Mastercard CFO to Continue Working After Cancer Diagnosis
In light of Mastercard CFO Sachin Mehra’s decision to continue working while undergoing treatment for cancer, the conversation around executive leadership and health disclosures takes on new urgency. While transparency is crucial, it’s equally important to balance the need for privacy and the wellbeing of the individual.
As quoted in this article, Shawn Cole, an expert in CFO roles and public company governance, provides insights on how companies can manage the delicate balance between executive health transparency and governance obligations, while ensuring business continuity.
Medical matters are often a challenge for companies because they must “strike the right balance between transparency, oversharing and maintaining confidentiality when making any executive disclosure,” Shawn Cole, president of the executive search firm Cowen Partners, said in an email response to questions.
In the case of a CFO potentially being unavailable, the board must put a plan in place to cover financial oversight, audits and strategic planning and, in addition, navigate communication around the disclosures.
If they don’t disclose enough and the issue escalates — such as the problem leading to the loss or departure of a CFO — that can cause surprise and concern among investors, he said. On the other hand, if a company “overshares” and it turns out to be a non-issue, it risks unnecessary scrutiny. But Cole commended Mastercard for walking a careful line with their disclosure.
“They’ve managed to provide enough information to reassure stakeholders without crossing into unnecessary detail,” he said.
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About Shawn Cole, President & Cofounder
Shawn Cole is a serial entrepreneur and executive leader with over 15 years’ experience founding and running successful companies. Shawn’s business career has been centered on value creation for both turnarounds and startups.
Shawn is President and Co-Founder of Cowen Partners, a national CFO executive search firm focused on the key elements of a successful business: sales, marketing, and finance. Business clients across the country trust Cowen Partners to take their companies to the next level by finding them executive talent, such as a CEO, CFO, COO, Chief Revenue Officer, and Chief Marketing Officer. Clients are both small and large, publicly traded, pre-IPO, private, and non-profit organizations, typically $50 million to multi-billion dollar revenue Fortune 1000 companies or have assets between $1 billion and $15 billion.
An active participant in the business community and startup space, Shawn Co-Chairs The Cowen Partners Venture Fund which provides seed funding and early stage investments, focusing on market disruptors in niche markets, community businesses, and minority entrepreneurs.
Shawn attended Oregon State University’s College of Business Austin Entrepreneurship Program and participated in a first-of-its-kind experiential entrepreneurship experiment at Weatherford Hall. He was also a Founding Member and President of Oregon State University’s Students in Free Enterprise, an international non-profit organization working with university students who want to positively change their communities and learn practical knowledge to become socially responsible business leaders.
At the age of 16 Shawn became a volunteer firefighter and EMT, eventually founding and managing a half marathon to raise funds for the community. To date, the marathon is still a success and has raised over one million dollars benefiting the community.
About Cowen Partners Executive Search
Specializing in interim CFO recruitment and other executive search engagements, Cowen Partners gives our clients access to the top 1% of human capital to create opportunities that accelerate their growth and market share.
With Cowen Partners, clients can grow at scale, create value, and drive results with world class talent. Our clients are both small and large, publicly traded, pre-IPO, private, and non-profit organizations.
Cowen Partners is the nation’s executive search firm, enabling companies to harness the power of human capital to fuel their success.
Clients are typically $50 million to multi-billion dollar revenue Fortune 1000 companies or have assets between $500 million to $15 billion. Successful placements span the entire C-Suite and include VP and director level leadership roles.
With our proven processes and guaranteed results, we have successfully placed hundreds of candidates in industries including technology, healthcare, manufacturing, retail, financial services, and private equity.
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