CFO 4.0 - The Future of Finance
Welcome to CFO 4.0, where we explore the dynamic landscape of Financial Leadership in the era of Technology 4.0. I'm your host, Hannah Munro, Managing Director of itas, a pioneering Financial Transformation consultancy.
In this podcast series, we unravel the intricate connection between cutting-edge technologies and the financial domain. It's more than just adopting tools; it's about cultivating the skills necessary to navigate and spearhead the transformative journey within Finance.
CFO 4.0 embodies the archetype of the Financial Leader in the future — a fusion of strategic visionaries and tech-savvy innovators. As the CFO role swiftly evolves from a mere cost controller to a strategic influencer, each transition opens up novel possibilities. Tune in as we share valuable insights and guidance from inspirational CFOs and finance leaders every episode, empowering you to revolutionise your processes, people, and data.
Seize the opportunities, propel your business and career forward, and lead with unwavering confidence. Join us in shaping the future of Finance — this is CFO 4.0, your guide to the Future of Finance.
We’d love for you to join our community, and if you like what you hear (which I’m sure you will 😉) it would be great if you rate and share.
CFO 4.0 - The Future of Finance
242. Resilience, Honesty & Communication: Leadership Lessons for Change Management with Susana Serrano-Davey
In this episode of CFO 4.0, host Hannah Munro is joined by returning guest Susana Serrano-Davey, seasoned finance leader and leadership mentor, to explore the people side of change. Together, they discuss how leaders can support teams through uncertainty and build a culture of resilience.
In this episode, you’ll learn:
- Why honesty and transparency are critical in times of change.
- How to help individuals find motivation and opportunity in transformation.
- The importance of authentic leadership and believing in the change yourself.
- Practical strategies for supporting overwhelmed team members.
- How giving people both choice and voice improves engagement.
- Tips for effective communication, from quick stand-ups to celebrating progress.
Links mentioned:
- Susana's Linkedin
- Discover Susana's work here
- Explore other CFO 4.0 Podcast episodes here.
- Subscribe to our Podcast!
Welcome to CFO 4.0, the future of finance. The CFO role is changing rapidly, moving from cost controller to strategic visionary, and with every change comes opportunity. We are here to help you take advantage of this transition to win at work, drive your career forwards and lead with confidence. To win at work, drive your career forwards and lead with confidence. Join Hannah Munro, managing Director of ITAS, a financial transformation consultancy, as she interviews key experts to give you real-world advice and guidance on how to transform your processes, people and data. Welcome to CFO 4.0, the future of finance.
Speaker 2:So hello everybody, and welcome to this episode of CFO 4.0. As usual, I am your host, Hanwen Roach, and with me I have a returning guest with us today on the podcast, so Susanna Serrano-Davie, whose voice you may recognize from previous episodes. Welcome back, Susanna.
Speaker 3:Thank you, Hannah. Thank you for inviting me to come back. It's lovely to be here.
Speaker 2:Well, and I think, just to set the scene for our audience. So I think we're on the cusp of the real change in basically how we operate businesses, how individuals operate, and so I wanted to explore the people side of that. So a lot of people are talking about and we've talked on the podcast about AI technology. What does that mean for the future of work, what it means for businesses, jobs, all these kind of things? So there's a lot of talk about the technology. What I've not seen a lot of conversation about is how do we help people navigate this change, both in terms of, you know, how do we as leaders, um, you know, keep ourselves resilient and looking forward? Then how do we support our team? So that topic we'd like I'd like to explore today. So so I guess, susanna, like when you think about um environments that we've been in previously, where there's been sort of a big wave of change coming, what, where do you start? How do you start preparing people for that, even though you don't necessarily know what that change looks like?
Speaker 3:I think I have been involved in a lot of change in my career. So whilst AI wasn't there then, it's still affecting us all in our daily life and it's impossible to move away from it. And I think the first thing is to start with honesty. Clearly, we don't know the destination, but normally when we embark on a process of change, in my experience it's because we're seeking some kind of improvement. In my experience is because we're seeking some kind of improvement. So if we don't lose sight of what are the benefits we're trying to get through applying the change, not losing sight of that carrot.
