“Stories and lessons from an unexpected journey in finance.”

Behind the buzzwords: what leaders actually need to know.

Early in my career, I sat in a meeting where someone enthusiastically declared:
“We’ll increase ARR with better NRR, driven by a strong PMO, and of course, we’ll need tight SOX controls.”

I nodded like I understood. Inside, I was thinking: “Are we building software, running a police department, or baking a cake?”

Corporate acronyms are supposed to make communication faster. In reality, they often create a secret language that leaves half the room guessing. Over the years, I’ve seen three classic pitfalls when it comes to acronym overload:

1. Assuming everyone knows them.
At one company, an executive kept talking about “MRR trends.” A new board member thought it meant “Monthly Revenue Runway.” Nope — it was “Monthly Recurring Revenue.” Same letters, completely different meaning. The poor board member nodded along for 20 minutes before realizing we were having two entirely different conversations. A reminder: assumptions create confusion, not clarity.

2. Acronyms multiplying like rabbits.
At a PE-backed company, every department had its own “language.” HR spoke in “FTEs” and “LOAs,” Sales was obsessed with “ACVs” and “TCVs,” and Finance (of course) had its beloved “EBITDA this, NPV that.” Eventually, we created a two-page acronym “cheat sheet” just so new hires could survive their first all-hands. It’s funny looking back, but imagine how much productivity was lost just trying to translate what everyone was saying.

3. Using acronyms as armor.
Sometimes acronyms aren’t just sloppy shorthand — they’re a shield. I once asked a project lead how things were going. Instead of simply saying, “We’re behind schedule,” he launched into: “The PMO has flagged a deviation in our critical KPIs against the baseline OKRs.” Translation: “We’re late.” Acronyms, in that moment, weren’t making him sound smarter. They were making him harder to understand — and trust.

Here’s The Accidental CFO takeaway: acronyms are fine, but clarity wins every time. The best leaders I’ve worked with drop the jargon, explain terms when they’re new, and use plain language that connects with the room. Because the real test of communication isn’t whether you can impress with three-letter shortcuts — it’s whether your message lands and drives action.

Nobody ever closed a deal, hit a revenue target, or motivated a team with alphabet soup.

So the next time you’re tempted to hide behind acronyms, ask yourself: Am I making things clearer, or just more complicated?

👉 What’s the most confusing (or funniest) acronym moment you’ve experienced in your career?

#Leadership #Communication #TheAccidentalCFO #inersec #Finance #LeadershipLessons