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Each Wednesday morning, as the CEO prodded his team for business projections and troubleshooting ideas, the midsize company\u2019s top managers would huddle around a white board inside a glass-enclosed office.

For 20-something Ken Kaufman, the management huddle was a silent spectacle\u2014except for the occasional bouts of laughter that burst out from behind the glass.

\u201cThe managers would always leave with this positive energy and always have new guidance for how the business could move forward,\u201d explains Kaufman, who says that for him, over time the meeting became not just a source of weekly intrigue but also a career destination. \xa0

Years later, Kaufman recalls, when he was invited to join the huddle at another middle market company, the gathering generated little energy and was far less productive than what he had expected.

\u201cI finally made it into the room, and then we spent the entire time arguing over why certain numbers were wrong,\u201d remembers Kaufman, who\u2014now with a business degree in hand\u2014then began to dig into the company\u2019s financial statements. Subsequently, he was able to introduce some business modeling approaches that allowed managers to better understand the company\u2019s pain points when it came to growth. \xa0

\u201cI ended up sliding into the CFO role and ultimately brought the company into job costing and creating visibility that allowed managers to make decisions to build the business,\u201d reports Kaufman, who adds that within only a few months the finance leader proceeded to ask him to take over the CFO role.\xa0\u2013Jack Sweeney