Aesara Partners 

At Aesara Partners, our mission is simple: enable you to be the best version of yourself. We offer a range of focused services that unlock the potential of people, teams and cultures to maximise business performance. 

Collectively our Partners and Associates have decades of experience both in executive coaching and as board level leaders themselves working in multiple sectors across global markets.

Partner & Executive Coach

Doshisha University

Professor of Strategic Management, Global MBA Program

The CFO Coach K.K.

The CFO Coach K.K. is a boutique executive coaching firm specializing in developing High-Performance​ Financial Leaders and Teams.

Founder & Executive Coach

Kansai Gaidai University

•	Awarded President's Global Education Award (Teacher of the Year).

Professor of Leadership & Management

Benesse Holdings, Inc. (USD 4.5B; Tokyo Stock Exchange Code: 9783)

•	Member of the Board of Directors for Berlitz Corporation; Benesse Corporation; and Benesse Style Care.  Chairman of Audit Committee for Berlitz Corporation. Member of Benesse Holdings Pension Committee.
•	Global CFO covering all 40+ Benesse group companies
•	Championed and supported multiple cash generation initiatives including a CFO led "Save to Grow" initiative to improve Company Financial performance and to identify significant savings for business reinvestment
•	Enhanced Finance bench strength and hired a high potential team to start financial business consulting
•	Implemented several process and capability best practices to move group companies towards global standards

Global Chief Financial Officer & Corporate Senior Vice President

McCann Worldgroup Holdings

• Overall Responsibility for Operations (Finance, IT, Legal, and Administration - 10 legal entities) 
• Successfully turned around long term loss making lead agency by delivering double digit margin improvements within two years
• Delivered double digit margin improvements for all six MWG Group companies 
• Built a new Finance team and moved from Scorekeeping to Business Partnership and improved business performance
• Major projects within last two years include: 
  - Shared Service center creation/migration
  - New Financial System Migration
  - Acquisition & Divestiture
  - Business Turnaround
  - Retirement Plan consolidation/change
  - Office relocation/rent reductions

Group Chief Financial Officer, Executive Vice President, and Member of The Board

Becton, Dickinson and Company

• Led Finance, Procurement, General Affairs, and Rebates teams (43 staff) to deliver multi-million dollar cash and profit performance improvement for first year and beyond. Exceeded all budget expectations.
• Engaged Japan Management Team and Global Finance Leadership Team on company objectives to deliver best outcome (Finance Transformation initiative, Sales effectiveness improvement, Key Account Management, Business Continuity plan, and strategy/selection of backup distribution center).  Led process for 2012-16 Business Plan development
• Developed and executed Finance department strategy and vision to move from scorekeeping to business partnership. Implemented job rotation program and hired several high potential employees to improve bench strength.
• Championed multiple Finance and Procurement initiatives including definition and implementation of new 401k Retirement Plan; divestiture of non-core business; change of primary banks (reduced bank fees by over 30%); vendor reduction process, and new travel expense management system 
• Taught New Manager Essentials program and selected as leadership trainer for PEPFAR program in South Africa to teach Leadership and Change Management to African Health Ministry officials

Finance and Administration Director

Avon Products Inc.

•	Implementation project leader for Avon Sales Leadership Framework (ASLF) – Highest priority project for the Company to adapt to a new Sales Model.  Completed project implementation in record timing.  Awarded regional award as part of ASLF Team. Only person in Asia recognized for both Top-line and Bottom-line contributions in the same year.
•	Defined and executed new vision and mission and led Sales Support department to complete over 40 initiatives (within a six-month period) as part of Team’s new journey towards field motivational excellence. Incorporated new processes to deliver high impact incentives, and to create Sales energy and momentum for sales turn-around.    
•	Achieved highest employee engagement scores with Sales Support Department significantly exceeding country results in over 95% of categories.  Previously had also led Finance department to highest employee engagement scores.
•	Global Project leader for a high potential, multi-functional, multi-national team to study and recommend actions to improve Global Sales Incentive management/spending process.
•	Oversaw execution of a variety of Company and Public/Media events ranging from Sales Conferences to Philanthropic events including Annual Awards to Women, and Pink Ribbon Campaign support.