Speaker 3:I think it is important because sometimes, inevitably, change will involve a lot of pain. Sometimes it may involve lots of teething issues, things you weren't anticipating. So for a short time, things will get a lot worse before they start to get better. Also, it will involve perhaps getting the plan slightly wrong, because of course, it's all conceptual. So inevitably, what you end up with will not be what you started off in terms of your idea.
Speaker 3:So just be honest with the team and say, hey, this is our carrot, this is what we're aiming for, this is what we want to achieve.
Speaker 3:Acknowledge that it will be a difficult journey. Just come clean and say, hey, it's going to be really difficult for a while, but this, that carrot, we want to get to and, above all, communicate with them. Because only this morning I was talking to a mentoring client and in his office they've just gone through a big restructuring program and people have been moved to their new desks, given role descriptions and change managers, but there has been very little, if no, communication on a person-to-person basis, just like you and I are talking to each other now as two individuals paying attention to each other, and that somehow doesn't happen. When change goes through in organizations, they think it's okay to get on with it without just recognizing that there are not little children. But there are people involved and people that have emotions and they have fears and they have insecurities and they have expectations as well. So that would be where I would I think we need to start honesty and acknowledging difficulty and good communication and we talked a bit about the carrot at the end.
Speaker 2:So, like when I, when I hear some of the conversations going on at Roman and I can see why it would be hard for an individual perhaps to see the carrot, I think for the business there's a carrot, there's an improvement in productivity or there's a cost saving to be had. But how do you handle it when there isn't a carrot for that individual?
Speaker 3:the template when there isn't a carrot for that individual. Well, I think probably there'll be a number of scenarios that we can't discuss them all here, but if we try and back at them. So, imagine a company is trying to bring in either a new system or AI, as you said, usually to save costs and to make the organization more efficient, so that individual may be first of all, is that individual part of the plan? So if that means if that change means that that individual is no longer required, clearly what we need to do is allow that transition to happen in the least painful way. So be mindful in terms of how we handle the dismissals or the restructuring process and, again, be honest, get it over and done with.
Speaker 3:Let's not pretend that there's anything other than eliminating that role, but in most cases, I think it won't be that end scenario. It will be the fact that someone is being asked to do something in a different way, or they're being asked in perhaps exploring areas of a role that you haven't been able to explore before because you were too bogged down in the nitty-gritty that the company is trying to get rid of, and so I think, if you think there is no carrot, you need to ask again because there is probably a carrot there whether that might be learning, whether that might be the opportunity to change job, to evolve your job or even, if the time comes, to do something else within the organization.
Speaker 2:And I loved your thing about your optimism that we you know, because I'm the same right, I look at every new thing that comes across my desk as something new and exciting, an opportunity to learn and develop and to get into something new. Um, but what I've learned to be is it's not everybody feels that way about that new, that opportunity. So how do we, as you know leaders, how do we, how do we help people see the excitement in learning something new, perhaps if they haven't necessarily got that instinctively?
Speaker 3:I have lived that myself, both in my own skin and through my team, and the first thing I'd say, as a leader, you need to believe in it. And quite often leaders that are out there pushing programs that they don't believe in or they themselves don't stand behind emotionally they don't believe in or they themselves don't stand behind emotionally. So if you're listening and you're a leader and trying to put change through your organization, ask yourself are you really fully behind? Behind? Because if you're not, this is like a whiff your team will be able to tell. And if you're not truly in it and believe that it's the right thing to do, others won't buy it.
Speaker 3:And I think if you are able to transmit that honesty, that belief in that, that indeed is the right solution. You haven't just been asked to do it by group. This is very typical in group settings, when you have massive organizations, that somebody at head office thinks, oh, it'd be a good idea to implement a new tool that is going to save us lots of time. So everybody else in that chain that are actually in contact with the people that have to do something differently, if they don't buy into that, we've got almost like a flat tire before we start the race. Does that make?
