

We worked late nights when we were juniors.

So now our teams should too.

A few months ago, after my daughter's exams were over, she invited a few of her friends to our place for a night out. Out of the 4 friends she invited, 3 of them came but the 4th one didnt. She wanted to come but her parents didnt allow. Not because it was unsafe. We have had these kids night out at our place many times before. It was because the parents of this child hadnt allowed their elder child such night outs and hence werent allowing the younger one too. 

It reminded me of my early career when some of the bosses used the exact same ploy.


"We worked late nights, so you should too"


Now, I understand parents fear, and I also understand they have the best interest of their child in mind. I am not judging them. What they did was probably right in action. And this post is not to blame them or single them out. The purpose is only to assess, how, unconsciously, this mentality of inherited rigidity is getting passed, especially at workplace. 

When a boss says we worked late nights, so you should too, what they’re really saying is, I suffered, and that gives me permission to make you suffer.

And that’s the problematic part.

The world has changed. Technology has evolved. Expectations have evolved. Even risk profiles have evolved. Yet too many finance teams still operate on an emotional logic from 15 years ago like, if it was hard for me, it should be hard for you too. 

Your job as a finance leader is 

- not to glorify what you endured
- but to ensure next gen doesn’t have to endure that.

#Leadership

I worked as a Finance Controller for about a year. 

On paper, it was a good role. 

- the title was right
- the responsibilities made sense and 
- the pay wasn’t bad either. 

But I wasn’t enjoying the work. And more importantly, I wasn’t enjoying the people I worked with. The environment drained me. And while I knew many people in similar situations who chose to stick around, waiting for things to get better or hoping for a promotion down the line, I wasn’t willing to do that to myself.

So, I made a decision.

I left that role and moved to a different organisation. I joined as a Deputy General Manager, which, for all practical purposes, was at the same level as a Finance Controller. It helped me rebuild the confidence I had lost in my previous role.

Eventually, I got an opportunity to join a much larger global company as a Finance Director. That step changed everything. It gave me exposure, strategic depth, and the kind of leadership challenges I had always wanted to take on.

Looking back, I sometimes wonder what would have happened if I had chosen to stay. I could have easily spent three or four years in that first role, feeling stuck and miserable, convincing myself that this is just how things are.

In finance, we talk a lot about managing risk. But sometimes, the bigger risk is staying in a place that’s no longer helping you grow.

You have to know when it’s time to move. And more importantly, you have to believe that you will figure it out when you do.

-----------
Want to talk to me: topmate.io/gaurav
(Ask for a 50% discount code)

Finally became the CFO.

And within 30 days, was repenting.

One of my clients just got promoted. First-time CFO. A proud moment. But when we spoke, he said, life is more than working 14 hours daily, Gaurav. I take the local train, spend 1.5 to 2 hours commuting each way. I reach office, work non-stop for 10 hours and then head back, exhausted.

I have been doing this for 15 years. And getting the CFO title hasn't changed that. 

What do I tell him? I myself did the same years ago.

4 hours of commute. Barely seeing my kids awake on weekdays. Fighting traffic every morning & evening. The position though sure comes with authority and recognition, but if it doesn’t shift how you experience your day to day life, then what exactly do you gain?

Do titles matter if the quality of your day stays the same?

#CFO #Struggles

If you want people to hire you, they need to see YOU.


For a very long time, I also believed that my work speaks for itself, but it was a lie. I remember my colleague (we both were at the same level), was sent for international projects, applauded at the company townhall and had more friends at work because he was VISIBLE.

→ He was talking to everyone 
→ sharing his ideas 
→ showing up when needed. 

Meanwhile, I was the one negotiating with clients, leading quarterly reviews, fixing broken forecasts and STILL INVISIBLE.

The bottomline is this. 

If people can’t see you, they can’t bet on you.

Silence wont protect your career.

#Visibility

One day you will wake up and there won’t be any more time to do things you have always wanted. 


DO IT NOW !

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