Executive Director and Member of the Board

•	Responsible for Financial policy making/implementation and reporting for Avon Japan as a public company (including statutory/public, and Board Meetings). All year-end financial documents audited with no comments/exceptions.
•	Defined and executed new department Vision and Mission, and recruited, trained and developed a completely new Finance team (80% new hires within a six month period) to move from scorekeeping to business partnership. Finance team formed core of country high potential list.
•	Consistently over achieved profit performance commitment under adverse conditions of sales decline by aggressively managing strategic business needs with cost cutting; Delivered zero overhead growth during all years; Japan winner of regional awards for best cost management performance, and for boldest transformation strategy.
•	Provided leadership and support for critical decisions and strategy development as Japan Leadership Team Member.  Actively led change management process within company.
•	Consistently achieved best internal control results in Asia-Pacific/Avon over a period of eight audits.  Japan one of only two countries with highest audit rating. Outstanding performance generated support to remove Japan from list of High Coverage countries.
• Co-developed strategic/financial business case, and obtained approval for number of campaign reduction in 2006 making Avon Japan only country ever in Avon to undergo campaign reduction. 
• Independently analyzed and provided strategic direction for Plant study which challenged and reversed previous recommendation by outside consultants on plant closure.
• Provided leadership in several restructuring initiatives by providing an achievable plan to achieve 12% people related cost reduction.  Played lead role in this study representing Finance, Supply Chain and HR 
• Consistently achieved highest performance rating and nominations to several high potential programs
• Elected (and re-elected) to Board of Directors

Executive Director, CFO and Member of the Board of Directors

Delphi

• Prepared Asia-Pacific regional messages / presentations for Delphi Strategy Board, and for Delphi Board of Directors.
• Supported development and implementation of critical Asia-Pacific strategies.  Performed competitive intelligence and other special studies to identify risks / competitive threats and outlined regional / corporate response.
• Provided Miller Heiman strategic selling process training to Asia-Pacific personnel to improve value propositions and increase sales effectiveness.

Director Asia-Pacific Planning

• Management responsibilities for Finance, HR, General Affairs, and Six-Sigma.
• Active member of the Japan Strategy Board and Japan management team.  
• Six-Sigma Deployment Champion for Delphi Japan.

Delphi Japan – CFO & Administration Director

Country Responsibilities:
• Managed all finance functions including accounting, budgeting / forecasting and treasury.
• Lead development of cross-functional and cross-divisional Internal Control Review Board.
• Lead and supported strategic initiatives including venture development support, site enhancement, competitive analysis, transfer pricing, and cost reduction studies.
• Represented Japan in Asia-Pacific Financial Task Team.

Regional Responsibilities:
• Coached country CFO and staff to implement common financial reporting processes.
• Supervised and provided training for engineering / commercial / plant / site analysts.  Coordinated regional financial training programs for the sector in the Asia-Pacific region.
• Coordinated the regional budget, business plan, and capital management process.
• Supported development of common financial practices among ventures including:  Loan monitoring, F/X and cash management, compliance with accounting principles, report submission, etc. Provided regional oversight of venture risk exposure.

Asia-Pacific Senior Finance Mgr.

Executive Coach | MBA Professor | Ex-Global CFO

I help senior leaders master complexity, elevate strategic impact, and lead with authentic authority.

I bring over 25 years of C-level and boardroom experience as a former Global CFO for a $5B publicly traded company, combined with a deep commitment to human-centered leadership development.

Today, I coach global executives, CEOs, and leadership teams — specializing in executive transitions, strategic leadership, high-performance teams, and Asian leadership development.

I am also an MBA Professor of Leadership and Strategic Management, blending research-driven frameworks with boardroom-tested insights to develop transformational leaders.

Based in Kyoto, fluent in English, Urdu, and Japanese.

Connect with me: arif@thecfocoach.jp

Website: www.thecfocoach.jp (please sign up on my mailing list to receive future announcements and newsletters)

Arif Iqball

Business has lived through three revolutions:
1. Industrial — where people worked to survive
2. Information — where people worked for a better standard of living
3. Social — where today’s workforce works for quality of life

That shift changes everything about how we lead, retain, and grow talent.

Today’s employees don’t stay for perks.
They stay for environments that are clear, empowering, and growth-oriented.
That’s why I founded My HR Extension — to help HR teams design learning that drives real behavior change.

