Transformational CFO Relies on Ethical Leadership for Success

Reprinted from Traditions, Spring 2017-2018
July 24, 2017

“I like to make things better,” reflected LeAnne Matthews Stewart’83 who has built a career around fixing things.  With great respect for her St. Paul roots, LeAnne is proud of her hometown.  Much like her great grandfather who built the iconic #1 building that graces the St. Paul downtown skyline, she is a bit of a builder herself and has worked diligently in her career to build and lead corporate finance teams that can transform companies in transition all over the world.

As a transformational Chief Financial Officer (CFO), she works with companies who are at critical junctures in their corporate health. She provides financial and strategic leadership to global companies who often face complex challenges as they grow and change to meet today’s market challenges.

At a risk of oversimplification, she builds teams in financial, information systems and administrative functions to keep the company going in the right direction. “In the lifecycle of any organization, there comes a time when growth and complexity demand new skill sets.”

“These are interesting roles,” she explains. “Each challenges me to develop more of my leadership skills every time.”

“I am most proud of the teams I have built, “ noted Stewart. “And while there have been mistakes made along the way,” she paused and clarified, “I call them ‘learning opportunities,’ – I hope to always leave a place better than when I got there.”

Most recently, she was CFO for 21st Century Oncology where she supported the design and implementation of a new organizational structure for this global, physician led cancer care center. Before that, she also facilitated the $1.2 billion sale of CRC Health Group through initiatives to sustainably improve operational performance, reduce debt and drive efficiency and effectiveness throughout the organization including the divestiture of numerous underperforming facilities.

Her career extends beyond the health care industry, and includes varied financial leadership roles for Nash Finch Company (now Spartan Nash), and Granite Construction. At the beginning of her career, she worked in public accounting at Ernst and Young LLP. After leaving Ernst and Young, she earned her MBA in finance, marketing and multinational management from The Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania.

Stewart, and her husband of 20 years, John, who is also a CFO, have worked and lived in many places throughout the US, as well as London and Melbourne, Australia. Born and raised in Saint Paul, she and her three sisters grew up in Como Park area.

Stewart attended Derham Hall and later College of St. Benedict where she has served on the Board of Trustees.

As the first to go to college in her family, Stewart gives her parents tremendous credit for their hard work to ensure that she and her sisters had a chance to go to college which is something neither parent was able to do. Even the opportunity to attend Derham Hall came from her parents who willingly entertained the Catholic school idea at their daughter’s request. “My best friend in 7th and 8th grade was going to Derham Hall, but not excited about it and wanted someone to enroll with her,” explained Stewart. “I am grateful, still today, that my parents agreed to send me there, where I ended up truly finding my ‘home.’”

It is easy for Stewart to recall the fun in high school: birthday celebrations in the morning before classes started; riding the city bus to school with friends and transfers downtown Saint Paul; trips to Taco John’s for lunch...but she points out that the sense of identity, discipline and responsibility were critical to her personal growth.

“Derham began the life long practice of opening up my world… to literature, math, science, languages, religions outside of Catholicism,” reflected Stewart. “Derham taught me how to think critically, and how to study – things my college friends did not really learn in high school.”

As a graduate of Derham Hall, she values the importance of education for women and respects the current way Cretin-Derham Hall fosters the independence and development of both women and men.

“It is critical for CDH to continue to foster creativity and self-awareness to build confidence as leaders.”

Stewart remains connected to Cretin-Derham Hall today, and has worked with students exploring careers in economics or finance.

“When I think of CDH today, the sense of leadership, community, and spirituality as a foundation for our future comes to mind,” stated Stewart. She puts a lot of stock in three words that help develop such traits: creativity, curiosity and courage.

As a transformational leader in many diverse corporate settings, Stewart draws a connection to such attributes and success in the business world. “As a financial executive, I believe ethical leadership is of utmost importance,” reflected Stewart.

“Management, Boards of Directors, the investing public and financial institutions rely on my teams to generate accurate financial data in order to make strategic and operational decisions to achieve growth and create value – thus, responsibility, integrity and transparency need to be at the forefront of business leadership.”

She further points out that while some people have a natural creativity, for others, it is not as easy. Thus the world- in education and in business – needs to encourage problem-solving and risk-taking which take both curiosity and courage.

Stewart attributes the values she learned at Derham Hall, and later, St. Ben’s, especially the connection to community and spirituality, to be significant to her personal and professional success.

“Success shouldn’t just come from how well we do in our careers, but ‘why we do well.’ “ She explains, “A spiritual foundation authenticates ‘why’ we do what we do…we find, therefore, our success comes less from ‘ego’ and more from our ‘opportunity to impact the greater good.”

This article and more are featured in the Spring 2017-2018 issue of the CDH Magazine, Traditions.