Finance Leadership, Beyond The Numbers

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Episode # 150: Leadership in finance isn’t a title—it’s a practice. We dive into what turns any role in accounting, FP&A, or audit into a force for strategic impact, starting with the four pillars that anchor meaningful change: influence, grow your people, deliver results, and see the future. Along the way, we unpack how to turn data into decisions, build trust with senior leaders, and convert operational friction—like a chaotic month end—into a reliable, learning-driven process.

We start by reframing influence as earned alignment. You’ll hear how to show up with validated numbers, a sharp point of view, and a concise ask that respects executive time. Then we get practical about developing talent: mentoring for strategic thinking, cross-training on the business model, and running blameless reviews that raise the team’s ceiling. Execution takes center stage with tactics to speed the close, improve forecast accuracy, and translate variances into action. Finally, we step into forward-looking leadership—tracking external signals that matter, setting crisp scenarios, and aligning decisions to both profitability and purpose.

If you’re ready to elevate your impact, this conversation will help you become the partner your organization needs: people-centered, data-driven, and ethically grounded. 

Please connect with me on:

1. Instagram: stephen.mclain
2. Twitter: smclainiii
3. Facebook: stephenmclainconsultant
4. LinkedIn: stephenjmclainiii

For more resources, please visit Finance Leader Academy:  financeleaderacademy.com.

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Episode Transcript

Stephen McLain (00:04):
A confident, dedicated and team focused
finance leader is a powerfulforce in the organization. I
expect all employees in theaccounting fpna and auditing
teams to strive to becomeeffective finance leaders. The
cornerstone to financeleadership is that it is not

(00:26):
role dependent. No matter yourrole, from individual
contributor to Team Manager toCFO, you can become an
effective, well respected andhighly competent finance leader
if you influence a positivedecision, if you help another
leader make a better decisionbased on your specific insights,
if you bring great ideas, if youovercome the status quo and much

(00:50):
more, then you are a financeleader. Leaders make positive
things happen. They contributeto the success of the
organization, and they ensurethey help others to grow their
skills. Also, I am talking aboutfinance leadership today. Please
enjoy the episode. Welcome tothe finance leader podcast where

(01:10):
leadership is bigger than thenumbers. I am your host. Stephen
McLain, this is the podcast fordeveloping leaders in finance
and accounting. Please considerfollowing me on Twitter,
Facebook, Instagram andLinkedIn. My usernames and the
links are in this episode's shownotes. You can also follow
finance leader Academy onLinkedIn. Thank you. This is

(01:32):
episode number 150 and I will betalking about finance leadership
principles that I believe innow. Our role in the
organization is different, andit doesn't matter if you are in
accounting, fpna or auditing, wehave a unique viewpoint that
others don't see, especiallysenior leaders. I encourage

(01:53):
people at all levels and rolesto develop their leadership
skills so they can make apositive difference. This means
we have to know who to formcritical partnerships with, how
to communicate clearly, how tothink and plan strategically,
and how to develop key insightsthat can help move the
organization forward. Now lastweek, I shared episode number

(02:16):
149, month end closed proceduresimprovement by using the Army's
after action review process now,month end doesn't have to feel
like a rolling emergency. Wewalk through a proven, blame
free framework the US Army'safter action review to turn your
clothes into a reliable, datadriven process that gets faster

(02:39):
and more accurate every cycle.
If your calendar is packed andthe bottlenecks keep returning,
this is the practical reset yourteam needs. Please go back and
listen to that episode, in caseyou missed it. Now, I addressed
the key finance leaderresponsibilities early in this
podcast history, all the wayback in episode two, and it's
titled four key finance leaderresponsibilities. They still

(03:02):
stand true today, and theprinciples are number one
influencing this is aboutachieving buy in, about big
ideas you have or creatingpositive change in your
organization. It's when youclearly communicate a unique
insight or critical informationthat senior leaders can use to
validate the strategy or reviewhow the company is performing.

(03:25):
Now. Number two is grow yourpeople. We must continually
mentor our team members toachieve their goals, become
better in their jobs and developpotential for greater
responsibility. It is our job todevelop the leaders who will
take over our roles as we moveforward with our careers, we
must provide opportunities fordevelopment regarding their

(03:48):
strategic skills, analysiscapability and for leading a
team number three, achieveresults. Your credibility as a
leader depends on yourperformance completing key tasks
to a high level and for carryingout the vision of those senior
to you, are you and your teamcompleting tasks and
requirements on time whileexceeding the standard? Also do

(04:10):
other leaders trust you to getthings done? And finally, number
four, seeing the future means westudy industry trends, so we can
make recommendations to seniorleaders on strategy development
within the scope of manyexternal factors. These can be
political, economic,environmental, General, health

(04:31):
and many other factors. Watchfor critical external metrics
that affect your company'smarket, particularly on key
resources, transportation,storage and public policy,
partnering with senior leadersrequires us to think differently
and to communicate clearly,succinctly and quickly. Senior
leaders have limited time totake in something new. We have

(04:54):
to be ready and on point, bedirect and be. Prepared for
tough questions, have yourbackup data and ensure it was
validated. Show your positionand supporting data when
describing a financial insightthat supports what they or their
team is working on. Of course, Iwould run it by another member
of their team before so thatthey can validate your opinion

(05:17):
and supporting informationfinance leadership is people
centered and data driven,focused on influencing better
strategic decisions using anethical framework. When we stop
being effective finance leaders,our organizations become at risk
for stagnation and eventuallyeliminated from market

(05:40):
contention. To be morestrategically aligned requires
leaders to be open minded andready to look at new data and
new ideas. So we must all beready fight complacency and the
status quo, always looking fornew insights that can drive
innovation, invention andgrowth, please subscribe to the

(06:01):
podcast on the platform you arecurrently listening to, and also
please subscribe to my weeklyemail. Thank you. In today's
dynamic business environment,the concept of finance
leadership extends far beyondtraditional accounting or
budgeting functions. Modernfinance leadership is defined as
a strategic capability to guideorganizations in making

(06:25):
informed, value driven decisionsthat balance financial
performance, risk management andlong term sustainability. A
finance leader today mustintegrate financial expertise
with business acumen, digitalfluency and emotional
intelligence to influenceorganizational direction and
drive transformation. The modernfinance leader acts as a

(06:49):
strategic partner to the CEO,bridging the gap between data
analysis and Executive DecisionMaking while also fostering a
culture of accountability,innovation and continuous
improvement across all financefunctions. Now for action today,
what are you doing for yourselfand your team in developing your

(07:09):
finance leadership skillsregarding influencing, growing
your people, achieving resultsand seeing the future? Today, I
talked about finance leadershipprinciples that I believe in
modern finance leadership isdefined by its blend of
strategic vision, analyticalprecision and human centered
influence. As the businesslandscape becomes more volatile

(07:34):
and interconnected, financeleaders must continue evolving
as catalysts for transformation,balancing profitability with
purpose and ensuring that everyfinancial decision advances both
the organization's mission andsocietal good. I hope you
enjoyed the finance leaderpodcast. You can find this
episode wherever you listen topodcasts. If this episode helps

(07:57):
you today, please share with acolleague. Until next time, you
can check out more resources atfinance leader Academy, calm and
sign up for my weekly updates soyou don't miss an episode of the
podcast, and now go lead yourteam and I'll see you next time.
Thank you. You.