Blog Summary on "The CFO Lens: HOW TO THRIVE IN THE FAST-CHANGING WORLD OF FINANCE" by our Gold Member Sanjay Moralwar.
Book Overview
The book is a focused book written by the author who formerly CFO of IBM. It was published in 2023. It is guide designed for financial professionals on how to transform from a traditional CFO behaviour to strategic business partners and accelerators of growth. Most importantly it includes insights and case studies from the authors own 30-year illustrious career. It also includes real life experience inputs from high profile CFOs of large organizations like SWIGGY, Titan and Tata Motors.
Why is it relevant?
It is relevant as it describes how a finance leader has to make a shift in his role in the organization from a gatekeeper to a co-pilot in the business. It is highly relevant to senior leadership and finance professionals in many ways. Some of them are:
- How they have to transition their focus from compliance to strategy.
2. Adopting of digitalization using the crux of speed versus control and still maintaining the balance of critical points in both actions.
3. Performing the right leadership in high pressure environments and crunch situations.
4. Utilizing real world context to ensure how they contribute in the organization growth to remain relevant.
Key Takeaway –
The key take away is – The author identifies several shifts which modern Finance leader to master to be effective. Some of them are:
- Finance dept. has to transition from a back office support role to front line strategic partner to the business.
2. They need to transition to sales first mindset. Present the finance risks in such a way so that non finance leaders can act upon
3. The most important is to maintain the highest governance standards when under pressure to grow.
Ideas he could extract from the book:
1.The “Open Door” is a mindset, culture and not a policy.
2. Leaders need to practise basic honesty even when delivering difficult news. When the employees know the reason (why) behind decisions, there is more likelihood of employees to align and make a meaningful contribution to the company’s vision.
3. The third idea is that the leadership needs to practise active listening. This involves listening to understand and not respond, reaching out to the most silent voice of the team and confirming the understanding the diverse perspectives to drive innovation.
4. The most important idea which I could extract was leadership needs to provide or create an environment of safety for high performing teams. Such teams then understand that it is safe to take risks, commit mistakes while challenging the status quo without been punished, the organisation then becomes creative and strong.
Sanjay’s Personal Reflection –
1. What stood out?
What stands out in the book is how the author while managing complex system keeps his focus on operational reality. He moves the lens from the screen to the on ground situation.
2. What changed his thinking?
The book teaches the new age financial leader to challenge the traditional way of thinking by shifting the perspective on what it means to be a leader / CFO in the modern data driven organization.
3. How it connects to your journey?
How himself as a new age leader should shift his focus from theory to actual operations. Move his focus from legacy operations to digital leadership.
- Use ERP for real time inventory visibility
2. Exploit the benefits of India stack of DPI for pharma distribution 3. Turning any new digital implementation initiative into a clear growth strategy
4. Sanjay’s Practical Reflection –
How he will apply 1-2 ideas in real life.
Reading the book he felt there are 2 high impact ideas which come to his mind. They are:
- Proactive governance to ensure problems are solved in days instead of months.
2. Higher system adoption and fewer change management issues while implementing any new digital initiatives
Closing –
Who should read and why?
The book CFO Lens is primarily written for those who are having a role at the intersection of strategy, finance, and technology. Because the book is avoiding complex academic theory and concentrates on storytelling and uses real life examples, it is highly recommended for a wide range of professionals and leaders
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