8 signs of the CFO of tomorrow

April 6, 2022 11:34 AM

The new post-COVID workplace has changed the role of the CFO and created substantial challenges and opportunities in all industries.

On a professional level, CEOs are calling on CFOs to become more strategic partners and support them and chief human resources officers in redesigning their organizations and making them future-fit. In addition, CEOs expect their CFOs to take an active role in business development and sustaining growth.

On a more personal level, many CFOs want to invest more time in career management, have more work-life flexibility, and maintain their well-being in a better way. This is not an easy journey for many CFOs who were numbers-oriented professionals for most of their professional lives. To become future-fit professionally and personally in an increasingly competitive, uncertain and rapidly changing business environment, CFOs will need to embark on a personal, proactive and methodological upskilling process, and then lead their entire team on the same journey.

In working closely with CFOs, I have discovered eight simple signs that identify the CFO of tomorrow. Being aware of the following signs can help CFOs design their personal upskilling process:

Future-fit leader

You understand that the era of the new workplace is here to stay and that, from now on, reality will be volatile, uncertain, complex and ambiguous. You know your job as a key member of organizational leadership is to provide a positive example of a future-fit leader. Moreover, you do whatever you can so all C-suite members will understand it and prepare themselves and their teams to successfully deal with the new reality we face.

People-oriented

You are not only a numbers-oriented professional but also a people-oriented leader. You understand that in the era of the new workplace your organizational growth and success depend on the quality of the people you recruit and retain. Therefore, you are willing to learn about your employees' changing expectations and invest time and effort to build a winning culture: a culture in which top talent chooses to come and stay, a culture in which creativity and innovation are the jobs of every leader and employee. This culture is based on integrity, positive relationships and trust, with a sense of a higher purpose at the heart of it.

Finance automation

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You know most finance processes will be automated. Therefore you are putting time and effort into understanding your department's role in an increasingly digital world. You try to find the best ways that machines and humans can work together to strengthen the strategic impact on your department and business.

Forward-looking

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You are more of a creator than a controller. In the past, the main job of the CFO was mainly technical. Today, the CFO and the CEO together need to bring an excellent value proposition to current and future clients. Therefore, as the CFO of tomorrow, you hold a forward-looking and global mindset, understand which trends will shape your industry, know your competitors well, and innovate so your organization will continue to thrive.

Multigenerational

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You are familiar with the characteristics of Gen Y and Gen Z and know your No. 1 job is to be an inspiring leader for them. You know how to make all your team members feel meaningful and essential. You invest time in their self-development processes, including mentoring sessions and workshops. You use your emotional intelligence — self-awareness, empathy, flexibility and passion — daily in all your interactions.

CEO path

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Like many of your CFO friends, you want to become a CEO one day. You put in the effort and time to proactively manage your career and build a winning personal value proposition. You know that in the era of the new workplace, career management refers to the ability of CFOs to create a unique winning value proposition and to invent and reinvent themselves. In the past two years, working closely with your CEO, you learned the role of the chief executive has also changed dramatically. Therefore, become a life-long learner in six dimensions: professional, technological, leadership, critical skills (what we used to call soft skills), business acumen, and innovation and entrepreneurship.

Strategic goals

You know already that organizational success has a broader definition than the bottom-line results in the era of the new workplace. Therefore, you put strategic goals related to all your stakeholders, employees, suppliers, clients and society in your strategy.

Becoming the CFO of tomorrow is a journey. Like most journeys in life, we need to plan well and be aware of our feelings and thoughts at different stages. Even more important, make sure you enjoy the journey as much as the destination and try to get better every day.