Former Waste Management CFO's Message to Women: Don't Wait for the Perfect Moment

Former Waste Management CFO Devina Rankin differs slightly from peers who aspired to be finance executives from the start. She admitted in an interview with CFO Dive: "I was never someone who was outspoken and sharp about my ambitions, and frankly, my dreams back then might have been a bit too small."

Nevertheless, she rose to senior leadership at the Houston-based waste collection and disposal giant, serving in senior finance roles for decades before eventually becoming CFO for about nine years. Last November, she handed over the finance reins to her successor, David Reed, and continued to serve the company as an advisor until officially leaving last month.

Climbing the corporate ladder, Rankin accomplished many traditional key achievements of finance leaders, which laid the foundation for her taking charge of Waste Management's finance department in 2017: she earned a bachelor's degree in business administration and accounting and a master's degree in accounting from Texas A&M University, worked in auditing at Arthur Andersen for four years (the firm collapsed after the Enron scandal), and eventually joined Waste Management as a senior financial analyst.

Replacing perfection with grace

After working in Waste Management's accounting department for about eight years, Rankin felt her career had stalled. She was growing and receiving what she called "micro-promotions," but ultimately felt she was doing the same job day in and day out for too long.

It was then that she recalled a pivotal conversation with her mentor in the finance department, Cherie Rice. Rice, who served as corporate treasurer from 2004 to 2012, made Rankin realize that she did not lack any specific skills for career advancement.

Rankin said: "Recognizing that the key was broadening my perspective rather than deepening my technical skills was a turning point for me." She noted that she was already recognized as an excellent communicator, responsible for writing financial statements and contributing to earnings call scripts. "I didn't need to get an MBA. I had the qualifications and credibility; I just needed to believe I could expand my horizons."

Given that women make up less than 20% of CFOs at Fortune 500 and S&P 500 companies, Rankin hopes to dedicate herself to mentoring other women aspiring to that role. She advises them to abandon the perfectionist tendencies that once held her back.

She said: "I especially want to say to women, it's about the words 'grace' and 'perfection.' The grace women extend to others is often vastly different from the grace they extend to themselves... Of course we need to be prepared, but recognize when enough is enough."

Cash flow: the source of truth

After moving to the finance department, Rankin served as assistant treasurer and eventually became vice president and treasurer, an experience that profoundly impacted her. Having long viewed company performance from a historical perspective in accounting, she gained a more strategic new outlook in finance. For the first time, she truly had a forward-looking view and began to consider the perspectives of shareholders and bond investors.

As treasurer, she was responsible for balance sheet management and still believes the cash flow statement is arguably the company's most important metric. Rankin said: "Cash flow tells the story of a business, whether it's a startup or a century-old company. Cash flow helps you determine whether a business can sustain itself, and if it can't currently be self-sufficient, what is the path to achieving that?"

Unlike the income statement—which companies often adjust for so-called extraordinary items—the cash flow statement cannot be arbitrarily adjusted. Rankin said: "There are so many non-cash or non-standard adjustments in the income statement that it can be harder to decipher the actual state of the business through it, which is why I think cash flow is so important."

As the finance chief of a public company, Rankin noted that one challenge is dealing with investors' endless demands while "staying true to your North Star—not running the business for the next quarter, but for the long term."

However, regarding the SEC's potential plan to eliminate quarterly reporting requirements for public companies in favor of semiannual reports, she sees both pros and cons. While regular quarterly reports do consume significant company time and encourage companies to operate on a quarterly basis, the move seems out of step with the current pace of business.

Rankin said: "We live in an era of rapid change. I think reducing reporting frequency does not align with this accelerated pace of change."

A new chapter: the value of time

Rankin has survived three bouts of uterine cancer, and she says the illness taught her the value of time and helped her realize she had achieved her career goals, wanting to devote more time to family and charitable causes. In addition to mentoring women, she serves on the board of the National Marrow Donor Program, an organization that helps treat patients with blood cancers and blood disorders.

Looking ahead, Rankin, now 50, and her wife of 26 years hope to spend more time with their aging parents, and Rankin also plans to help her nephew launch his career. She said: "This is the most open chapter of my life. The pages are blank, and I can't wait to write it."