Lessons from CFO turned Everest climber
In this episode of That Voice Podcast, I’m joined by Mohamed Isa, a former CFO who managed over $500M before stepping away from the corporate world to climb Everest and reinvent himself as a global leadership speaker.
We cover a lot of ground in this conversation - from practical communication strategies for technical professionals, to powerful life lessons on reinvention, courage, and backing yourself.
Here’s what you’ll take away:
Why communication - not just numbers - is the key to influence in the boardroom
Simple ways to make complex ideas land (including storytelling and “before & after” thinking)
How to create clear, impactful presentations without overwhelming your audience
Mohamed’s philosophy on reinventing yourself every 7 years
The mindset shift from career success to life fulfilment
Why investing in your voice (and yourself) changes everything
And the ultimate lesson from Everest.
Whether you’re in a technical role, stepping into leadership, or feeling called to something new, this episode is your reminder that it’s never too late to find your voice and take the next step.
Transcript
Welcome back to That Voice Podcast, a very big welcome if you are here for the first time. My guest today comes all the way from Bahrain. His name is Mohamed Isa. He used to be a CFO who managed over 500 million US dollars, so the big leagues of CFOing. But he stepped away from that career to climb Everest, and he's now a leadership speaker, inspiring people all over the world. Now, in this episode, which I had a little bit of trouble naming because we cover so much interesting territory, there's great speaking tips for anyone in a technical role, really practical tips about how to present to the board. There's life inspiration, there's a pep talk for the importance of investing in yourself. So speakers might be calling to you and you know, just hearing Mohamed's story shows it's never too late to try something new and do something adventurous. I really hope you enjoy this chat as much as I did.
Sally:
Mohamed Isa, welcome to that voice podcast all the way from Bahrain. Welcome.
Mohamed:
Thank you so much, Sally. It's my pleasure to be with you here today.
Sally:
You have such a fascinating career background. One thing that's really stuck with me since we spoke before this chat is how you were saying you like to reinvent yourself every seven years.
Mohamed:
Fantastic. So one of the things that I believe in is we should never be stuck in one situation or in one position, because over my career, I met with so many people that who had long careers. And when you ask them how long is your career or what's your experience, what do you have? They always say, I have 25 years of experience, or 30 years of experience. But when you dig deeper, you will find that they have been doing the same thing over and over and over and again. So it's not 30 years of experience. It is one year of experience multiplied by 30. So I didn't want to be at a trap because I learned from Brian Tracy early on in my career that we should be in charge of our careers and we should have our careers like a book, you write the chapters within the book.
Mohamed:
So each chapter will build on the prior chapter. So when it comes to seven years in the old ancient Egypt, they had a harvest, a very good harvest for seven years, and then they had a drought of seven years. And lucky them, they had prophet Joseph as the treasurer of the country, if we say. So, he had that vision, we should save the produce, the wheat and all the other things so that we don't start for the coming seven years. And I think seven years is a good period to reinvent ourselves. You cannot reinvent yourself overnight. You should take it step by step. So I think seven years is a very good period to reinvent ourselves. And now I'm on the stage where I have reinvented myself as not Mohamed Isa, the CFO, not Mohamed Isa, the board member: Mohamed Isa, who climbed mountains and who speaks about leadership with analog from the mountains. So I'm in this period now since 2022.
Sally:
Yeah, it's so fascinating. So you've spent time as a CFO in boardrooms and base camp. What similarities are there have you found from being in a boardroom, presenting and climbing Everest?
Mohamed:
The most prominent similarity between being on a base camp, climbing and being in a board meeting is communication. Communication is so vital in both environments and, and the mountain need to be communicating with your team, with your guides, with your porters to make sure you accomplish the mission, which is summiting the mountain. The same thing in the board. You need to talk clearly. You need to cast the vision, you need to explain how will you achieve the vision and all of that requires highly effective communication. If you're a CFO and you cannot communicate, tough luck. You will come across as someone who is less credible someone who others will not listen to. And that's key. If you're a CFO or the custodian of the company, financials assets so you need to communicate clearly so everyone is on the same page and they really understand what you're saying because finance can be very technical.
Sally:
Yeah, absolutely. So I am definitely more of a words person. If there is a CFO or accountant, I know there would be finance people listening into this episode and they're going, but Mohamed, I'm a numbers person. Give me a spreadsheet, give me some figures. How can I communicate more effectively in those boardroom situations or, or in the workplace? What are some tips that you could share?