Speaker 2:sense to you, hannah? Absolutely, and I think that's a really good point, isn't it? Because when you think sometimes about the structures and the hierarchies with different organizations, you're right it can just be a directive from group. You know we need you to make this shift, or something that's put into your kpi. So let's talk a little bit about how you navigate, because you're right, bringing your authentic self and your passion for a project is critical to the success of it. What would you do? So if you were in the scenario? Let's just say a group have said you need to implement a new system, rollout Maybe it's a group system, maybe it's you need to go out and source your own right, and you don't necessarily believe. Would you do?
Speaker 3:I would. I would look for first of all are there any pain points that we have that can be addressed through that? Because sometimes imagine that group has decided or you've been, effectively you're being made to implement this change for somebody else's agenda yeah but there may be the opportunity for you to fix some of your own agenda through that solution.
Speaker 3:So clearly there might be that you imagine, if it's a system, that you end up using it for that thing that you have been asked to do and beyond and in the meantime fix some of your own problems, some of your own pain points. Or it could be that you need to enter into some kind of negotiation, because sometimes I have, certainly when I have been involved in big development of change programs. Usually they come with what is called, or I've known, as vanilla. This is the vanilla solution, this is what we want you to adopt, this is what the group wants to implement. But clearly we need to adapt that vanilla solution to fit your market or your region or your organization, and it's in that design and negotiation that you may be able to sneak in a few little prizes, I guess, so that even though you may not believe in the original concept, there is something positive you can get out of it for your own team and your organization.
Speaker 2:I think that's really great. So almost like the reverse, because one of the things we talk about is, before you make a step with a change program, make sure you're clear on what you're trying to achieve and the ROI of that. If you've been given the end results, I love that we're creating the ROI before we step into it to make sure that we can stand behind it. That's a really great way to look at it.
Speaker 3:Because there's always, I think, with technology as well and and systems. Why is there maybe many things that we don't like about them? There's no point in resisting, and I think, actually, this point I'm thinking about now is applicable not only to change in the business world, but life, life itself. When something is inevitable, resisting to eat is just futile. We're just going to spend a lot of time, energy, frustration in resisting, whereas once we say okay, it's like I don't know, somebody dies, somebody dies. It's one of the worst things that can happen to any of us.
Speaker 3:The bereavement phase of that is all about oh, why did it happen? Why couldn't it be someone else? Why did this happen to me? What if I had done this? What if the truth is that person has passed away? And the sooner we acknowledge and accept that, the sooner we can move on to the other stages, past bereavement. And this is the same with change and business. What's the point? It is what it is.
Speaker 3:So you take it or you leave it, and again, I think that's sometimes an option that many people don't see in front of them, especially people in finance. I have spoken over the years, and I still do, to many people that are deeply unhappy in their roles. And these are bright, well-educated, highly technical, able people that somehow, when they're in that situation, stuck against that wall, don't think hey, I have options, I could go to another organization, I could ask to change role within my organization. Why is it sometimes, when we come against these challenges, we don't value ourselves enough and recognize that there's a lot of options available to us and we don't necessarily have to just eat through that dish that we just don't want to eat through?
Speaker 2:And I think it's that lack of choice and that's the piece. I think it's really important, right, and it's one of the things that I've learned as a consultant. Right, because as a consultant, you don't necessarily have control over the people that you're dealing with. Right, you can influence, right, and you can suggest and you can hint and you can do all those things, but you, you don't hold somebody's direct time report. So when you need to reduce it, come to it. So one of the things that I always learned is to give people choices, because I think there is a when you give people the perception of choice, even though you like them with the options that you're giving them, they then can choose to go down. Yeah, they're much happier, right, so giving them three options, all of which you are comfortable with or you you can deal with, is much better than almost giving them one thing that they're not happy with, because by the time, you spend your entire project fighting them alongside it.
