The role of a CFO has evolved from its traditional financial focus to become a coveted strategic and leadership position within an organisation. A modern CFO has a significant influence over the brand and reputation of a company.
Every CFO must possess the hard skills that accompany their roles, duties, and responsibilities. Obviously.
I believe the JD of a CFO, according to Indeed, is too limited in scope for today’s world:
“Chief Financial Officers (CFOs) help a company manage its finances. They perform broad accounting and business tasks, including developing financial strategies, supervising finance personnel and analysing financial statements.”
Must-Haves for Every CFO
Givens: Standard Skills and Attributes demanded of every CFO. The Entry Ticket.
These belong to the admission fee. These are the essential basic skills every CFO must have. Table stakes.
They are self-explanatory, and you won’t get past the recruitment consultant, HR, or anywhere near a decision-maker without them.
- Reliable & trustworthy
- Investment savvy
- Global compliance
- Ethical standards
- Business acumen
- Innovative & adaptive
- Financial expertise – and a piece of paper to prove it!
- Strategic planning
- Risk management
- Communication skills
- Decision-making CFO skills
- Emotional intelligence
- Critical thinking & problem solving
- Influence & persuasion
- Negotiation skills
But if you want to achieve big as a CFO, you need to develop and improve the following six key skills constantly.
We are all dealing with a lot at the moment, and business leaders are no different. They may be well rewarded, but their responsibilities and pressures are enormous.
What MUST a modern CFO bring to the table?
These are the “extra” skills and characteristics that are must-haves for the modern CFO.
1. Understanding of New Tech
First and foremost, you must take into account the impact and implementation of new technologies. Such advancements have transformed how a CFO operates. Automation, data analytics and the speed of growth of AI are now key factors in financial management.
You’ll need to understand these concepts and know how to apply them.
It is absolutely not good enough to merely name-check AI and innovation as fig-leaf buzzwords in speeches and presentations. CFOs have to work closely with the CTO, the CIO, and the CAIO. A separate post about how much tech you need or want in the Boardroom is coming up soon.
2. Risk Management Skills – NOT just “pure” financial
The global political and economic climate is more volatile than ever before.
CFOs navigate constantly changing, choppy waters, including trade wars and regulatory shifts. Risk management has now become one of the key features of a CFO in this era of financial and geopolitical uncertainty.
Cost-cutting is fine and good, but what about risk-minimising? For a company to be financially sustainable, risks need to be managed and sometimes that drags the short-term bottom line. However, these unpopular short-term costs could save the company from a long-term decline or catastrophe.
3. Strategic Business Approach
Gone are the days when CFOs were solely focused on financial reporting and budgeting. Now they are expected to be a major contributing force to the overall strategy of the business.
As a CFO, you not only need to focus on the financial side of things, but also on the overall operations. Plus, the strategy for the future. Being able to look around corners would be good too! Short-term and long-term – a constantly changing lens and focus.
CFOs must be strategic thinkers, analysing market trends and making decisions that drive growth.
4. Ambassador – Evangelist – Advocate – EXCEPTIONAL Communication Skills
I am aware that “communication skills” (a default setting in almost every JD) are in the essential “ticket price” list, but the frequency and quality of communication that is needed have changed so much that it deserves to be here, too.
CFOs are increasingly expected to play a public-facing role, representing the company and communicating with investors, analysts, and the media. This shift requires CFOs to be incredibly strong at communication and public relations, so they can represent their company’s financial health and strategic vision.
They need to be able to persuade and influence internal and external audiences. When things are “spiky”, that is precisely when CFOs need to be the calm, reassuring, and sensible person that people listen to.
A newly appointed CFO of a FTSE 100 company told me when he hired me that he had no issues briefing financial journalists, working within the Board, or handling the technical side of his role.
The challenge was that he was very young to be a CFO of a PLC. He wasn’t just young, he looked young, very young. In most professional and private roles, this is desirable, acceptable or cool (Sam Altman), but the CFO of a listed company must provide reassurance. And look reassuring.
My client had to speak at a global SLT event where he would be “on show” for the first time.
He was anxious that, in this major live event, he would convey gravitas and not be perceived as “the finance guy”.