We use interactive, challenge-based learning systems rooted in behavioral psychology to create experiences that stick — and solve the retention challenges traditional training can’t.

From compliance and leadership to safety and business acumen, we help companies turn critical topics into lasting capability.

Who We Help:
HR pros, L&D leaders, and forward-thinking executives who are tired of:
• Box-checking workshops no one remembers
• Culture decks with no follow-through
• Turnover caused by poor leadership or role clarity
• Critical topics taught with boring slides

What We Deliver:
• Ready-to-use interactive learning experiences
• Custom content transformation — turning your internal material into high-impact delivery
• Scenario-driven workshops (live or virtual)
• Cross-functional capability building (finance, safety, project mgmt, and more)

This isn’t just learning.
It’s strategy — designed for today’s workforce.

Want to see how it works?

Try our PWFA Compliance Memory Match Game — free download here:
https://info.myhrextension.com/pwfa-memory-matching-game-1

Casey Webster

If you’ve ever led a team, rewatch this twice.

Because Steve Jobs highlights something most leaders still miss.

The best people don’t need constant oversight
They need clarity, ownership, and space to think.

Self-managing people don’t wait to be prompted
They see the openings
Close them
And raise the standard for everyone around them.

This clip is dated
But the principle is enduring.

Helping Companies Solve the Retention Crisis of the Social Revolution

A full HR book in one page 📌

Here’s what’s inside:

- 5 layers of strategic HR
- 6 core HR systems to build
- Metrics, KPIs & OKRs that matter
- ROI cases to influence execs
- Exit, onboarding & training playbooks
- What top HR teams focus on
- What CEOs actually want from HR
- Behavior change, simplified

And much more!

--

If you liked this (and want to support my work):

→ Like
→ Repost

📄 And, if you’d like to get the high-res PDF of this sheet, just drop “PDF” in the comments. Then, get it here: https://lnkd.in/g6Tg28Ga

Most executive teams don’t realize

HR is carrying liability until it breaks something big:

Turnover. Lawsuits. Damaged trust.
By then, you’re in defensive mode.

But the truth is, the red flags were always there.

Here are 5 HR landmines most leaders miss:

1/ Sloppy documentation habits
↳ Discipline without standards invites lawsuits
↳ Policies that fade away won’t protect you
↳ When documentation begins after a problem, it’s already too late

2/ Retention seen as a goodbye issue
↳ You’re measuring loss too late
↳ Engagement surveys can’t fix what poor structure created
↳ Retention needs to be baked into job architecture, not just benefits

3/ Hiring without proper modeling
↳ Headcount ≠ planning
↳ Without demand modeling, you’re just patching holes, not solving problems
↳ Backfilling a vacancy isn’t always the solution

4/ Org charts that mask reality
↳ Reporting lines look neat on paper
↳ But dotted lines, shadow managers, and role creep tell a different story
↳ If your org chart hasn’t been stress-tested, it’s probably fictional

5/ Delaying clarity until conflict hits
↳ Misalignment doesn’t stay silent
↳ When no one claims it, everyone assumes someone else will
↳ Role clarity is a business catalyst, not a cleanup tool

Some of the biggest risks in business don’t live in budgets or ops.
They live in your people systems.

And HR is where those risks can either escalate or get managed.

Like this post?
Follow Casey Webster for more on high-impact HR.

5 HR Risks Leaders Ignore

The CEO sets the tone for whether HR becomes strategic or stays stuck in reaction mode.
But HR cannot sit back and wait.

It’s on us to prove value, gain influence, and drive the business forward.

That’s why I launched a community
for HR leaders who are ready to take HR to the next level—together.

👉 We’re live. We’re growing.

And we’re focused on building the kind of HR that moves the business.
Join us here: 
https://lnkd.in/gqZ5Me23

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Arif Iqball

Casey Webster

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The Battle

Arif Iqball

Casey Webster

Followers

Posts

Engagements

Likes

Performance Score.css-goub6s{font-size:var(--chakra-fontSizes-md);font-weight:500;color:var(--chakra-colors-gray-600);display:block;margin-top:var(--chakra-space-1);}Casey Webster's LinkedIn Performance

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