Speaker 3:Yes, and managers will have exactly the same challenge. I think there's a myth out there that people that think that managers can have their team do what they say. I never experienced it in that way. We just talked about in terms of being a consultant. I think people's managers have exactly the same challenge. You have to persuade them, them. You can't make them. We're not in a dictatorship that you put people in jail. It's all about trying to engage with them. So those kinds of approaches I think will work, whether you're a manager, a consultant or even the external provider working with people to implement that particular solution.
Speaker 2:And I think that's why, when I see people that have made a choice about, say, an ERP implementation or a new piece of technology and they haven't involved their team, for me the red flags go up right, because you haven't given them a choice. Right, they may not want to change at all, but just giving them the choice of two systems to decide on the fact that they've had an input, however small or insignificant, yes, actually helps them move forward, and I think that's the point. Isn't it is that you eat, and I hate to use the word perception, but it's the perception of control and choice and your ability to influence that impact, your willingness to take on board that change as much as anything.
Speaker 3:Yes, and I would go. I would second that and add that it's not only about choice, but it's about voice. Yes, because when you have, you give the team the opportunity to explore all the pain points that we're suffering with and also exploring the possible solutions. What tends to happen is that people realize there is no perfect solution. There's always a compromise. So when they have been active and they have been able to use their voice to participate in that conversation or finding a solution that might not be perfect but actually is the best available, then it will be much easier as well for them to buy into that.
Speaker 4:One of the hardest things, I think, is actually putting into words what it means to work with myself and the team here at ITAS, because not only are we a financial transformation consultancy, but we do it using Sage technology. So rather than me tell you how awesome we are, let me introduce one of our customers.
Speaker 5:Working with ITAS has dramatically made our lives simpler because there's just such a knowledgeable team there to help us. Before we felt the consultants were working with another company. It was always a challenge to get information out of them, for them to understand the problem and it just didn't feel like they were on our team. Working with itas it's we just feel like you are all employed with us to work with us to do it. It's an absolutely fantastic relationship and it's just made it such a smoother process and an absolute fun process Working in Sage Intact and coming on our calls. I look forward to it now.
Speaker 2:And let's talk about, let's dig into those scenarios. So say you've given that verdict from group, right, if you keep on that line, because that is such a common scenario, right, you've been given a directive by group. You have to do something, whether it's change to reporting or whatever it is. So more controls, whatever. Um, you found some wins in it. You've got yourself on board, right, and you now like, yeah, actually I can see this is pointless, right, and maybe you've got you've got a team right. You've got a mix of people that you know are going to hate this because they just hate change generally. You've got a couple of people that you know might see some value but really don't want to deal with this because they're already working at capacity and you've got the bucket that you've actually taken on the journey with you and are on board. How would you approach those different groups to try and try and create some consensus for this change?
Speaker 3:I think part of the challenge is that when you've already given the end scenario, the end goal, without having involved your team in a conversation, I think it's very difficult because you're already almost like you're too late, that boat has sailed. But what you can do as a leader though I think generally and not specifically linked to a particular project or a particular implementation is create that conversation of constant search for improvement. So, for instance, one of the things I used to do and I didn't come up with it myself, I copied it from a boss that I really liked working with is, every quarter we'd have, I'd have a meeting with my direct reports to look at our roadmap of change. So and we had together, we had built a diagram with what I call the pillars of finance. So we had in the diagram we had financial control, we had AR AP, we had all the different services that finance produces, and within that we had all at the high, high level, the activities of what each of those pillars did. And we had, we had ranked them according to how happy or unhappy we were with them. So we had green areas that were sailing, everything was going right. We had orange areas that were there were difficulty there, difficulties there and there were red areas.
Speaker 3:So if you, if you build within your team that awareness of where your weaknesses are in terms of processes and and the services that you provide to the business, then when a new solution comes in even maybe an important solution is not you're already thinking about change. You're already. You're already used to every quarter walking away from that particular meeting thinking, okay, what's my improvement project? I'm taking away with this quarter Because you're already in that mindset of constantly changing. Then one more thing coming down from root won't break the bucket because you're already working on delivering change, whereas if your mindset as a leader with your team is we just have to keep up with the day job and we just have to only do what we're told, then I think there's more resistance to that.
