How a Financial Executive Manages Risk in a Disruptive World

Businesses are functioning in a time in which disruption is the key to remaining innovative and relevant in whatever industry it’s a part of. With this focus on disruption, the definition of what makes an effective financial executive is also changing. They must possess new strategic skills in order to be successful in their role and likewise bring success to their company.

Financial Executive Focus

There are a few important areas that should always be the focus of corporate financial executives. Those areas include:

• The ability to identify disruption, where it originated from, and the speed at which it will influence the company and its bottom line. Essentially, executives should be able to look at the disruption from all angles and have a deeper understanding of how it will influence productivity, risk management, and harness how it can create value.
• Understand the companies risk IQ and long-reaching impacts. This will require more strategic thinking and not just the ability to identify the risk and its cause.
• Utilize strategic communication and how to employ it throughout the company. Strategic communication is how things get accomplished quickly and efficiently.
• The desire to develop skills that focus on innovation. Do not to let your skills stagnate in an environment that is so full of change. Executives should always be focused on growth and how their skills can impact the corporation.

Embrace Risk

It’s not just that risk and change exist, but it’s the rate at which it happens. Executives have to be prepared for the transitions because it’s less of a question about if the change is coming and more about when it will happen. It’s not enough to be strategic and employ critical thinking; it’s also about thinking outside the box on how risk and change can influence the entire culture of the business.

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