Chief financial officers this year stepped up their companies’ spending to grow their businesses and help them navigate the economic recovery.

They grappled with a host of challenges, including supply-chain bottlenecks, inflation and new Covid-19 variants.

To steer their businesses in new directions amid the disruption caused by the pandemic...

Chief financial officers this year stepped up their companies’ spending to grow their businesses and help them navigate the economic recovery.

They grappled with a host of challenges, including supply-chain bottlenecks, inflation and new Covid-19 variants.

To steer their businesses in new directions amid the disruption caused by the pandemic as well as technological changes, some executives hit the books in search of fresh insights on leadership or global issues. Other executives enjoyed a poignant memoir or a compelling yarn.

CFO Journal asked finance chiefs across industries about the best books they read in 2021. Here’s what they said.

Michael Mullican, CFO of Academy Sports & Outdoors Inc., a Katy, Texas-based sporting-goods retailer
Superforecasting: The Art and Science of Prediction
Philip E. Tetlock and Dan Gardner (2015)

“The timing is pretty appropriate because it’s a very difficult environment to forecast, with demand challenges and supply challenges. I make sure that I’m looking at a lot of different data inputs and ultimately you make business judgments as opposed to all the data thinking there. This book kind of reinforced that belief that I have.”

Amy Weaver said ‘Running Home’ was one of her top reads of the year.

Photo: SALESFORCE.COM

Amy Weaver, CFO of Salesforce.com Inc., a San Francisco-based software company
Running Home: A Memoir
Katie Arnold (2019)

“I loved ‘Running Home’ by Katie Arnold about how she became an ultramarathoner while coping with her father’s death. Having lost my father nearly three years ago, I related to how I reconnect to his memory through running (although much shorter distances!) and his other favorite activities.”

Donald Allan Jr.

, CFO of Stanley Black & Decker Inc., a New Britain, Conn.-based tool maker
Good to Great: Why Some Companies Make the Leap…and Others Don’t
Jim Collins (2001)

“I reread this book over the summer. It’s really about how you take a company that’s good and what you need to do to make it great. What are the things that you need to do around leadership and operating model? What are the processes and the talent and all these different things that you need to take a company from that good category to the great category?”

Jamie Cohen, CFO of Vacasa Inc., a Portland, Ore.-based vacation management platform
No Rules Rules: Netflix and the Culture of Reinvention
Reed Hastings and Erin Meyer (2020)

“‘No Rules Rules’ was one of my top reads of 2021. It has a valuable perspective on leadership and managing people and processes through empowerment and transparency.”

Photo: BenBella Books Inc.

Ron Domanico, CFO of Brink’s Co., a Richmond, Va.-based cash management firm
Unsettled: What Climate Science Tells Us, What It Doesn’t, and Why It Matters

Steven E. Koonin (2021)

“It was refreshing to read about climate science from a scientist—without a political agenda. My takeaway: Our planet is a finite resource and we must be faithful stewards of the planet for our sake, and for the sake of future generations. But money is also a finite resource and governments must be faithful stewards to best serve the people under their leadership. Leaders are therefore faced with difficult decisions about how much [and how] to invest in climate.”

Kelly Steckelberg, CFO of Zoom Video Communications Inc., a San Jose, Calif.-base videoconferencing company
The Way of Integrity: Finding the Path to Your True Self
Martha Back (2021)

“I really liked this book because it is a reaffirmation of what we all know but sometimes forget, which is that being true to our value system is paramount. It guides us in all aspects of our lives and decision making and when we try to deny it we often end up unhappy and out of alignment with our true self.”

Olivier Leonetti, CFO of Johnson Controls International PLC, a Cork, Ireland-based building-technology company
Nudge: Improving Decisions about Health, Wealth, and Happiness
Richard H. Thaler and‎ Cass R. Sunstein (2008)

“One I have read again is ‘Nudge.’ It’s about psychology and behavior of us human beings and how we change that to drive a better outcome. I think it’s important at home with the kids. We have three kids. I think it’s important in business when you need to accelerate the level of change.”