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18 Jun 2015

The Strategist CFO: Four orientations for engaging in the strategy process

CFO Insights

CEOs and boards increasingly want CFOs to not only deliver a finance organization that gets the numbers right, but also partner with them in shaping the company’s strategy. But when asked what they want from a strategic CFO, their answers vary widely.
Learn where CFOs should focus and how they should orient themselves.
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Based on practice observations, discussions with numerous CFOs, and knowledge gained from more than 500 Deloitte CFO Transition Lab™ sessions, we have framed the four orientations of a strategist CFO model to help guide better alignment between CFOs’ actions and CEO and board expectations. Beyond the well-established four faces of the CFO as operator, steward, catalyst, and strategist, the orientations bring greater clarity to the strategist role and the capacity of an organization to reorient and execute a new strategy.

In this issue of CFO Insights, we outline the orientations and examine how each is a choice regarding the scope of a CFO’s role and means of involvement in the strategy process.

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