Stories and lessons from an unexpected journey in finance.

I didn’t become a CFO to be a decision architect. Like many in this seat, I earned the role through reliability. My numbers were accurate, the close was tight, and the narrative always reconciled.

Yet, despite the competence in the room—smart boards, talented executives, and endless data—I kept witnessing the same outcome: Decisions were being deferred.

That was the turning point. I realized that while good CFOs report the news, great CFOs force choices. They don’t do this through aggression, but through intentional design.

Here are four ways to move from reporting to leading:

1. Provoke, Don’t Just Educate Early in my career, I believed my primary duty to the board was education. I learned the hard way that education without tension fosters comfort, not clarity. Today, I frame every board discussion around tradeoffs. I utilize pre-reads to provoke thought rather than simply inform, turning routine approvals into strategic inflection points.

2. The Strategic Use of Silence I used to equate the size of my board deck with the depth of my credibility. I was mistaken. The most impactful meetings I’ve led focused on only three numbers: the leading indicators of where we will lose momentum if we maintain the status quo. Present the metric, then stop talking. Silence creates discomfort, and discomfort creates the friction necessary for debate.

3. Build Frameworks That Reveal Truths Reporting systems are simple; decision systems are complex. A standard finance leader says, “Here’s how we track performance.” A transformative leader says, “This framework reveals which business units are quietly draining our future.” By placing a price tag on inaction, you force the leadership team to confront the cost of protecting legacy decisions.

4. Surface the Unspoken This is the hardest lesson to learn. In many strategy sessions, the room circles the real issue, optimizing around the edges to simulate progress. The CFO’s job is to say the quiet part out loud: “This isn’t a timing issue. It’s a willingness issue. We are deciding whether to exit this business.” Naming the decision collapses weeks of circular analysis into minutes of truth.

The Shift: Great CFOs don’t overwhelm leaders with data; they reshape the architecture of decision-making. Most of us stumble upon this realization only after watching opportunities die from indecision. But once you see it, the role changes. It is no longer about explaining the past. It is about forcing the future.

So, here’s the question:
Are you still reporting decisions, or are you forcing them?

#CFOLeadership #BoardEffectiveness #inersec #Transformation #TheAccidentalCFO