Mohamed:
There are two tips that I can share. One is when a CFO is speaking verbally without any slides. So when you have that situation, you should use a storytelling, you should use past cases within the company or past cases of seminar companies in the industry so they can relate. And that's how you communicate. The other thing, think like a dentist. All dentists have this amazing way to advertise. You see the before picture the teeth you see you don't like, and then you have the Hollywood smile, and that's the transformation. So if you can use the before, after, and how that transformation happens in your words, that will be very effective for communicating clearly with board members, especially those who don't have the technical background. Now, most CFOs will be using slides during their presentation, think so much about your slides. Make sure they are simple, clear and they are not overcrowded. And there are many ways you can improve your slides. So you can have a peer group of other CFOs who are not competing with you directly in the same industry and ask, hat are you doing to get your points across? And that's how you build your slides deck so that your board members understand what what you're trying to say. Because if they don't understand, if you're presenting a proposal, the answer will always be no.
Sally:
They're really good tips because you've shared tell stories, used before and afters to communicate the transformation, and think about your slides, not just putting up. I mean, I've seen many of these very, very technical, detailed slides that make me more confused than before I saw it.
Mohamed:
Of course, there was one company that was pitching for capital. So you could go through all the standardized investment pitching, or you take a very innovative approach. So this, there was the title slide, the company's name, his name, and then he said, I could tell you all about our customers and their revenues and the profits we're generating. I just want to show you one slide. And from that slide, if you have more questions, I'll be here to answer all these questions. So what did he do? He revered the slide and the slide had 600 logos of his customers, corporate customers and said, These are my customers, and that's how we are generating our money and we're planning to double this client base. If you have now questions, I'm more than happy to answer them. Very effective.
Sally:
Yeah. So sometimes detail can serve a purpose. It's the same with listing. If we want people to hear all the things in the list, then you wanna stick with, you know, three as a maximum. But if the effect you're going for is lots of things, like I went to the shop and I got eggs and bread and pizza and you know, like lots of things. And then the more things you list, the more effective it is. So it's the same with slides. I like that. Good tip.
Mohamed:
Just to follow up with that, there is a way or a thinking or a philosophy when it comes to communication. Make it easy for them and they'll make it easy for you.
Sally:
Never a truer word spoken. I love that. Make it easy for them and they'll make it easy for you.
Mohamed:
Absolutely.
Sally:
So good. So when you left your or finished up with your CFO role, was there anything easy about climbing to base camp?
Mohamed:
It was not an easy transformation or change. When I left that position, I left to prestige. I left what I knew for sure, I left all the perks, all the packages, all the bonuses. And now you're going for the unknown.
Sally:
Hamed, I'm sure you get asked this question, why did you do it? What was, what drew you?
Mohamed:
I get asked this question so many times. Even, even now, after 10 years, many people ask me this question. In fact, only two days ago I had the same conversation. So when I started my career, I was working with Unilever and we had several training courses. One of them was personal effectiveness, and it was held in Jebel Ali in Dubai. Believe it or not, it was held in the shooting range. So we were in the shooting range being trained, and we had British consultants and it was more of experiential learning rather than sitting in the class. And from that time, I thought, I want to do this. I want to be the one who's carrying out all these activities, doing the speaking. Yes, I could sat back in my nice office on the 20th floor, but I wanted to do something that I'm more passionate about. Yes, I was successful as a CFO, but there was something more that I wanted to do. And today I posted something on my social media. And this is a very profound question because you need to think about it. How will you measure your life?
Mohamed:
You don't want to be saying, I was the CFO of a Fortune 500 company. Our lives are not jobs, our lives are not career, our lives are much, much more than that. And I learned that luckily very early on. I read a book for Dr. Suzanne Jeffers, it's called Feel The Fear And Do It Anyway.
Sally:
Do it Anyway. Yes.
Mohamed:
Yeah. And she had a very nice diagram with a central question, how whole is your whole life? So our lives are not just careers and professions. Our lives are much, much more than that. So that's what one of the reasons that I left the corporate world to pursue what I like speaking, writing and traveling.
Sally:
Amazing. And now going on podcasts.
Mohamed:
Absolutely. I was on a podcast on Sunday. I was speaking in a conference in Dubai and someone approached me and said, I'd like to invite you for a podcast. Can you come tomorrow? And I said, yes. And that's how I make my impact.
