http://www.thecoolhunter.net/article/detail/1957/amazing-places-to-experience-around-the-globe-part-1

missed the marble caves at Chico Chile; noted that flight from santiago to easter island is over $600
really like that lake in croatia

CFO Search Requirements -- core competencies and leadership

The article emphasizes on geo exposure and staying until the senior manager level.  A Senior FP&A role in Bay Area company, requests these: 



• Two years of Investment Banking/Equity Research Associate experience in Technology, Financial Services or other related industry 
• MBA or equivalent graduate degree preferred 
• Demonstrated network of key players within the SAAS/Financial Services public markets 
• Strong analytical and creative problem solving skills with the ability to get things done 
• Ability to solve complex technical problems, assimilate information rapidly, and work under time constraints 
• Intermediate-advanced Excel skills including macro writing, and building dynamic reports and dashboards linked to internal data stores and charting 
• Strong visual presentation skills – summarizing and communicating excel data into visually appealing documents that communicate key messages 
• Capability to think beyond the task at hand and consider broader strategic issues 
• Excellent inter-personal and communications skills (both written and verbal formats) 
• Demonstrated ability to learn new technology

My point of view: Charles B. EldridgeHow the financial crisis and Sarbanes-Oxley are changing C-suite requirements Charles B. Eldridge ... Indeed, the demand for top-flight financial officers appears poised to rise across all industries. The global financial crisis created a temporary surplus of finance executive talent in recent years, but the uptick in CEO turnover suggests job openings are coming. Most new CEOs either bring in a new CFO or start looking for one shortly after they settle in. Finance executives who hope to leverage this opportunity in a tough job market must understand what CEOs are seeking today. One common CFO search requirement is somewhat restrictive, particularly for current Big Four audit partners and senior managers: companies often want to have a sitting CFO as their next CFO. This reflects a “ripple effect” of regulation. Prior to the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 (SOX), corporations would frequently offer the CFO position to their audit partner, who typically had established relationships with the CEO and the board, and who knew the lay of the land. If the audit partner had an MBA, even better. SOX quickly renewed the perceived value of a CPA qualification and technical accounting skills. But then the financial crisis hit, and the pendulum swung back toward an emphasis on the CFO as a CEO’s strategic partner, one who expertly manages cash and helps drive business growth. These hiring conditions mean that finance professionals seeking a CFO job or other senior position must strengthen their candidacy in a number of ways: Understand leadership requirements. Although functional expertise (e.g., corporate finance, treasury, controllership) is a requirement, it gets a CFO candidate only so far. Leadership qualities are much more important. They commonly appear on CFO search specification sheets phrased this way: “clever problem solver,” “thinks strategically,” “changes behaviors easily,” “performs well under all conditions,” “low tolerance for marginal talent” and “deals with complexity and ambiguity very well.” Embrace forward-looking analytics. Financial planning and analysis (FP&A) expertise represents, by far, the most sought-after functional skill set within the finance function today. CFOs remain hungry for FP&A talent who can help them look ahead with greater clarity and accuracy. Network aggressively. References and recommendations matter more than ever. In the post-SOX era, CEOs and board members focus first and foremost on balancing risk and business growth, and they want to feel confident about any new CFO. The best candidates continually strengthen their networks, even when they don’t “need” to. Go global. Scan the résumé of most Fortune 500 CFOs and you will see that many made geographic moves — including stops in EU countries, South America, the Middle East and Asia-Pacific — every two to three years. Experience abroad is a necessity for today’s CFO. Stay on the job longer, especially early on. Current auditors should recognize that experience as a senior manager in a Big Four firm resonates with hiring teams in the same way that an MBA does. Auditors who leave their firms before becoming senior managers or partners generate far less career return on investment from their public accounting experience.

Partner (with Cal undergrad, Stanford GSB) to become CEO

what an exemplary career track that is local as well! love the concept of "repot" Source:  Connect: the magazine for Ernst & Young alumni, May 2010 Donald YeeMentoring and coaching have been key to his career and taught him to pay it forward Donald Yee As president and CEO of a division of the United Health Group and board member of Blue Diamond, alumnus Donald Yee strongly believes in paying it forward. If there’s one word that might best describe former Ernst & Young partner Don Yee, it’s this: appreciative. A first-generation American, Yee still marvels that the son of Asian immigrants can wind up going to Stanford University and ultimately become president and CEO of a division of a Fortune 21 company. “It’s humbling,” says Yee, and it’s instilled in him a desire to give back and to strive to make a difference every day. Growing up, Yee would often hear his mother and father speak about the United States in Chinese phrases that translated into “beautiful country” and “gold mountain,” euphemisms for opportunity and a better place. “My parents, who only had a sixth-grade Chinese education, were hugely appreciative of the opportunities in this country,” says Yee. And they made it clear to Yee and his siblings that they should be grateful, too, and to look for opportunities to give back whenever they could — “no matter how much or how little we had.” Crediting teachers who “guided and inspired” him, Yee excelled in school and graduated from both the University of California-Berkeley and Stanford. While working his way through undergraduate school, Yee saw yet another instance of the “pay it forward” principle in action: He was working in finance at Chevron Corporation and had a tremendously helpful mentor who was the controller. “One day I asked him how I could ever repay him,” Yee recalls. The mentor replied that Yee couldn’t repay him, but rather, that Yee should do good for others when he had the chance. Upon earning his MBA from Stanford in 1979, Yee joined Ernst & Young in San Francisco as a consultant and made partner at age 30. A short while later, he was named Office Managing Partner of the former Walnut Creek, California, office. Then, in 1993, Yee surprised friends and colleagues with the news that he was leaving public accounting — with no specific plans or job offer on the table. Although he “loved the firm and the clients and his colleagues,” Yee says, he simply decided he wanted to take some time off for his family and to consider new challenges. “I always remembered the Dean of the Stanford Graduate School of Business telling us to never be afraid to ‘re-pot,’ and I just felt it was time to try something new, especially with the terrific experience gained at Ernst & Young.” For the next five years, Yee served as a business advisor and interim CEO for a number of companies and private equity groups. In 1998, one of his former clients, Vision Service Plan (VSP), asked Yee to join the company as its Chief Marketing and Corporate Development Officer. After helping to build VSP into the undisputed industry leader and running several of the business units, including serving as the founding CEO of Eyefinity (an Internet-based management services company), Yee became CEO of the VSP Family of Companies in 2005. Three years later, Yee took on his current position as president and CEO of OptumHealth Vision, a division of United Health Group. He also sits on the board of Blue Diamond, the world leader in the almond products industry. Today, Yee continues to express his appreciation through giving back. Emulating his role models at Chevron and at Ernst & Young, particularly retired Ernst & Young partners Bob Hackman, Brian Belchers and Jim Farris (now deceased), whom Yee describes as his no-nonsense boss, friend and mentor, Yee finds great fulfillment in coaching and developing others. In addition to more traditional charitable giving, at a previous company Yee personally pledged to match whatever dollar amount the 120 employees there raised to assist victims of the tsunami that devastated much of Indonesia in 2004. And Yee and his wife, Gail, are currently involved in the American Cancer Society and a local charity, Christmas Promise, which on Christmas Eve has several dozen Santas delivering hundreds of bags of toys and essentials to needy Sacramento-area families. As for his future plans, Yee says it’s simply to continue to strive to make a difference every day. “You don’t have to be a Nobel Prize winner,” he says. “If you can look in the mirror each night and say, ‘I made a difference,’ if you can do a little every day, then over a lifetime, that’s huge.”