Creativity in a Crisis, Part III: If Your CFO Doesn’t Care, You Should...

We hear it all the time in business, especially in times of crisis: We all need to step up.

Well, if ever there was a time to do that, now is it. The COVID-19 crisis will only exacerbate the frustrations I was already seeing at levels below the CFO in many organisations. 

Group finance managers in larger multinational organisations have long been telling me about the challenges they face with lacklustre leadership from CFOs.

Just the other week I spoke with a finance manager who explained all the challenges of his business. When I asked what he could do about them, he said that was the job of the CFO, who just didn’t seem to care.

Here’s the thing: as I (and many others) have said many times before, the standard you walk past is the standard you accept. If your CFO doesn’t care, it means the next level down – you – absolutely should. 

As finance managers, being brave and disrupting the status quo above us is totally our job. If your business requires better leadership than your immediate boss is offering, you should be the one stepping up.

I’m not talking about mutiny – just being smart, innovative and creative. If you have to circum-navigate (as opposed to circumventing) your immediate boss, here are some tips:

Call out stale leadership

It’s not good enough to keep making excuses for your boss. Demanding better leadership than a command-and-control environment will not only be better for your fulfilment, it will have lasting ripple effects throughout the organisation. The first step here is to approach your immediate boss in a constructive manner. Give them the chance to be involved by asking which challenging projects/issues (you might have to spell out what they are) they’d like you to work on. Prompt them to delegate authority to you.

 Put it all on the line – partner up

What do you have to lose? This is the time to take a risk. Find allies at your own level and even above, with whom you can build a circle of trust and, with it, your level of confidence in what you are doing. Start to engage with other inspirational and aspirational leaders around you. If you can’t see any, go to the highest point of the organisation and request a meeting.

Have a plan and take it to the top

At this meeting, describe the challenges you have observed and outline your ideas and innovative ways to address those challenges. Sell your plan for business continuity – show how the business can emerge from the crisis stronger, leaner and ready to take advantage of the bounce back.

This will also be your personal brand continuity plan. It might work out well for you, it might not. But, one thing is for certain, you will feel good for taking the risk and invoking change.

Now, in a global pandemic, is the time to step in and up, do something differently and put it all on the line.