Speaker 2:And I think that's the really great, almost that mindset, building a mindset and a culture of change. Right, how do you do? In a way, you've got maybe a manager in your, in your team, that's feeling overwhelmed by the change. Maybe you're in private equity and you're feeling there's a lot of change that's been asked of you. Um, they're being in a lot of demands from other areas of the business or other teams. How would you approach and that individual's going I just, I just can't, I don't have the capacity, I don't have the mind space. How would you deal with that scenario?
Speaker 3:I you're taking me. You bring me lots of memories, hannah, because I I have lived a lot of that and I remember a particular scenario, and I think this is a very typical scenario of a colleague of mine, someone that worked in my team that she was, in fact, she's worked in my team in more than one company. It's one of the best team members I've had and I've enjoyed working with her. But in a way she was her own enemy, because she was so competent, she was so demanding and such a perfectionist that she just put the load on, put the load on until she was at breaking point. And I remember a time when she was at breaking point and I could see that she was struggling. So I asked her to have a catch up and we had a long cup of tea and I said but tell me what are your problems, tell me what your challenges are. And she said well, I simply have too much to do. I just can't do it, but I'm trying. And she was working weekends, she was doing all the things that a lot of people do. And I said but why haven't you come to me and said Susanna, I have a problem with this.
Speaker 3:Let's look for solutions and in the end, out of that conversation, what came up is that clearly she couldn't do it. All you can't. This is almost like pretending, pretending that it's not happening. If you can't, if you're struggling, if you're overwhelmed, the worst thing you can do, in my opinion, is stay quiet about it, because you will break, you may have a burnout or you will worst of all, you will lose your enthusiasm and you'll end up resigning, and then the organization will lose you and you might be a really brilliant team member.
Speaker 3:So you need to speak up and say to your manager, susanna, or whoever he or she is, or they I see I can't keep on like this, help me. And with that you can say okay, what are? Start reprioritizing, what are the things we're going to put aside? What are the things we can delegate? What are the things? And then your to put aside what are the things we can delegate, what are the things? And then your manager might have to do the same thing speak up and say you know what.
Speaker 3:You want me to do this, but clearly without the additional resource I can't do that and I don't think we're brave enough sometimes about that. We have these very silly fears that we're going to be fired if we say no and if you can't, you can't because the reality is you won't deliver anyway. If you're overwhelmed, you're not going to deliver. So in the end, your reputation as a professional will suffer because you will do a poor job. So my advice would be just speak up, and if you have to say right, right, I've come to here and this is how far I go and I won't go any further and resign, then do it, because things will continue to pile on and pile on until you break but what on the flip side?
Speaker 2:what if you can see a team member is struggling, but you can see they're overwhelmed but they're not willing to engage, or that they won't have a conversation with you about how things are operating and how things need to change? Because sometimes they almost lock down, don't they? Because that they just can't cope with the conversation itself. So how, how would you deal with that? I I.
Speaker 3:I don't think it's ever happened to me that someone is not willing to talk to me. I suppose that is down to your managerial style. So I suppose if you have that problem, you need to ask yourself am I the kind of manager that someone will open up to?
Speaker 3:And I think, if you approach someone and say, oh, let's have a coffee, have a chat, clearly take them out of the office Because in my experience, when you get somebody in a meeting room surrounded by glass and everybody's walking by and they can be seen, that's not the best environment to have a heart-to-heart conversation with someone if you think they're struggling. Conversation with someone if you, if you think they're struggling, and, and I think, if they're not willing to have the conversation with you, you have a bigger problem. That's just your change.
Speaker 3:You you may be paying enough attention to your team. You may be criticizing in public I see a lot of people that do that have a big wobbly and I start pointing fingers at the wrong time. So I'd I'd I'd put the ball back in my court if I had that problem yeah, assessing how you were approaching it as a manager.
