Following the separation of weather companies from IBM last year, weather forecasting and information providers have built financial capabilities from scratch. Michael Love, former CFO of Intuit Mailchimp, who took over finance last October, said the idea was to design something more flexible and better to suit the pace and needs of your business.
“We focus on simplifying core processes such as accounting and reporting, not just for efficiency, but also to help businesses move faster and make smarter decisions,” Love says. “The goal was to create a system that supported innovation.
In an interview, Harvard MBA explains that the most effective CFOs will “continue to focus on what's best for your business” and that they are not afraid to “surface harsh truths.”
Looking back on careers across companies such as Intuit MailChimp, Home Depot, and BCG, what are the most important lessons that shaped your leadership style as a CFO?
The important lesson I've learned is the importance of truly understanding the business you're in. What drives it is, how it works on a daily basis, and which data points have the most important impact. Effective financial leadership goes beyond managing numbers. It requires insight into operations, customer experience, and frontline reality.
Success lies in being embedded throughout the organization. Wear sales team shoes, analyze service patterns with operational staff, and turn raw data into actionable insights. This trans-working view positions financial leaders as true tellers who can face unclear issues, even when they are tough, as tough as they can challenge and challenge the space for open conversation.
Naturally having operational thinking extends to adjusting leadership. We have learned that true integrity at the leadership level only occurs when teams collectively stand up to reality and prioritize company needs over individual agendas.
If people prioritize optics over results, progress stalls. But when you lead your data, promote transparency and focus on what's best for your business, you start to see real momentum. That way of thinking has shaped the way I lead and, more importantly, helped the team I worked on move forward with clarity and confidence.
Do you think the most underrated soft skills finance experts need to develop if you want to advance into a more strategic leadership role?
In finance, technical skills are expected, but it is soft skills that set an effective leader apart. The ability to transform complex financial data into clear and actionable insights is key to impacting decision-making and coordinating teams across the business. The key is building trust through transparency, reliability and partnership, rather than just a rule enforcer.
Great financial leaders also create space for honest conversations, challenge assumptions with respect, and nurture a culture in which constructive discussion is welcome. They are not afraid to surface harsh truths or lead the team through uncertainty.
Empathy and relationship building are equally essential. Understanding the goals and pressures faced by business partners allows financial experts to provide timely, relevant and impactful support. These often overlooked soft skills increase funding from back-office functions to lend strategic factors for growth and transformation.
What advice do you have for young and emerging financial experts when it comes to fostering strategic thinking? How can they go beyond numbers to influence the trajectory of an organization?
My advice to new financial experts is to have a merciless interest in business. Seek opportunities to understand how different teams work and what will result. Ask questions, take part in cross-work meetings, and build relationships across the company. That broad view will help you find ways to connect your finances to real-world outcomes and add value.
To think more strategically, start looking at the bigger picture. Understand how your work fits into a larger ecosystem. Market changes, customer behavior, and even the weather can affect performance. Do not wait for questions to find a pattern in your data. Move those insights forward.
Most importantly, you learn how to tell the story behind the numbers and make analysis relevant and feasible to others. If you can explain your insights in a way that will help people make better decisions, you will be more than just a financial expert.
