One of my biggest stumbling blocks when moving from that Management role to Finance Leadership role was to find my voice.

I all too often sat in a meeting that had more than 5 people and hardly said anything.  I would listen to everyone else in the room and would only contribute if it was time to present the numbers or if I was asked a direct finance question.

I thought that coming from the finance department I only had the knowledge and authority to talk about numbers (very specifically) and didn’t have the right to talk about anything else.

It also didn’t help that sometimes I was in a room with 15 men and no other women, but that’s slowly changing and a different topic….

I believe it was an element of imposter syndrome and I was too scared to say something stupid or look silly, so I thought that not saying anything was better.

However, this was a huge disservice not only for myself and my career but also for the business.  As a Finance Leader you have a professional duty to share your opinion and highlight what is working and what isn’t.

My learnings of finding my voice were well and truly before COVID, so I’ll be focusing on face to face meetings.  However, as I’m working remotely, I’ll also talk about video conferencing, which is a different beast!

1.  Observing others

As my biggest challenge was confidence and not wanting to look silly, I decided to watch the new Commercial head who was also female and had bucket loads of confidence and was very involved in the conversations during meetings. 

I found it really interesting that she asked a lot of questions that were asking for clarification as she didn’t understand something.  I would always be too scared to do this – and actually her questions often helped me as I wanted the clarification as well.

What I found even more interesting was that she wasn’t considered silly or stupid for doing this at all and like me, others were also grateful for her questions as they too had the same ones.

Which brings me on to the next learning…

2.  Ask Questions

Asking questions is one quick way of finding your voice in meetings. 

Not only can ask for clarification, like the above, but also asking for more details, asking for the pre-curser of a suggestion, asking for the cost (!), asking for the benefit of or challenging the business around the decision – is there a comparison / is this the right decision? / will this work if the company is twice the size?

To be honest, asking questions is still today one of the biggest contributions I make to a meeting conversation today – and this has largely to do with the role that I have.

Being a support function, having that visibility of the entire business and understanding the strategic and operational goals of the business (as well as the budget), a finance leader should be questioning the validity of business decisions (within reason) and helping steer the business to staying on track to hit those strategic goals and vision.

I find that I can be a sounding board and encourage managers and other leaders to look at things differently or look at all aspects of a business case.

This is where a finance leader can really add value.  As annoying this may be to some leaders as they don’t want the interruption (!!), it is critical that there is this level of review.

3.  Use your natural tendencies to your advantage

I personally like to think on my feet and think out loud (which is probably why I love the start-up world) and so when a question is posed – being the first one to speak and think the problem out loud is natural to me (when I built up the confidence) – so I have recognised this and use it to my advantage.

If you are more of an introvert – take on everyone else’s viewpoint and consider them and then once you have formed a view you can first summarise what has been said already and then give your viewpoint.  You may even need to go back to a topic that was raised earlier in the meeting, and that’s okay.

If you like to champion others around you – do so.  Start by praising other people’s ideas or opinions and then build on that, if you can.  Or if someone is struggling to get their point across – help them by encouraging the rest of the attendees to listen.

Work out what is more natural for you or what your personality gravitates towards and then use that skillset to your advantage.

4.  Appreciate that the Finance team has a lot of value

Being a support function, the finance team has a very good understand of the business as a whole and how each department fits together.

Finance also understands the business at a high level, whereas a lot of operational departments are much more focused on their department and the finer details.

The Finance team also has access to an incredible amount of data.  Which obviously can be looked at from both a high level and in detail.

Finance also manages the budget – which not only shows the restrictions of spending, but also where the business is going, where the areas of growth are, where the resources are and the longer term vision.

Using the above resources – finance does have a lot to contribute to the conversation and people around the business need to hear from you so they too have that understanding. 

Finance is so much more than paying invoices and payroll and demonstrating that during meetings is incredibly important.

If you can understand how valuable finance are, it helps with growing that confidence to find your voice.

5.  Preparation

Not necessarily, but often it’s a good idea to spend at least 15-60 minutes before a meeting preparing, especially if it’s a big meeting, like a Board meeting.

With these bigger meetings, there is generally an agenda, so you do know what topics are to be covered.

If you’re having to present the budget (for example) to the board, then I would prepare more than this, but I would encourage preparation around the other topics that aren’t “yours”.

It gives you some initial insight into the topic, gets you thinking about the topic already, so you can contribute much quicker and potentially you could also arrive with interesting statistics or trends to drive some of the conversation (within reason)

Virtual meetings

Some additional comments on virtual meetings. 

• For important meetings, don’t underestimate the value in checking your Tech. Is your WiFi working and fast enough?  Is your camera good enough?  Is your microphone switched on.  Don’t be that person that can’t contribute due to poor tech or connectivity.
• Try to block out interruptions. Close the door to the room you’re working in so dogs, cats, family, TVs, doorbells, etc can’t interrupt.  I know that this isn’t 100% possible, my children love to see their face on camera, but try your best.
• Finally try to maintain eye contact and focus. I know if the meeting is dragging a little you can see half the attendees checking their phones or switching to checking their emails or slack but if you are a leader or aspiring leader – showing interest is more important than you realise.  It would be better to leave the meeting early than being totally disengaged. 

How to look like the Smartest person in every meeting?

On Inc.com there is a very amusing but also interesting article about easy tips to look like the smartest person in the room, so you could always try these out!

1. Make eye contact with everyone
2. Put your chin on your fist
3. Nod in agreement (I love this one)
4. Always be encouraging
5. If someone is speaking unclearly, act as their translator
6. Ask lots of open-ended questions
7. Always be objective

If you need support and mentoring to improve your Finance Leadership skills, here are four ways I can help...

1. Sign up to our next workshop.
2. Work with me in the Financial Leadership Foundations course  that includes monthly Q&A sessions where we can discuss all of your questions and how to apply your learnings to your current role. 
3. Download the Advanced Management accounts course to showcase your skills as a finance leader to the Founder, leadership team and the Board.
4. Book at FLF Career Planning session.
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