Sherri Luther on management style
From CFO Exchange – A Discussion with Sherri Luther · · Armanino
“The way I manage my team is by avoiding surprises. We set goals but agree upfront if priorities change that might cause us to miss goals. The key is transparency and managing expectations continuously.”
On , Sherri Luther, Treasurer & Chief Financial Officer at COHERENT CORP, spoke about management style during CFO Exchange – A Discussion with Sherri Luther on Armanino.
About Sherri Luther
Sherri Luther, Treasurer and Chief Financial Officer at Coherent, previously served as CFO of Lattice Semiconductor. In a September 2021 roundtable discussion, Luther described steps she took at Lattice to improve financial performance, including implementing key metrics, refinancing debt to reduce leverage from over 5x to 1.3 and the interest rate from over 7% to about 1.5%, and rationalizing R&D projects to focus on those with the highest ROI. She stated that the company increased gross margin by 450 basis points from 2018 and achieved double-digit revenue growth in key market segments. Luther also discussed her management philosophy, saying she established a culture of rigor and accountability where employees develop plans to achieve goals. She emphasized that finance should have a seat at the table in all functional areas and that her team participates in staff meetings of executive leaders to contribute strategically. Luther advised aspiring CFOs to adopt the mindset of the role they seek, seek mentors in various areas, and continuously pursue self-development, noting she was pursuing an executive MBA.