I recently posed the following three questions to my network: “How do you successfully lead a Finance Transformation? Do you need a finance qualification to be a leader of Finance Transformation and what people do you need to help deliver the transformation?”
These questions have been the pinnacle of debate at Stanton House over the last six months as I hosted a round-table event to an audience of CFOs and published an insight paper questioning what it takes to lead an exceptional team.
I have received thousands of interactions from my international network answering these questions but also posing their own such as; what is the biggest challenge of leading a Finance Transformation and how do you deal with it?
An interim CFO within my network said the biggest challenge was ‘bringing people with you’. She said: “I think a leader with a strong background in finance is invaluable in being able to fully understand and address the concerns of the wider finance team” while a Digital Transformation professional believed the challenge sits within Change.
She commented: “Change is never easy, especially transformational change. It can create fear. Strong, empathetic and inspiring leadership can make that change inspiring. I believe the individual needs to understand the basics of Finance but the capacity to learn with strong leadership is more important.”
Another challenge listed was a lack of clear strategic direction. A Finance Transformation Lead within my network believes you can’t carry out a successful Finance Transformation without direction and strong sponsors. He said: “You can’t have gaps. You need team members with the right capabilities, whether from the business, Big 4 or other consultancies, as long as you don’t have gaps and don’t forget the doers or you’ll find yourself in strategic planning phase for several years.”
While I have enough comments to create a second insight paper, I can’t stop thinking about the different obstacles so many of you have faced during your Finance Transformations and how they all differ entirely.
Whether it’s the people, the fear or the idea of change I’d like to hear from you - What challenges have you faced during a Finance Transformation? Join the conversation and if you haven’t already, please get in touch or download a copy of my insight paper focused on Finance Transformation. 
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