Sarah Friar is Chief Financial Officer at Square. Sarah joined Square in July 2012 from salesforce.com, where she served as SVP of Finance & Strategy. Prior to salesforce.com, Sarah worked at Goldman Sachs for over 10 years, with experience in corporate finance, M&A, and equity research, and ultimately as lead software analyst and Business Unit Leader for Goldman Sachs' Technology Research Group. She previously worked for McKinsey in both London and South Africa.
Sarah sits on the Boards of New Relic (NEWR), a software analytics company, Slack, a business communications platform, and is the vice-chair of the Board of Spark, a nonprofit passionate about changing the lives of at-risk middle schoolers through mentorship. She sits on the Advisory Council for N. Ireland Executive Ministers, providing advice on key economic issues and trends in the U.S. which are likely to impact of the growth of the Northern Irish economy. Sarah is a Fellow of the inaugural class of the Finance Leaders Fellowship Program and a member of the Aspen Global Leadership Network. She earned her MEng in Metallurgy, Economics, and Management from the University of Oxford and her MBA from the Stanford University Graduate School of Business, where she graduated as an Arjay Miller scholar.
How has your life experience made you the leader you are today?
I grew up in a small town in Northern Ireland during the height of The Troubles. We grew up surrounded by bombings and shootings, but I was lucky enough to have a family that taught me the importance of giving to others above all else. My mother was the district nurse and my dad was the personnel manager at the local mill: both of their lives revolved around helping others. In turn, they instilled the importance of the “people first” mentality I have to this day. I often talk about it at Square and I truly mean it. If you put others first, it just keeps coming back to you in spades. My job as a leader is to build and support a strong team that will carry our organization forward. They deserve the credit for all we have created!
How has your previous employment experience aided your tenure at Square?
From Goldman Sachs to Salesforce and now Square, I’ve had the opportunity to observe and learn from leaders at some of the world’s top companies. But my first job as a Business Analyst at McKinsey in South Africa was a huge time of learning. I was working out of Johannesburg right after apartheid ended; an incredible time in the life of a nation. I didn't realize it at the time, but our office was a startup. McKinsey South Africa had just opened in 1995 and we had all the growing pains of a young company. And our clients were experiencing massive disruption and change, akin to what Silicon Valley is driving today. The work I was involved with around building and changing cultures and organizations has stood me in good stead in thinking about how we build Square to last.
What have the highlights and challenges been during your tenure at Square?
Both a highlight and a challenge, our IPO in 2015 was professionally, personally, emotionally, and physically the most daunting experience I've lived through at Square. We chose a particularly challenging time to go public, but looking back now I feel nothing but pride and awe for the team that I was able to work alongside. In fact, I’m even more sure that only the best companies can get public when markets are effectively closed. The process truly brought out the best in everyone. And it goes back to that “people first” mentality: if you get your people right, no challenge is too big to overcome.
What advice can you offer to women who want a career in your industry?
Here are a few things that have helped me through the years. The most important first step, regardless of industry, is to do something you love. If you don’t get that right, everything else will be much harder. That doesn’t mean there is one job out there for you, rather think about the characteristics of what gives you energy and sparks creativity. For example, I love to travel, I love interacting with people, and I really enjoy analyzing problems, the more mathematical the better. There’s no single job that checks those boxes, rather there are types of careers, and types of companies that will enable me to mold a job into a passion.
Once you find something you’re passionate about, it’s very important to be in control of your career. I also recommend looking for ways to create “spikes” - better to have one or two things you’re A+ at, rather than 10 things you’re a B at. One of the best pieces of advice I got from a female mentor was to find a career where the outcomes could be measured quantitatively. This helps removes some of the systemic or perception biases that can hold women back: it doesn’t matter who you know, or how many sports games you’ve attended with them - it’s about strong, measurable results.
It’s also really important to be front footed in pursuing mentors and look for people that aren’t just like you. Be persistent - they’re probably very busy, so you need to be creative in looking for ways to fit into their schedule. And then after you meet with them, it’s also important to follow up. And not just say thank you, but close the loop. Thank them for what they said, tell them what you then did differently, and tell them what the outcome was. You want to them to know that the time they spend with you is meaningful. Also ask how you can help them - you will be surprised! And it’s a great way to make them want to spend more time with you.
