Kottayam, Kerala – September 04, 2025 — Finance, leadership, and purpose converged at Hotel Indraprastha, Kottayam, where global finance leader and author CA. Jishore Abic, FCA launched his second book, “I AM THE CFO: Your Guide to Modern Financial Leadership.” The event, attended by chartered accountants, industry executives, and aspiring professionals, was more than a book release. It was positioned as the unveiling of a new leadership philosophy for an era of disruption.
Presiding over the launch, CA. Manosh Mani, FCA, Chairman of SICASA-Kottayam, praised the author’s contribution as “a gift to every finance professional who aspires to lead with impact.” The applause that followed was not only for the book but for the broader vision it represents: a call for finance professionals worldwide to move beyond numbers and step into roles of influence, foresight, and transformation.
The Book at a Glance
I AM THE CFO is described as a manifesto for modern financial leadership. Unlike technical guides that detail accounting standards or compliance frameworks, Abic’s work is positioned as a hybrid of personal narrative, professional insights, and practical roadmaps.
The central message: the Chief Financial Officer of the 21st century cannot be confined to the stereotype of a “number cruncher.” Instead, the CFO must emerge as a Chief Future Officer—an architect of organizational value, a navigator of complexity, and a co-pilot of strategic growth.
“You don’t become a CFO when a company writes it on your business card,” Abic writes. “You become one the moment you decide to own that identity, act with courage, and lead with vision.”
From a Village in Kerala to Global Boardrooms
What gives the book weight is the author’s own trajectory. Born and raised in a small village in Kerala, Abic’s early academic path was far from smooth. After failing to secure entry into medicine and engineering, he pivoted to mathematics, securing a gold medal in BSc and eventually qualifying as a Fellow Chartered Accountant.
Over the next 25 years, including two decades in the UAE, he rose to become a respected CFO and board advisor, steering billion-dollar mergers, healthcare expansions, and corporate turnarounds. His professional journey—marked by resilience, reinvention, and global exposure—provides the lived experience behind the book’s principles.
Structure and Themes
The book is organized around four pillars that seek to redefine the DNA of modern leadership:
- Claim Your Identity – Leadership is not conferred by designation; it is claimed by decision.
- Lead with Purpose – Finance professionals must move from transactions to transformation, from compliance to contribution.
- Courage in Crisis – The true test of leadership emerges during uncertainty, where courage, not compliance, builds trust.
- Build Your Legacy Now – Leadership is not about climbing corporate ladders but creating pathways for others to ascend.
The narrative style mixes frameworks, practical models, and reflective anecdotes. Abic’s aim is to speak not only to CFOs but to a wider professional audience—graduates, analysts, controllers, mid-career managers—who feel limited by their current roles yet aspire to greater influence.
Why Now?
The timing of the book is deliberate. The corporate landscape is undergoing seismic shifts. The COVID-19 pandemic rewrote resilience playbooks, geopolitical tensions continue to disrupt markets, and digital revolutions from AI to blockchain are reshaping industries. Simultaneously, ESG demands are redefining the very metrics of success.
In this environment, says Abic, leadership cannot remain hierarchical. It must be proactive, purpose-driven, and agile. The CFO is ideally placed to lead this transformation—if they are willing to step out of traditional boundaries.
“Too many professionals remain stuck in outdated molds, waiting for someone to notice them, to promote them, to give them permission,” Abic argues. “But no one is coming to crown you CFO. You must become it—from the inside out.”
Global Endorsement
Adding authority to the work is the foreword by Ziad Makhzoumi, veteran CEO and transformational leader with extensive experience across the Middle East, Europe, and North America. Makhzoumi frames the book as a redefinition of the CFO’s role:
“This is not a technical manual. It is a manifesto. It repositions the CFO not as a guardian of spreadsheets but as an architect of value, a navigator of complexity, and a co-pilot of purpose-driven growth.”
Makhzoumi’s perspective, shaped by his leadership at Arabtec Holding PJSC and Fakih IVF Group, underlines the alignment between Abic’s philosophy and global best practices.
A Trilogy of Leadership
I AM THE CFO is the second volume in Abic’s trilogy on business leadership. His first, BORED of DIRECTORS, explored boardroom dynamics and governance with a fresh lens, encouraging directors to engage with clarity and purpose. The upcoming third volume will focus on organizational culture and workplace transformation, completing a roadmap that spans governance, financial leadership, and culture.
Launch Event Highlights
The launch itself mirrored the book’s themes of transformation. Attendees ranged from established chartered accountants to young finance aspirants. Discussions highlighted the evolving role of finance professionals and the urgent need for mindset shifts in a disrupted economy.
In his remarks, CA. Manosh Mani commended Abic’s contribution to professional growth: “Jishore’s insights are born of experience, executed with excellence, and shared with generosity.”
The consensus was clear: this was not merely a book unveiling, but a milestone for the finance community in Kerala and beyond.
Broader Relevance
While the book is anchored in the finance domain, its implications are broader. Themes such as purpose-driven leadership, resilience in crisis, and legacy-building apply across sectors and geographies. For educators, entrepreneurs, healthcare leaders, or public administrators, the principles carry weight.
The book positions leadership as a matter not of title but of mindset, aligning with contemporary debates about flat hierarchies, agile organizations, and values-driven enterprises.
Availability
You can now purchase “I AM THE CFO” on the following platforms:
About the Author
CA. Jishore Abic, FCA is recognized among the Global Power Leaders in Finance 2024. With over 25 years of cross-sector experience spanning construction, healthcare, infrastructure, and advisory, he has held senior CFO roles, executed high-value mergers and acquisitions, and advised boards across the Middle East.
He is also the co-founder of ABIC & MANI,an audit and advisory firm, and a mentor to aspiring finance leaders. His first book, BORED of DIRECTORS, was widely praised for its accessible take on governance.
Beyond the professional sphere, Abic credits his family—wife Rosemary and children Jonathan and Agnella—as his foundation and source of inspiration.
In journalism, the best stories are not about what happened, but about why it matters. In finance, the same holds true. Numbers may tell the past, but leadership defines the future.
With I AM THE CFO, Jishore Abic positions today’s finance professional at the intersection of both. His central proposition—that leadership is not given by title but claimed by conviction—echoes far beyond the boardroom.
For finance professionals, it is a call to reimagine their role. For readers in other sectors, it is a reminder that leadership begins the moment we believe we are already worthy of it.
As disruption becomes the norm, Abic’s book arrives with a timely challenge: to stop waiting, start leading, and boldly declare—I AM THE CFO.
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