How to Become an Effective Strategist as a CFO
Being a CFO is a demanding role that requires both financial and strategic skills. Gary McGaghey, CFO at Williams Lea Tag, knows this all too well. He has been in the role for over 13 years, and throughout that time, he has developed a set of strategies and approaches to help him become an effective strategist. Let’s take a look at what it takes to become an effective strategist as a CFO.
Understanding Your Business Model
The first step in becoming an effective strategist as a CFO is understanding your business model. This involves understanding how your company makes money and how it operates. It also means knowing your customer base, competitors, and markets so that you can make informed decisions about where to invest resources and which areas need improvement or expansion. Understanding the bigger picture will help you develop tactics for achieving long-term success for your company. Check out Gary McGaghey’s Youtube post to see more info.
Developing Strong Relationships with Key Players
In addition to understanding the bigger picture, developing strong relationships with key players across the organization is important. As CFO, you are responsible for setting financial goals and objectives aligned with organizational strategy. To do this effectively requires strong relationships with other executives so that you can understand their goals and needs, as well as have their support when making tough decisions.
Focus on Data-driven Decisions
Finally, one of the most important strategies for becoming an effective strategist as a CFO is focusing on data-driven decisions. Having access to accurate data is essential for making informed decisions about investments, expenditures, and other financial matters. Gathering reliable data from multiple sources—including internal teams such as sales or marketing—and analyzing it will help you make more informed decisions that ultimately lead to better outcomes for your organization.
As Gary McGaghey demonstrates through his approach at Williams Lea Tag, becoming an effective strategist as CFO requires understanding your business model and developing strong relationships with key players across the organization while focusing on data-driven decisions.