Voice of Experience: Ann Ziegler, Chief Financial Officer of CDW

By Pamela Weinsaft (New York City)

Audacious proclamations are the hallmark of the many of the successful among us. “You’ve got to raise your hand,” says CDW’s Ann Ziegler, the corporation’s CFO.

No surprise, then, that Ziegler, who is an attorney—not a CPA or Finance MBA—told her boss at Sara Lee— “I want to be the corporate CFO”—and has come to realize that goal.

Ziegler was drawn to the law early, mostly because of strong influence of an older cousin who was an accomplished lawyer. Once she was knee-deep in her legal studies, she realized that, above all else, she was called by corporate law, even though it wasn’t what most of her classmates were doing. “At that time I was in law school, litigation was the sexy part. But I never wanted to be a litigator. I enjoyed corporate law and other similar courses.”

After law school, she joined Skadden Arps, predominantly representing strategic and financial acquirers in the mergers and acquisitions process in their Chicago office. She was offered an in-house position when, joked Ziegler, her major client Sara Lee “got tired of paying my hourly rate.” 

No longer required to work 100+ hours a week, Ziegler quickly discovered that what she loved most about her role as in-house counsel was the chance to participate in projects start to finish. “In a firm, you never get to see what happens [after your part of the deal is done]. You don’t get answers to certain questions like ‘what didn’t I ask for that I should have?’ In a firm, you never really know.”

Setting Her Sights on CFO

Eighteen months in, she was offered an opportunity to move into corporate development but was initially reluctant. “I liked being a lawyer. But I knew if I said I didn’t want to do it, it would say [to management that] I’m not willing to take on new opportunities.”

She decided to take on the challenge, and loved it. “My sandbox got a whole lot bigger,” she explained. She jumped in with both feet, learning new things quickly, including the nitty gritty of accounting. “I had to ask tons of questions and make sure that those folks that had negative accounting consequences were constantly in the loop.”

Ziegler continued her climb up the corporate ladder in corporate development and was ultimately tapped to run it. Even then, she knew that wasn’t her ultimate corporate destination. A few years later, in casual conversation with the CEO, Ziegler made the life-changing declaration: “I want to be the corporate CFO.”

Within a couple of days, she was well on her way. The CEO asked her to become the CFO of the bakery division headquartered in St. Louis. In order to get that division’s business “back on track, [Sara Lee’s] CEO brought in a CEO from another part of Sara Lee and put me in CFO role.”

“I was prepared to roll up my sleeves and work hard. I invested the time and energy to understand both the financial and operational issues. I very quickly did a triage on my team, determining who wanted to be part of fixing the business and who couldn’t care less.” She added, “I had to have heart-to-hearts with those people who couldn’t care less about fixing the business, who were wondering whether I’d last.”

Over the next two years, Ziegler and the rest of the management team turned the business—and morale—around. “We came in and made necessary changes. We got the correct things in place and the team really felt like winners. It was great to see my team succeed.”

Soon thereafter, Sara Lee merged a number of operations as part of an overall corporate transformation. Ziegler became the CFO of a larger organization, which incorporated the meat and bakery businesses. “I was in that role with increasing responsibility for approximately three years. I had been pretty clear I wanted to be a corporate CFO though, and then the opportunity at CDW came.”

Ziegler joined CDW about 21 months ago as their Chief Financial Officer. “I’m proud of the fact that my background is somewhat unorthodox but I did ultimately become a corporate CFO. I was able to set my mind and achieve it, even though I don’t have the rubber stamp CPA behind my name.”

And, now that she has achieved her goal, she plans to stay for a good long while. “I’m having a great time. I’m still on a learning curve because the tech side is new.”

Advice to Women in Business

“There are still are barriers although they are not as rigid as they used to be. But it can still be about who you know and, because there are as fewer women in senior roles, you need to be prepared to make an extra effort,” said Ziegler.

But that doesn’t mean that women will automatically be recognized for the good work. “It took me a while to figure out if I wanted something, I had to be clear and ask for it. Sometimes women think that if they do a great job they’ll get recognized. A lot of people do great jobs. You’ve got to make sure people know about it. It doesn’t mean you should become a high maintenance employee but you should seek feedback from your boss about a role or project, if only to make sure you are on the right track.”

The most important thing, Ziegler says, is to constantly push out against the boundaries of your comfort zone. “I enjoy new challenges. The idea that we need to constantly challenge ourselves keeps us cutting edge.  If you are not scared a bit of your job, you are in the wrong job.”