SOFTWARE LICENSING

Joe Freda Brings Mentoring Mindset to His Role as Flexera Software's CFO

By Jacqueline Lee, Contributing Writer

When Joe Freda recently sat down with Nancy Weil of Computerworld, he told her that his dream job, aside from his CFO position at Flexera, would be teaching at a university.

“While getting my master's at DePaul, I was exposed to some adjunct faculty who were former CFOs,” Freda explained. “They provided me with great insights and perspective about being a financial leader. When I am done with being a CFO, I would love to provide that same insight and perspective to university students as an adjunct professor.”

For now, Freda spends his days at Flexera focused on coaching and mentoring his staff. “I have worked for several really good bosses and have gleaned some lessons and guidance from each,” he reflected. “One in particular showed me that leading is about respect—getting it from your team only after you give it to them first.”

To Freda, respect is the quality that defines healthy management. “When people on his management team did something really well, he praised their success. When they made a mistake, he never yelled at or demeaned them—the focus was on using it as a learning experience to ensure they did not make that mistake again. Respect for every individual on the team was what mattered most, no matter the value of the role they filled at the company.”

Freda has been CFO of Flexera since its inception in 2008. He got his start in business as a CPA for Price Waterhouse Coopers but left the company to pursue more of a financial management role.

“I began my career with Price Waterhouse in audit services, serving clients primarily in the software and technology industries,” Freda told Computerworld. “I left public accounting for a senior financial management role with a large software company, which led to further roles of increasing responsibility with other organizations before landing at Flexera Software as CFO.”

The best days at work for Joe Freda are the days that include positively influencing a team member. “The best days are those where I leave knowing I made a positive impact on the business, or, better yet, a positive impact on one of the members of my team, by helping them solve a difficult issue or coaching them to help them improve their performance.”