The best finance leaders I've worked with share something in common: they think like operators first. They're not just closing the books or building models in isolation. They're in the room when decisions get made, and they're asking the questions that turn a good strategy into executable reality.
That means understanding unit economics at the same level as the product team. It means knowing which levers actually move the needle—and which ones look good in a deck but don't change behavior. And it means building systems and reports that the rest of the organization will actually use, not ignore.
In this post I'll share a few ways to make that shift: from "finance as compliance" to "finance as partner."
Start with one number
Pick one metric that the leadership team cares about and that you can influence. Revenue per employee. Burn multiple. Gross margin by segment. Whatever it is, own it. Build the reporting around it. Make it visible every week. When that number becomes part of the conversation, you've earned a seat at the table for the next one.
Get out of the spreadsheet
Your job isn't to maintain the most elaborate model. It's to help people make better decisions. Sometimes that means a simple dashboard. Sometimes it means a conversation in the hallway. The goal is clarity, not complexity.
Build for the team you have
The best process is the one people actually follow. If your team doesn't have the bandwidth for a 47-line-item budget, don't build one. Start with what they can run with, then iterate. You can always add rigor later—but only if the foundation is in place.
More on leadership and finance in future posts. If you'd like to talk about how to level up your finance function, get in touch.