He had to inspire confidence with the global Senior Leadership Team.
My brief: “Make me fun and inspiring but also reassuring!”.
We worked long and hard in preparation for the BIG DAY. A hundred senior execs had flown in to hear him and the CEO speak. Several years and CEOs later, he is still the CFO. A widely respected and reassuring CFO.
Leadership communication is not just for this type of “big ticket” event. Every internal meeting or interaction, every media briefing, quarterly and monthly results days, podcasts, investor briefings… they all matter.
5. Leadership
I thought about whether Leadership should be included in Communication Skills. But Leadership and Communication, along with the other essential leadership characteristics, are intertwined like threads of a rope. You cannot be a great or even an okay leader without being able to communicate effectively – sideways, upwards, downwards and outwards.
The modern CFO is a very public-facing role, so excellent communication and public relations skills are essential. Whether communicating with investors, board members, or the media, CFOs must articulate their company’s financial story – reflecting the past, describing the present and predicting the future. And do it clearly and confidently.
As the reassuring voice of reason, they may need to inform and persuade reluctant, cavalier, anxious or simply difficult Board members. They need to be heard.
As key members of the executive team, CFOs need strong and resilient leadership skills – with their team and peers. Not least human knowledge and emotional intelligence. Dry accountant types are out.
This means all of these six characteristics, not just holding people to account, risk warning, and overseeing the finances. All are essential to survive in increasingly scrutinised environments that are both dynamic and complex.
6. Adaptability and Flexibility
The modern CFO has to demonstrate extreme adaptability and flexibility, given the unrelenting pace of change today. This could be due to technological change (AI, which will continue to be an ever-evolving learning curve), geopolitical, financial, and legislative changes (not just tariffs), wars, or global “one-off” events like COVID, which have changed so much, not least the modern ways of working.
Modern leaders must be open to never-ending waves of new approaches to everything. Successful ones often learn more from their younger (those in their mid-30s – on the cusp of the next level) direct reports than from their predecessors.
Younger executives are generally faster, more efficient, more productive and more at home with technology. They also have less respect for leaders that they perceive to be old school “this is how we always did it” execs…and they’re right to.
A very senior exec client from a Fortune 10 company cautioned: “This obviously depends on the calibre, experience, skills, and ability of your next levels down. But this (my edit: the calibre of those below you), of course, is up to you. You are responsible for who is in your team.”.
Staying flexible with your style and ways of working, and learning from peers, predecessors and their “juniors” is critical to staying relevant. You can’t survive if you lose respect and relevance.
Bonus Point 7. The modern CFO needs to be resilient and robust!
This isn’t for the good times. In the good times, money is available, and leadership choices are less likely to lead to “frank and open” discussions. But when tensions are high and opinions at the top are divided and strongly felt, the CFO is a key voice of reason.
I asked the former Deputy CEO and CFO of Ryan Air, Howard Millar about resilience and being robust as a leader. He emphasised the need for Board members to be united externally, but to be able to robustly defend their positions, and win arguments, internally.
He said that there had been many occasions for “frank and open discussions” with Michael O’Leary. But, he added that the trio at the top of RyanAir had known and worked with each other for years and that they were all united in their purpose. To make RyanAir the lowest price carrier.
Seen through the lens of this crystal clear mission, and understanding that all were focused on this mission, helped make the discussions focus on strategy and tactics and not turfy or personal.
Sadly, this is not the case in all boardrooms. This makes the need for great persuasive abilities and a huge well of resilience essential. You are on the Board to be seen, respected, and heard.
Bonis Point 8. The modern CFO aslo needs Executive Presence
This is an additional category: executive presence. It doesn’t matter what you say or how good your slides are, if they aren’t listening to you, you may as well not have opened your mouth. Or even shown up.
Are you a CFO, or do you want to be a CFO?
Whether you are an aspiring, new or seasoned CFO, we can agree that the role is more challenging than ever before. Being a strong communicator internally and externally is key to the success of every CFO.
I can help you become an even more valuable and indispensable CFO by helping you communicate even more persuasively and reassuringly. WhatsApp me. Or book a Zoom call via Calendly.
