A CFO Doesn’t Leave This Fast by Accident

When a Chief Financial Officer exits less than 18 months into the role, the most dangerous response is to treat it as a footnote.

Because senior leaders don’t leave difficult jobs early — they leave systems that make success unsustainable.

RTÉ’s CFO stepped into one of the toughest finance roles in the country. By the organisation’s own admission, she stabilised finances, addressed legacy issues, and provided strong leadership during a period of intense pressure.

So let’s be clear:
This was not a performance failure.

It was a structural reality check.

Turnaround Roles Are Often Designed to Burn People Out

There’s an uncomfortable truth many organisations avoid:

Some senior roles are quietly designed to absorb damage, not to endure.

They come with:

• Historical messes no one fully owns
• Governance layers that dilute authority
• Political scrutiny that slows real decisions
• Cultural resistance dressed up as “complexity”

Leaders are hired to “fix things” — but without the conditions required to make fixes stick.

That’s not leadership.
That’s containment.

Stability Is the Bare Minimum — Not the Finish Line

Organisations love the word stability.
But stability without structural change is just a pause before the next crisis.

If:

• The same risks remain
• The same decision bottlenecks exist
• The same cultural behaviours persist

Then the organisation hasn’t changed — it has just bought time.

And senior leaders know this.

They can see, often long before boards do, whether they are being empowered to build or simply expected to hold the line.

Early Exits Are Organisational Diagnostics

When experienced executives leave early, it is rarely about:

• Pay
• Pressure
• Public scrutiny

Those come with the job.

It’s about misalignment between responsibility and real authority.

It’s about being asked to carry accountability without control.

And over time, the most capable leaders refuse to play that game.

The Question Boards Don’t Ask (But Should)

Instead of asking “Why did she leave?”, boards should be asking:

• Why does this role require personal sacrifice to function?
• Why do legacy issues survive leadership changes?
• Why does institutional inertia outlast reform?
• Why are we surprised when capable people opt out?

If your organisation needs exceptional resilience just to operate normally, the problem is not the people you hire.

It’s the system you protect.

Final Thought

Strong leaders will always step into broken systems.
But only serious organisations fix the system — instead of cycling through leaders until one finally breaks or walks away.

Efficiency isn’t about heroic individuals saving organisations.
It’s about designing organisations that don’t need saving every two years.

If this sounds uncomfortable — it should.

That discomfort is usually where the real work begins.