Hello 👋🏾
It's hard to believe we are already in Q4.
This is the quarter that sets the tone for the upcoming year.
It is also the quarter where the most influential voices win, whether in budget meetings, insurance renewals, or audits.
That’s why I wanted to start off with something that could help you make big moves this season:
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Making people listen when you speak
During my last LinkedIn Live, I shared how influence in finance had less to do with having the best numbers and more to do with how to make them relevant to your audience.
Because, let's face it:
You can be right and still not be heard.
You can have a big title, and still not get buy-in on your ideas.
Here are three things you should consider doing consistently, and encourage your staff to do the same:
- Document what actually matters to them
Whoever you are trying to pitch an idea to, is giving you clues every day about what matters to them.
Unfortunately, we are often too busy to notice and even journal:
- what they question twice,
- what they want to see edited or removed,
- the topics that make them pause,
- the things that make them upset,
- what they often skip.
Those are your signals.
If you speak to even just one of them whenever you are making a point, you’ll immediately get their attention.
2. Frame your point so it lands
Once you know what matters to them, you can now drill into the right details and frame your message so it sticks.
That’s where my MIO framework comes in handy:
Meaning: What does this result really say?
Implications: Why does it matter right now?
Options: What are two things should we do next?
For example, instead of just saying:
“We increased the bad debt reserve by $400K this quarter.”
Try this:
“We increased the bad debt reserve by $400K, mainly in the small business portfolio.
If this trend continues, margin impact could reach 120 bps this year.
So, we could either (1) revisit credit approval thresholds or (2) adjust pricing or risk premiums in that segment.”
Bonus point: If you can connect it to their bonus, even better :)
3. Protect time to get this done consistently
Sound obvious, but very hard to do when your calendar is already packed.
Couple things to consider:
- Block your calendar for at least 30 minutes a day, and only flex for emergencies.
- Leverage AI, especially if you are not interacting with a lot of executives everyday. (I'll drop my AI guide below so you can start today.)
The reality is the finance people with the most influence aren’t always more ‘advanced.’
They’ve just learned how to deliver insights in a way that connects to the problems executives are actually trying to solve.
If you or your team are able to do steps 1 through 3 I just outlined, you will be unstoppable!!!
Let me know how it goes.
I'll drop a few more resources below for you to check out.
See you soon!
Wassia
More Resources:
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Join me on 10/15
We will talk about how to get out of the reporting weeds and focus on Strategy
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Leverage AI for Strategy
Prompts that help you scan news, macro shifts, and translate them into finance insights.
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Don’t skip this!
This was my most-listened episode last quarter. It was with US army veteran, now CFO, Mike High.
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