Spotlight on Chris Holt

I am the Chief Financial Officer at Linklaters, with more than 20 years of experience in top-tier professional services. I have held a range of financial and commercial roles across the UK and Asia. My role is principally about supporting the business’s long-term success, providing leadership to the global finance team, and managing the firm’s financial exposure and risk. In my spare time, I am a keen badminton player and, when I get the chance, I go and watch my beloved Burnley football club.

Learn more about the UK & Ireland CFO community here.
 

Give us a brief overview of the path that led to your current role.

I have been at Linklaters for more than 20 years, and held eight different roles spanning across Finance, Business Management, Operations, Project Management and BD& Marketing. I spent a total of six years in Asia in two stints (one based in Tokyo and then as COO for our China Business, based in Shanghai), followed by two years running our Strategic Project Management function and then a further three and a half years running our Global BD & Marketing function.  My career has certainly not been linear, but it has given me a lot of varied experiences and a great understanding of our business. I moved into my role as CFO four years ago.
 

What is one of your guiding leadership principles?

One area that I am passionate about is providing high support and high challenge to my team.  We want to achieve great things and deliver excellent performance but that requires support and trust from leadership to enable that delivery.
 

What is the greatest challenge CFOs are facing today, and how are you addressing it?

More than ever in my role and many others, I am finding that the requirement to deliver transformation on many levels (organisational structure, process improvement, technology upgrades and of course the adoption and development of AI, as well as delivering the BAU responsibilities) is more pressured than ever. Addressing this challenge is not easy, but the key to being able to deliver on all fronts is to prioritise ruthlessly and not take on too much. 
 

What is the key to success for someone just starting out as a CFO?

There are a lot of factors that can determine success in a CFO role. For me, there are two  areas I focused on early on in my role.

1. Building relationships with my key stakeholders, especially CEO (or equivalent), other board members and my peers.
2. Understand the capabilities of your leadership team – who are your stars and where do you have gaps you need to fill.
    

How do you measure success as a leader?

Success as a leader for me comes from successfully achieving the goals of the organisation whilst also building a happy and engaged team along the way. 
 

What is the value of being a member of Gartner C-level Communities?

I can't wait to start this journey with the Gartner CFO community. The opportunity to network with peers from similar and different industries who are facing the same challenges as me will be hugely beneficial to me and, I hope, others in the community.
 

Gartner C-level Communities Governing Body members share their insights and leadership perspectives to shape the agendas and topics that address the top priorities impacting business leaders today.