Office of the CFO: A Seat at the Strategic Leadership Table

Most Finance employees work hard and want to help their company grow. However, finance is often viewed as the support function that tactically helps the strategic business leadership make informed decisions that reduce financial and compliance risks. Becoming a Trusted Advisor equal to other peers at the CEO table or even the most trusted advisor is often a major challenge to earning a full seat at the Strategic Leadership Table.

In my opinion, the opportunity for Finance to earn a full seat at the table not only exists but represents the biggest opportunity in business today, particularly if HR reports to them. So, where is the challenge? This course will outline four major areas that are understood by many CEOs but may be major paradigm shifts for CFOs. These paradigm shifts may be enlightening to them and represent a major opportunity for the CFO to add significant value to the company.

This course begins with understanding who actually sits at the top of the strategic leadership table and what their primary focus is for the entire company. We will discuss how the CEO typically makes major company changes and then compare their approach to a typical Finance approach. This discussion will explain how the CEO defines strategic versus what most Finance leaders consider strategic. The focus then shifts to how Finance can become more strategic as defined by the CEO and Board. Included will be metrics that show how significant the opportunity is for most companies.

Then we share an example for how strategic thinking requires paradigm shift thinking to support the changing business environment that CEOs face everyday. The next focus shifts from strategic thinking to leadership and explains how leadership is critical to implement strategic paradigms. The discussion includes describing the difference between managing versus leading. Then we will summarize how Finance can Earn a Full Seat at the Strategic Leadership Table and be an integral part of the executive leadership team.