While technical expertise and analytical prowess are must-haves in your finance team, the true game-changer lies in cultivating leadership skills in them. Leadership in finance is beyond calculations and spreadsheets; it’s about guiding the team towards achieving goals while looking out for the future. Quite often, people associate leadership with one’s position in an organization. But leadership has nothing to do with titles or authority, It is also not restricted to personality traits such as better vision or charismatic personality. Leadership boils down to one person taking the initiative and investing a great effort to accomplish the desired outcome.
Like any other group of people, a finance team also needs a leader. Even though you might have the finest team of accountants or a top-notch finance team, it is still tough to make the most out of them without the presence of a capable leader. A gerat leader motivates everyone to achieve their goals, manages the team, helps in strategic decisions and takes charge during times of crisis. Without a leadership compass, your team might get lost in wild.
Leadership v/s Management
Leadership is the ability of an individual to influence, motivate, and compel others to contribute to the organization’s success. Leaders focus on inspiring and guiding their team toward future success and strategic objectives.
Imagine this: Two groups of salesforce are after the same target: lifting quarterly revenue. On a daily basis, team A is led by an individual who pays close attention to details while concentrating on hitting daily targets and keeping track of sales calls in an organized manner. They always hit their numbers, but they lack vision.
However, under great leadership, team B prospers more. As per their strategic plan, they evaluate trends in the market; review pricing approaches while searching for new client segments. This group is characterized by open communication channels and creativity in problem solving. The outcome? They do not only achieve it but also go beyond it by identifying new opportunities.
Let us dive into ways you can develop leadership in your finance team.
4 Ways To Develop Leadership Skills In Your Team
Developing a Culture of Promoting Internal Growth
Developing a culture of leadership development is the key to success. Creating a culture so that leadership emerges naturally. It’s not about hiring externally; it’s about growing internally. And that starts with identifying and nurturing potential leaders from within your organization.
You can start by creating an intentional strategy for developing leaders and then providing growth-friendly environments for them to thrive through corporate training for employees. This way, when opportunities arise, they are ready to take on those new roles confidently because they understand your company’s values, priorities, and goals.
Stretch Projects
Just like a talented young athlete training for a championship, stretch projects aren’t about simply doing more of the same instead it is about doing harder things. As the name suggests, stretch projects make you go beyond your abilities and achieve targets that previously seemed like a stretch.
Assigning stretch projects is a great way to challenge and push employees beyond their comfort zone and help them learn cross-disciplinary skills. This not only broadens their technical knowledge but also hones their leadership, communication, and problem-solving skills; the perfect recipe for creating a leader
The Unilever Future Leaders Program embodies this philosophy by placing individuals in real, impactful roles from the start. Seasoned Unilever mentors guide them through these challenges, offering support and insight. Through targeted Corporate training for employees and hands-on experience, participants build their confidence, improve their communication, and develop the ability to motivate and inspire others. By the end of the program, they emerge as well-rounded leaders, ready to tackle complex real-world projects.
Soft Skills & Communication
While hiring, most companies look at the technical skill set match with the role of a candidate. Which makes sense, because if they can’t perform the basic tasks that they have been hired to – what’s the point right? But one thing that companies do not focus on often is – Soft Skills.
Softs skills are more crucial than given credit for. As, if your most technically qualified employee cannot work with a team, give relevant insights from the data, be able to communicate with the client and add to the culture of the company, are they really the best candidate for the role?
Therefore, investing in soft skills training to improve communication is vital. Corporate training programs
helps employees understand different communication styles and tailor their approach to various situations and personalities. It also enhances their ability to listen actively, respond empathetically, and present information clearly and concisely. By prioritizing effective communication through Corporate training for employees, companies can create a more efficient, harmonious, and successful workplace.
Storytelling through data
Storytelling is a tool that is useful to all leaders. It is about communicating a message clearly to put your point across and adjusting the narrative according to your audience.
Instead of simply presenting a raft of data and numbers, storytelling helps to highlight the reasons and the stories behind the numbers and why the numbers look the way they do. Translating Accounting & Finance data into stories and communicating the problems through financial storytelling is essential for a leader.
Learning & Development Programs
As a company grows, executives should not just hope that a leader will emerge from their ranks, they should make efforts by identifying potential individuals and shaping them into leaders.
1/4th of the nearly 1,500 senior managers at 50 organizations interviewed in 2011 by CEB were dissatisfied with their companies’ learning and development functions.
By creating a culture of mentorship and collaboration, and providing opportunities for professional and personal development, a company can cultivate leadership within the organisation. Creating next-generation leaders through leadership development through Corporate training programs is crucial for a company’s long-term success.
Under Contetra’s FinanceFirst initiative, we help you get the competitive advantage you need – whether it is creating a finance centre of excellence or curating learning and development initiatives to upskill your finance team.
Download our guide on how you can conduct ROI-driven corporate training programs and get the most out of them for your company as well as your employees!
