"If you don't allow your detailed knowledge to bog you down, your expertise can be very helpful to a business-unit leader," says Alberico, who recently worked with Odyssey's sales staff to help them understand the profitability levels of the company's different services. "We've been able to help the head of sales focus on the type of services that he should be pushing in order to drive higher margins, which is really a different approach than, 'We've just got to get out there and sell,'" he says.
Grashow of Cambridge Leadership urges CFOs to seize the opportunity to get more involved in strategy development earlier in the planning process. Finance chiefs should work on building informal relationships throughout the organization so that they are included in strategic conversations at the earliest stages, he says. Then they can provide information about budgets and the costs of various ideas to the rest of the company and encourage them to decide how to make the best use of limited resources, rather than weighing in at the end of the analysis with a yes or no. "Try to take the approach of saying, 'Here's our budget,' and then give the choices back to others," says Grashow.
Spread Hope
While providing useful data to business-unit heads can help a finance chief enhance his or her existing role, to expand that role and earn credentials as a strategic leader it is critical to go a step further and address the future of the business. A CFO who takes the long-term view can challenge the stereotype of finance executives as shortsighted "Dr. No's" who are solely focused on cutting costs.
"This is an ideal chance for the CFO to show that, while he understands the need to keep costs down, he has a deeper appreciation for the sustenance of the business," says Duboff. "It's a good time to be asking questions like, 'What are we investing in?' 'What's our longer-term game plan?'"
"As hard as it is to do, especially in this economic climate, we need to look well beyond next quarter," says Alberico. Odyssey recently upgraded its technology platform and is also hiring, hoping to take advantage of the greatly improved market for talent. Alberico touts these investments both inside and outside the business in an effort to reinforce the message that Odyssey plans to make it through the recession.
While it may be tempting to deal with the stress of the moment by shutting the door and obsessing over every detail of the budget, those CFOs who recognize the importance of their words and actions as business leaders have a real chance to both help their careers and ease some of the anxiety in their organizations. As Accenture's Craig says, "It's an opportunity for finance to have a stepped-up role in the business. Let's not waste it."
Kate O'Sullivan is a senior writer at CFO.
Tongue-Tied
If you want to play a larger role in internal communication, speak up.
Many CFOs who are willing and able to address the troops may find themselves hamstrung by a corporate culture in which the CEO does all the talking and the finance chief stays quietly behind the scenes. This is the perfect opportunity to change that dynamic. With concern about the recession and its impact on company finances permeating many, if not most, workplaces, employees are eager to hear directly from the keeper of the numbers. Before you can speak to the masses, however, you may need to have a private conversation — with the CEO. "Too many people say, 'I'd better not even ask,' to take on an expanded communications role within the company," says Robert Duboff, CEO and founder of HawkPartners, a communications consulting firm. "But it's better to ask than to assume the CEO doesn't want your help."
By noting that employees are more likely these days to pose detailed financial questions, and that they might find it most satisfying to hear the answers directly from the expert, CFOs can broach the concept of an expanded role in a nonconfrontational way. Ultimately, finance executives may also have to decide how much such a role means to them. "If you're a believer that the CFO should be communicating more," Duboff says, "and the company culture and the CEO are against that, maybe you don't really want to stay there." — K.O'S.
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