Speaker 2:More than anything, if you're not making a conversation, yeah, your general style, absolutely. So. We've talked so we've talked about um. We've made an assumption as well with a lot of these changes, that we know our team well, right, what if we're a new manager? Right, because we, you know, maybe someone coming in like and very often I've seen this before a new CFA, give it like almost brought on with the mandate. I need you to roll this out like almost brought on with the mandate. I need you to roll this out. How do you help the team when you haven't had necessarily the opportunity to build trust and rapport and you know all of those things you say, you know that kind of history of relationship. How do you approach that?
Speaker 3:You need to build it. It's as simple as that, because people won't trust you until you've spent time with them, and I think I always recommend, in general, when people take on a new role or even an existing role, the first thing you need to do is look out and think OK, what does my stakeholder map look like? Who is important? Who do I need influence? Who do I need to get close by? And your team are part of that. Do I need influence? Who do I need to get close by? And your team are part of that.
Speaker 3:And what tends to happen, I think, often in senior roles, is that people come in and they only look upwards when they're looking at the stake and they make time for the networking outwards, to the other directors, to the CEO but they don't make enough space for their team.
Speaker 3:And so starting to do things like having monthly team meetings or weekly stand-ups especially now that we have so much remote work is even more important that we do that, because if we don't make ourselves available to create almost that huddle feeling, then they're not going to trust you and they're going to resist you. So I'd say don't try any tricks, just spend the time. Meet them one-on-one, get to speak to them. As part of your onboarding, you need to be having meetings If you have a team that is very extensive, clearly you might not be able to meet everyone, but certainly your DRs are even one level below and then create opportunities for you to meet informally with everybody in the team. Just organize a you know, a drinks evening to get to know everyone and chat, because that trust you can't buy, you can't get instantly. You've got to build it. So the better, sooner you start, the easier it will be for you to make that rollout successful.
Speaker 2:And so we've gone through the scenarios that we've been given a directive, we've come on board, we've built relationships, we've taken the time to get to know the team, our direct reports team. Below we found some goodness and some reasons for change. Um in this policy. What. What do you think a good communication cadence and approach looks like when it comes to change? Where have you seen that work well?
Speaker 3:um, well, I've seen, I've seen it well. Well, actually, I remember when I, when I worked at tui, one of the things I came in after the change had already started, but one of the things I saw being done that were very effective in that they were doing, they were fixing a shared service center that was broken and you had 150 people in the uk and same amount of people in India, so a lot of people to get through a lot of change very quickly, and what they did was just have a very simple weekly stand-up On a Wednesday morning, I think it was. There was a 10-minute, all hands-on, and each of the leaders of the different sections of these shared services just gave a brief update of this is what we've done this week, this is what we've achieved, this is what we're working on, so that everybody was part of that movement and there were little things like giving people. That was done was creating manuals, process manuals, so that the team in India could do the processes better, because part of the problem had been that they hadn't been documented well before.
Speaker 3:So, of course, how can you outsource the process? Well, that is not documented correctly, and so every team member had a number of documents, massive documents, to produce, and they had these flags every week. They had these green flags, orange flags, red flags that they controlled on how well they were doing with the documenting for the week. So it wasn't somebody giving you a prize, it was you saying this is how well I'm doing great or I'm not doing so great. So just be creative. That's what I'm trying to say, just something simple. It doesn't have to be an hour meeting where everybody sits down and you have a lot of PowerPoints. Just an improvised conversation, like you and I are having, albeit with some basic landmarks, are very effective, I think, in bringing people through change through change.
Speaker 2:And what if you know? Because obviously very often you can be working with global teams that are all over time zones. How do you effectively manage a change communication strategy when you've got people in different time zones? It's really hard to get everybody on a call and in a conversation, necessarily. Is there any tips you could give us around?
