The 10 Biggest Challenges of Delivering the CFO Role
As the CFO position continues to expand beyond traditional financial management, it is crucial for finance leaders to understand and overcome the personal, interpersonal, and organizational obstacles that can hinder their success. The session features an experienced guest speaker, Catherine Clark, who shares her expertise as a seasoned CFO and professional mentor. By exploring the top challenges identified by participants, such as imposter syndrome, communication skills, and influencing stakeholders, the discussion offers practical guidance to help CFOs enhance their leadership impact and drive strategic value for their organizations.
Highlights:
- Introduction and housekeeping by Dan Wells, including recap of previous day’s sessions and overview of the agenda
- Poll conducted to identify participants’ top personal challenges as CFOs, with imposter syndrome, confidence, communication, and influencing emerging as the main issues
- Detailed discussion led by Catherine Clark on addressing imposter syndrome and building confidence, with emphasis on self-awareness, reframing negative thoughts, and taking small steps to improve
- Insights on effective communication skills, including understanding the audience, aligning words, tone, and body language, and tips for written communication
- Exploration of the importance of building relationships and rapport to facilitate influencing, as well as strategies for handling nerves and excitement before important meetings or presentations
- Closing remarks and recommendations for additional resources, such as podcasts, to further support finance leaders in addressing these critical challenges
Responses