What is the most important lesson you’ve learned in your career to date?
There’s a quote from Peter Drucker on the topic of leadership and how it differs from management that really illuminates the difference for me: “Management is doing things right; leadership is doing the right things.” Organizations absolutely need great managers to effectively plan, problem solve, and grow their people. But leadership is about having a vision. What are the long term themes and changes occurring in an industry, and how can you motivate people to take risks - sometimes at the expense of what you do today - to meet and thrive within those changes. Leadership is about being in the hearts of the people you work with, not just in their logical brain. And great leaders will cause people to excel beyond their wildest dreams. Leadership is about tone and deeply held, timeless values and sticking to those beliefs when times are tough.
How do you maintain a work/life balance?
I think I maintain work/life integration. I’ve realized over time that trying to compartmentalize the two doesn’t fully optimize for outcomes. I’m lucky to have a great support team around me, both at home and at work, which allows me to do this successfully. That said, it is also about knowing where to draw firm boundaries. For example, in the mornings, between 6:30-7:30, that is my time with my kids. Absolutely no distractions. I make sure that for major school and family events, those go in my calendar and are held as definitively as a Board meeting. It’s also knowing what makes you happy: exercising every morning clears my mind and lowers stress. And I’m learning to meditate - albeit sporadically!
What do you think is the biggest issue for women in the workplace?
There are massive systemic biases, and not just in tech, in every industry. There’s a lot of work to do, and as a society, we either care about it and we're going change it, or we pay it lip service but don't actually care. The stats don’t lie: why do only 6% of the S&P 500 companies have a female CEO? At Square we’ve invested in things like teaching unconscious bias training to everyone. It starts with awareness - where might we be making assumptions or allowing preconceptions to cloud our views on someone’s abilities and output. It’s why I’m also a big fan of setting clear goals, quarterly and annually. That way we can actively measure outcomes, but allow people to be creative in how they achieve those goals. That includes having flexibility on when and how to get the work done. I often say it’s about output not input - how you do it is up to you.
How has mentorship made a difference in your professional and personal life?
Mentorship has 100% made a difference for me. Leaving Goldman, which was one of the biggest moves in my career, actually came about from talking to one of my mentors. He told me that I would be a great operator. And he told me this every time I would see him, and it caused me to question my career choice to date and gave me such confidence to take the leap. Any time I’m thinking small, he’s always thinking big on my behalf. Jack is similarly a great mentor - he’s always pushing me to stretch. In my reviews, he says, “I want you to figure out how to be the best CFO in the world.” He never thinks small and it’s really freeing.
I’ve also had a lot of incredible women mentor me like Suzanne Nora Johnson, who was the Vice Chairman of Goldman. Obviously she’s incredibly busy so I really had to be persistent and figure out a way to fit myself into her life. My first meeting with Suzanne was because I found out she was about to take a taxi uptown. So I left my desk, rode with her in the taxi for 30 minutes, and took my notes. When she got out, I took the cab back to the office. It started a friendship that was really formative, and she push-push-pushed me for my entire time at Goldman.
Which other female leaders do you admire and why?
Ruth Simmons, one of Square’s board members, is just amazing. She was recently at Square to talk with our company, and she shared some experiences and challenges from her childhood. What makes Ruth stand out to me is her optimism, love of life, and commitment to learning. She is completely uplifting and inspiring to be around.
Mary Meeker is another incredible woman on Square’s Board of Directors. When I was a junior analyst, Mary was on the cover of all of these business magazines as the person driving the internet revolution - and she still is today. The fact that I now get to count Mary as a friend is such a gift. And she’s a very good mentor because she just doesn’t take any crap!
What do you want Square to accomplish in the next year?
This year we’re focused on three areas that really play to our strengths. First, we want to continue to move upmarket and attract larger merchants to Square. Second, we recently launched Square in the UK. It’s our fifth market, and it was especially exciting because we were able to launch with our broadest product set ever. Having grown up in Northern Ireland, it is also really personally exciting to see Square used at home. And third, we’re going to continue to expand our e-commerce solutions. We’re very well known for our white card reader, but we’re also growing our platform to make it as easy as possible for our merchants to also sell online. Everything is about building tools that help merchants grow their business and participate in the economy. When they grow, we grow.