Sally:
Yeah. Mohamed, I feel like we have this in common. So I'm a bit of an adventurer. I haven't done base camp, but I've done like Wim Hof where I climbed a mountain that was covered in snow and I wasn't, you know, just wearing shorts and a t-shirt. And in September this year, I'm walking the Camino de Santiago, which is about 800 kilometers. Yeah, we're doing the Camino del Norte. So we're sort of in training for that. It's a bit of an adventure, but I feel that it gives me confidence. I find that by doing these adventures and putting myself out of my comfort zone and seeing the world, it makes things less scary. And so lots of people listening, fear public speaking. I think one of the ways to get past that is to give yourself adventurous challenges to do outside of work.
Mohamed:
Indeed. And I'll tell you something I wasn't a good speaker at all. I remember a horrifying experience when I was 13. And I have written a chapter about this in one of the collaborative books where I contributed a chapter. I was 13, there was a celebration and I worked into the hall, and someone grabbed me and said, I know you're a very clever student, so this is the speech and you're going to read this speech. I asked, What do you mean? He said, now? He said, No, not now. After 10 minutes, and I'll tell you, I, I delivered the worst speech of my life. And, you know, to add insult to injury, I had, most of my relatives were inside the hall, the community hall watching me taking the stage. And, I would not say speaking, I was just mumbling.
Mohamed:
I quit speaking for so many years. Every time the teacher and the school comes to me and say, Mohamed, I want you to deliver this during the students' assembly. I would say No. No assembly for Mohamed. But then when I reached high school, I thought, I cannot avoid this forever, because ultimately when I go to university, I'll have to participate in the class. I will have to give a presentations. So I started a self study journey. I started buying books and reading about public speaking. And eventually when I reached the university stage, whenever the professor asked, is there any volunteer to present this next time, I would always raise my hand to take that opportunity. And that helped me a lot to develop my speaking. And later on when I was working internationally, I joined Toastmasters International and I became a very active speaker. I competed at all levels on the Middle East. I was always one of the top six. Again, besides Toastmasters, I was investing in educational programs, DVDs, CDs, cassettes these days. And I have them all over here next to me on my right side hand. And I'm going back to them every now and then.
Sally:
Showing our age here. Talking about cassettes.
Mohamed:
Yeah, what can I say? Yeah. What to do? I used the floppy desk, if that makes sense.
Sally:
Yeah. So if you are listening and you're thinking, wow, how can I get better at speaking? Just take that step to invest, take that step to, you know, read the books. I mean, listening to this podcast right now is a great start.
Mohamed:
Now it's more than ever. You can learn at, at your fingertips. And I remember hearing this statement by a professional speaker. He was the past president of the National Speakers Association in the US. His name is Bill Gove. And I think what he said would summarize everything we should do when it comes to public speaking. He said this, I'm not scared 'cause I'm prepared. I'm not scared 'cause I'm prepared. So if you are scared, get prepared.
Sally:
I like that. Another one that reminds me of that is you can't be nervous if you stand in service.
Mohamed:
Yeah,
Sally:
That's right. When you were climbing the mountain, did you have any of these mantras, these quotes that you were saying to yourself to help you keep going?
Mohamed:
We have learned from the porters and the guides that sometimes lying to yourself is helpful. So we would ask the guide or the porter, How long before we reach the next destination? And they would say, 45 minutes. And if you ask again, they'll say 45 minutes. 45 minutes. And then they would reduce it. And basically what they are doing, they're trying to give you a nudge to keep going because we all hear this statement, "A journey of a thousand miles begins with one step". And, yeah, this is reality. If you want to reach wherever you want to reach, it's just a matter of putting one step in the front of the other. And eventually you will reach.
Sally:
Mohamed, that is such a beautiful way to end our chat because it's true of mountaineering, it's true of public speaking, it's true of many things in life. You just keep putting one foot in front of the other and you'll see the summit.
Mohamed:
I'd like to add that you need to find your voice, the sooner the better. Find that voice within you and cast it to the world and serve the world you're living in. Because we are all in the business of service.
Sally:
That is a message I can get behind. Love that. Mohamed, where can people find you if they'd like to reach out and ask you more questions?
Mohamed:
Very easy. I'm very findable on LinkedIn. Or they can go to everestspeech.com and they'll find me easily.
Sally:
Wonderful. And I'll put all those details in the show notes as well. Mohamed Isa, thank you so much for joining me on That Voice Podcast.
Mohamed:
It was my pleasure, Sally. And I wish you all the best in the 800 kilometers hike!
Sally:
Thank you very much. I received that.
