“I’ve been in very senior roles since 1993,” Pfizer Inc.’s Frank D’Amelio told me. “And if I’ve learned one thing, I’ve learned this—when all is said and done, your business is really people. Don’t get me wrong, you need a balance sheet, you need capital. But what you really need is incredibly talented people executing every day to get the job done. So, you need to start mentoring people.”

At the end of the year, D’Amelio is officially embarking on his retirement after serving in CFO roles for the past 20 years, 15 of which have been at Pfizer, no. 43 on the Fortune 500. David M. Denton took over the role of EVP and CFO at Pfizer on May 2 and D’Amelio is currently serving as an advisor at the company. During his tenure as CFO, Pfizer has generated close to $150 billion in market cap growth. Pfizer expects to achieve total company revenue of $100 billion (guidance range is $98-$102 billion) in 2022. This would represent the highest level of annual revenues in Pfizer’s history, according to the company.

When D’Amelio reflects on his entire career as a finance chief, which includes time at AT&T and Lucent Technologies, Inc., he’s had more than 20 mentees that have gone on to CFO or CEO roles, he says.

Here are just a few of his mentees he worked with at Pfizer who’ve reached the C-suite: Marc Stapley who went on to be the CFO at Illumina, and then CEO of Veracyte, Inc., Robert Landry, now EVP of finance and CFO at Regeneron Pharmaceuticals, Inc., and Kristin Peck, now CEO at Zoetis Inc.

D’Amelio’s work with Peck when she was EVP of worldwide business development stands out. “One of my highlights was the Wyeth acquisition,” he explains. “It was a massive acquisition— $68 billion. Kristin directly reported to me, and we had daily update meetings.” They worked together on the deal for almost a year, D’Amelio says. “Kristin led all the post-integration work that needed to be done,” D’Amelio says. “Our ability to get things done, negotiate and come out with really good outcomes and her analytical and interpersonal skills made it clear to me that she was special.”

Mentoring doesn’t have to be a formal process, D’Amelio says. “I tried to really limit that” to stay flexible, he says. “You’re coaching and advising as they’re working their way through a special project or something that comes up on their job. And you want to be available for that, even if it’s after traditional working hours.”

He continued, “No matter how busy anyone is, there’s always 10 or 15 minutes in a day to jump on a phone call with someone if they need to talk to you. You have to be all in. When I’m mentoring someone, I can’t delegate that.”

D’Amelio says there’s no “secret sauce” for identifying high performers. When you give employees “responsibilities, put them in charge of projects, get them out of their comfort zones,” the high performers will shine, he explains. “You offer them things to help them grow, enhance their skills, and hopefully advance their careers,” D’Amelio says.

He continued, “I always think about my finance leadership team. Those 10 or so roles are really critical to me getting my job done and meeting the needs of the organization. I do as much diligence as I possibly can before I put someone in one of those roles. The last three jobs I filled on my leadership team all came from within the company. I knew those people exceptionally well and I knew what they could do.”

And an important part of mentoring is to give honest feedback, D’Amelio says. “I think anyone who knows me will tell you, Frank’s pretty direct,” the Hoboken, N.J. native whose family owned a plumbing and heating supply business and a scrap metal business, told me. “I give very candid feedback. Good or bad, feedback is a gift.”

“A few years ago, someone who I really thought was going places, didn’t get the job they thought they were going to get and was very disappointed,” D’Amelio explains. “I said, ‘Listen, you don’t always get what you want when you want it; it’s character building,” he recalls telling his mentee. “Continue to keep doing your job exceptionally well. And, don’t make any rash decisions. Another door will open; that’s just the nature of corporate America.” The person wound up getting another opportunity, he says.

D’Amelio, who earned his MBA at St. John’s University, says he never really had a specific person as a mentor. “But what I will say is there were many people who took an interest in my career and who helped me along the way,” he says.

And at Pfizer which has been busy for the past two years changing the world with a revolutionary COVID-19 vaccine and the antiviral treatment Paxlovid, D’Amelio has talked with people like CEO Albert Bourla, and the executive leadership team, when he needs advice, he says. “I love working at Pfizer,” D’Amelio says. “Being a CFO there for 15 years was just such a privilege for me.”

In his next chapter, D’Amelio will stay busy with some board work and spending time with his family, he says. “I just became a grandfather,” he proudly told me.

Enjoy your weekend. Take care.

Sheryl Estrada sheryl.estrada@fortune.com

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