The technical side of the CFO role is the part we're trained for. It's rarely the part that undoes people.
When finance chiefs come unstuck, it tends to be on ground no exam covers. Communicating with a board. Working sideways with peers who don't report to you and can't be instructed. Building a team rather than rescuing one. Holding investors' expectations. Deciding, when every option carries risk and no spreadsheet returns a clean answer.
Meanwhile the risk register keeps growing domains nobody trained for either. Sustainability reporting. Cyber. AI.
So the gap widens from both ends.
My question for this community: what's the one thing you had to learn on the job that you wish someone had taught you before you took the seat?
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Jaysal Atara
Sole Practitioner
Neelkantha
West Byfleet
+44 7496385085
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