Balance sheet: Since his early days in Illinois, Mike Kenny has learned that sometimes you have to go to Hawaii to meet the girl next door, and that taking yourself too seriously doesn't really work, in life or in business.

• Author: Ladd, Scott

TITLE Chief Financial Officer

Company Panduit Corp., a global developer and provider of networking and electrical physical infrastructure solutions headquartered in Tinley Park, III.

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Born Chicago, III., November 1960. Spouse Mary Beth, married for 29 years. (We met on Waikiki Beach vacationing during senior year of high school, only to learn we lived within two blocks of each other in Illinois).

CHILDREN Aileen, 27, an attorney; Megan 25, a nurse; and Michael, 23, a 2nd Lieutenant in the U.S. Air Force.

EDUCATION SUMMARY B.S. in Business Administration, with major in Accounting from Marquette University; Master of Science in Taxation from the Kellstadt Graduate School of Business, DePaul University.

CAREER SUMMARY Deloitte & Touche (Touche Ross & Co. at the time) in Chicago, from 1981 (as an intern while attending Marquette) through 1988 as tax manager. Panduit Corp. since 1988, joining as director of Tax, advancing to vice president, Finance in 1998 and chief financial officer in 2002.

FEI CHAFTFR Chicago Chapter; the Committee on Private Company-Policy, since 2005, member of the Private Company Roundtable since its inception in 2010.

TIME MANAGEMENT I block out at least two hours each day to locus on the business areas where I personally can have the greatest impact, operational or strategic. At the beginning of each week, I create a focus by planning out key objectives for the week.

I start each day early to gel things done before the office comes to life and also use this time to communicate with finance management in other parts of the world during their day.

STRESS MANAGEMENT I don't take myself too seriously and begin with the premise that everyone in our business is doing what they believe is best for the company. Focusing on the future and not dwelling on things that I can't control or that can't be undone.

LEISUE I enjoy spending time with my family and playing golf, preferably doing both together. I grew up playing golf from a young age, as have my children.

IF I COULD I'D SPEND An HOUR WITH Thomas Jefferson. As a Founding Father and the primary author of the U.S. Declaration of Independence, he could provide critical context to the principles on which our great country was founded. As a country, we seem to have gone astray in recent years. The battle and being right...