🔎 Is your finance team really being strategic?

Bad news — most people don’t understand the true definition of strategic decision-making. 

Worse news — until you (and your leadership team) can align on the definition of ‘strategy,’ you can never attain strategic investment. 

Now for the good news — CFO Melissa Howatson and VP of FP&A, Tom Seegmiller of Vena Solutions joined together on the latest episode of The CFO Show to:

• Define strategy

• Delineate between strategic investment and maintaining the status quo

• Share what it takes for you as a finance professional to achieve a true strategic mindset to elevate your business (and career) to new heights

What is strategy? (Hint: It’s not just validating choices)

Finance teams sit at a unique intersection of maintaining optimal operations and driving the business forward by strategically allocating resources and investing time in the right business priorities.

But before you can invest strategically, it’s critical to nail down a precise strategy and get your execs and leadership teams on board. 

An effective strategy is about understanding:
➡️ Where you are as a business
➡️ Where you want to be in a year, three years, five years and beyond 
➡️ The gaps between where you are now and where you want to be
➡️ What you need to do (and stop doing) to close those gaps

A strategy is not:
❌ A laundry list of “priorities”

It’s not just about building out a short list of what you can do — what you choose not to do is just as important. 

Tldr: True strategy is leveraging the most impactful things you can do to move the trendline of an organization. 

Are you making strategic investments? Or sticking with the status quo?

One of the hardest things to do in business is halting momentum — even when it could mean making a forward leap in progress. 

The last thing anyone (especially your CEO) wants to do is slow down progress. This can lead to a fearful clinging to the status quo. Even when it’s not working. 

But how can you differentiate between investing because it’s the way things have always been done and investing strategically? 

Ask yourself one simple question:

If you were to start the business from scratch today, would you make this investment? 

Odds are if the answer is ‘no,’ the solution is not a strategic investment. 

The minute you let go of the restrictions of historical thinking is the minute you can:
✅ Start investing in moving the organization forward
✅ Focus on the things that really count
✅ Explode past the constraints holding your team back

Shifting from maintaining the status quo to investing strategically begins with mindset and intention. Once your definitions, goals and intentions are straight, it’s time to bring your executive leadership on board. 

Strategic investment isn’t a finance conversation — it’s an organization conversation. 

Need some solid tactics for gaining exec and leadership alignment? We have your back. Tune into The CFO Show today.

In case you missed it…

Feeling nervous about 2024’s economy? You’re not alone. Joined by Benjamin Tal, Managing Director and Deputy Chief Economist of CIBC Capital Markets Inc., we explored the uncertainties of the coming year and uncovered the economic insights every finance professional should know to navigate today’s economic turbulence and emerge with business success. 

What’s next…

Raising capital today is no easy feat. Valuations are dropping and companies are shifting from a growth-centric environment to one that prioritizes prudent cash management. Join us to explore the intricacies of securing funding amidst rising interest rates and financial market challenges.