As the corporate landscape becomes increasingly data-driven, the role of executive leaders has shifted. Leaders today must go beyond vision and intuition in their decision-making and lean heavily on data to guide strategies around everything from cost management to risk mitigation.
This shift is opening more doors for professionals with strong financial backgrounds to rise into leadership positions. In fact, according to research by Robert Half, nearly half of CEOs from Australia’s top 200 listed companies (47%) have a background in finance.
“What they bring to the table is financial acumen, very strong analytical problem-solving capabilities and the ability to see complex problems and identify trends,” says John O’Leary, Director and specialised finance and accounting recruiter at Robert Half.
“As leaders, their decisions will be led by facts, figures and a deep understanding of the company’s performance.”
With that said, the road from accounting to the C-suite can be a complex one. In order to translate these strengths into effective leadership, accountants need to strategically cultivate experience outside their usual remit to create a balance of technical and human skills.
What accountants bring to the leadership table
Accountants’ expertise in data analysis and forecasting will be one of their greatest strengths as leaders, and the proliferation of artificial intelligence across myriad workplace functions will make these skills all the more crucial in the years to come.
AI will allow leaders to gather and analyse data at an unprecedented scale, making data-centric forecasting and decision-making a critical part of the leadership toolkit.
However, effective leadership requires more than just technical expertise. One capability that finance professionals often need to hone before stepping into leadership roles is communication, says O’Leary.
For instance, while analytical skills will serve accountants well in many aspects of leadership, they should be careful to avoid overreliance on facts and figures when communicating with stakeholders.
“Not all of your audience are going to be the same as you; they might not respond to factual information, and they might relate more to visionary aspirations or narratives,” he says.
“The best finance leaders are those that can translate financial positions to non-financial stakeholders. [It’s about] being able to speak a language that everyone can follow, as opposed to just speaking from a financial position.”
“The best finance leaders are those that can translate financial positions to non-financial stakeholders. [It’s about] being able to speak a language that everyone can follow.”
John O’Leary, Director and specialised finance and accounting recruiter, Robert Half
Three key steps on the road from finance to leadership
Success in executive roles requires a broad skillset, including people management, strategic communication and self-awareness.
Based on his experience, here are three of O’Leary’s top suggestions for accountants hoping to accelerate their path to executive leadership.
1. Invest in your management skillset
For someone with an accounting background, preparing to climb the leadership ladder requires a strategic blend of targeted training and on-the-job learning, says O’Leary.
“What generally happens is that the sharpest accountant [gets] promoted to finance manager, and now has two people reporting to them,” he says. “They have no idea how to manage people, they’ve never been on a leadership course, but now they’re managing two people.
“Then, they go up the next rung, which will [likely] be a finance controller, and might have 10 people reporting into them, but they still haven’t been taught to manage people. And the only way to handle those extra responsibilities is to throw more hours at it.”
This often means new managers wind up burnt out or put off the idea of leadership for good, he says. To avoid this dynamic arising, he suggests accountants who are taking on people management responsibilities step away from the day-to-day of their roles and give themselves space to develop their leadership capabilities, whether through practice or formal training.
“Being a sharp accountant and being a leader are two different things. You [might have] done your CA or your CPA, but how and where are you putting training into leadership and softer skills? If you’re not being put onto those courses by your employer, then seek them out and find ways to improve those skills.”
For instance, accountants might consider completing an MBA or undergoing a professional certification such as the IPA’s new Global Certificate of Public Accounting (GCPA) education program.
When it comes to on-the-job experience, public accountants in particular should be mindful not to confuse management experience with supervision, he says.
“A lot of people in public accounting practices get more supervision experience than management,” he says.
“Managing people, hiring people, attracting talent, firing people, performance reviews, development, succession planning – that’s management. [Whereas] supervision is, ‘You and I are on the same project, and I’m more senior than you.’ So don’t get caught up there.”
2. Gain more commercial experience
To help gain confidence in communicating with a diverse range of stakeholders, O’Leary suggests that accountants expand their remit to the commercial side of business as early in their careers as possible.
“The best finance people that we see go into leadership roles are those that have more commercial experience, so those that have done more management, more reporting, more budgeting, more forecasting, more financial planning, more analysis, more data,” he says.
“And the reason why they become better managers is because their job involves more communication. It’s more about working with non-financial stakeholders.”
By getting involved with high-touch stakeholder engagement activities like these early on, rather than focusing solely on developing technical skills, accountants can begin to cultivate the communication skills that will help them thrive as leaders in the long run.
“We tend to get too hung up on the next step in our career, as opposed to thinking about the overall [destination]. And when you know the overall [destination], then you can work back and work out the next step. And following that overly technical path, and investing yourself to become the most technical accountant, is probably not going to yield you that overall result of being a top leader.”
3. Develop self-awareness
O’Leary’s final tip for aspiring leaders, whether from a finance background or otherwise, is to continually cultivate a strong sense of self-awareness.
“I think the number-one way to start off your journey on being a good leader is to understand yourself,” he says. “Every top executive I’ve ever interviewed has always said self-awareness is the biggest quality you could ever have. How do you think you’re being perceived, and how are you being perceived?’”
A good start to developing professional self-awareness is using tools like the Myers Briggs test to gain insights into your personal drivers, strengths and weaknesses.
Armed with these insights, aspiring leaders should seek feedback from stakeholders they’re communicating with to gauge how well they are being understood and any potential areas for improvement.
“Practice makes perfect, and it’s [about] having the self-awareness to solicit constructive, 360-degree feedback,” says O’Leary.
“That might be [more effective] if there’s a third person in that meeting. For example, let’s say I’m a finance person talking to a salesperson, [I could have] my manager in the room listening to how I communicate and then afterwards saying, ‘You’re overcomplicating this,’ or, ‘You’re taking too long.’”
By taking the time to cultivate self-awareness, accountants can prepare themselves not only to climb the leadership ladder but to thrive at the top. The ability to understand the needs and motivations of internal and external stakeholders, combined with the financial acumen and strategic thinking finance professionals bring to the table, will make them ideally placed to enter the C-suite.
The IPA’s Global Certificate of Public Accounting fills a knowledge gap in your current role, develop specific skills to enhance your job prospects, or build your expertise. More information here.
