Please Subscribe/Follow so I know I’m adding value and to give you more like this.
Find further information and the eBook of resources: https://www.criticalfewactions.com.au/podcast/
- Are you getting the insights you need from your finance team?
- Do your budgets and KPIs actually drive performance?
- Is your CFO helping your business learn, or only reporting numbers?
If you struggle to get meaningful insight from your finance function, this episode is for you.
A great CFO helps your organisation plan well, measure what matters, and learn from results. In this conversation, Grant Lingwood-Smith explains the four habits that set high-performing CFOs apart and how medium-sized businesses can turn finance into a genuine learning engine.
What You’ll Learn:
== Why collaborative budgeting builds ownership and accountability
== How effective management information sharpens decision-making
== How to simplify OKRs and KPIs to drive real performance
== The power of structured reflection and replanning
== What great CFOs and CEOs do differently
Highlights
00:00 Introducing Grant Lingwood-Smith
01:56 What makes a great finance team
04:18 Balancing support and accountability
08:10 Budgeting and forecasting challenges
19:09 Creating effective management information
29:38 Why performance measures matter
30:56 Simplifying OKRs for all roles
32:12 Assigning accountability for OKRs
33:18 Clear OKRs and KPIs that motivate
35:16 Engaging employees with business goals
38:09 Wins and challenges in business metrics
47:26 How great teams reflect and replan
54:34 What great CEOs and CFOs do differently
01:00:14 #CriticalFewActions™ for Senior Leaders
The #CriticalFewActions™ You Can Do Today:
When I work with successful business leaders, I often see a gap between the numbers they report and the actions they take. Too many treat finance as compliance rather than a learning engine. Here are the three key insights I took from the conversation:
- Budget and Track Performance.
Many CEOs treat budgeting as a financial task rather than a shared commitment.
So, what can you do?
• Involve your leadership team in setting assumptions so they own the numbers.
• Review results monthly with a focus on learning, not blame.
- Creating and Using Management Information.
Reports often show everything but explain nothing.
So, what can you do?
• Redesign reporting packs to focus on what is actionable.
• Give each KPI a clear owner with responsibility to act.
- Reflect and Re-Plan.
Growth stalls when leaders skip reflection.
So, what can you do?
• Schedule quarterly reflection sessions to discuss patterns, not just data.
• Embed a ‘what did we learn?’ question into planning cycles.
If you found this conversation valuable, please Subscribe / Follow, leave a comment. Your support helps us reach more CEOs who want to improve their organisation performance and value.
Sponsor: The CEO Masterclass in Strategic Planning and Implementation
Are you a business owner or CEO striving to elevate your business to new heights? But right now… you’re not hitting the targets or objectives your business needs to achieve. Or maybe you’ve hit a roadblock you can’t move past—a major challenge with no clear solution—and there’s no one in your world you can talk to about it.
This isn’t another generic leadership course. It’s a highly focused, small-group programme where you’ll work alongside your peers, on your business, break through barriers, and implement real-world strategies—not just to solve the problems holding your business back, but to accelerate your growth faster than you thought possible.
Find out more here: https://criticalfewactionspodcast.com.au/Grant1Lingwood-SmithSP
Final Thought
If your finance team only reports the numbers, you’re missing half their value. The real shift comes when they help the business learn, adjust, and improve. That is where performance accelerates.
#CriticalFewActions #CEOMasterclass
#BusinessPerformance #StrategicPlanning #CFOInsights #OrganisationalLearning #MediumBusiness #BusinessImprovement