Speaker 3:that? Yes, I suppose the most effective way is to share some KPIs. What are the headlines? What are you tracking? Are you tracking the number of processes being documented? So, if you have 500, this week we're at 200 out of 500. Or is it the number of regions we've rolled out? 500, or is it the number of regions we've rolled out? So choose three or four data points that you can share and celebrate with everyone.
Speaker 2:I think that would be the way to keep them in the loop. Yeah, so, finding ways that people can get a quick grasp of the program and relate and relate to and, above all, celebrate change.
Speaker 3:Don't just look at what's to do, but think, okay, this is everything that we have done. One of the things I used to like to do is, at the end of the year, we would have a normal team meeting with focus on what have we achieved so far, and sometimes we forget the, the inspirational power that has to say okay, what have we done so far, rather than always looking what do we have to do? So when you're running a project, I think having a way to somehow communicate that whether that might be because you let people give themselves an update on their teams it's all the progress we have made on our team, or even your level, perhaps pick one person in the team that can share oh look, this is all that I've done. That is very inspiring, I think, and it gives people more energy to continue on that journey. So you see, imagine you're going up a mountain.
Speaker 3:I remember I did a long trek a month ago. I was only only 15 kilometers or so of mountain. So it's for mountain, 15 kilometers is. It's not a walk in the park, it was. It was challenging, especially in certain parts, but this route, um was marked along the way and you could see you. Instead of telling you how much you you had left to go, it told you how much you you had already completed. So you were kilometer one, kilometer five, kilometer seven, and that is very powerful, looking at what you've done so far yeah, and that's a really great way to to think about that.
Speaker 2:You need to talk about those regular change meetings. Yeah, where, where have we got to? What's the? How far have we got before we start looking ahead?
Speaker 3:yes, yeah, because otherwise you've achieved a lot of things and you're just looking at that mountain and think, oh my god, I still have so many, so many things or so many kilometers to do amazing.
Speaker 2:So, um, as always, susanna, we can keep talking for hours, but I promise I won't keep you for hours. So I guess just you know, just to sort of close off this conversation, what are your top tips for creating a culture of change within your team.
Speaker 3:First of all, make sure you yourself are change driven, because if you're not, it's not going to go very far. Second of all, I guess, be honest and communicate. Engage your team we talked about we talked about this. Three keep moving and don't get too attached to the outcome, because in my experience, all the projects I have been involved in, and even in my own life when I've tried to do certain things, the outcome is never what you thought it was going to be. So make sure you are flexible enough in terms of the outcome. Make time to support your people, to know them and to be open for their voice, to hearing their voice, not just say you want to hear it. Mean it and, as we just said, just make sure you look back, not only forward, so you can keep that motivation and, if need be, be prepared to say no.
Speaker 2:And that can sometimes take a lot of courage, depending on who's asking and what they're asking for. Yes, yes, amazing. Well, thank you so much, susanna. If people have enjoyed this podcast and want to learn more about you, what you do, where's the best place to?
Speaker 3:find you. It's very easy. You google my name, susanna Davy, because I'm the only one, and you will find my website. You will find what I do. You'll find my books, lots of content that I have online, like your lovely podcast as well. I love my library and um, I'd love to always love to hear from new people then and engage thank you so much, susanna.
Speaker 2:It's been fabulous to talk to you and, yeah, if you, to our listeners. If you've enjoyed today's podcast perhaps there's some questions I did ask, I'd love to hear from you as well. Please do reach out and let me know, and from a you, you know, if you've enjoyed this podcast, then please do, of course, like, share and leave us a review, because it does make all the difference. It does, thank you. Thank you so much, everyone, for joining us today and we'll see you next time on the CFO 4.0 podcast.
Speaker 3:Thank you Hannah, thank you listeners.
Speaker 6:Hey Google, what's the best accounting software for my business? Give it a couple of years and I'll bet you she'll be able to answer you pretty accurately. But for now it's still one of the few questions Google can't give you an answer for. But we can Take our free quiz and find out which Sage products is the right fit for your business.
