Developing Finance Leaders
A Cine-case Workshop
Summary
Finance leaders
are increasingly called to have strong leadership skills, in addition to impeccable technical knowledge.
This two-day face-to-face workshop, led by a leadership academic with extensive top corporate experience, prepares future finance leaders through an innovative method: being immersed into the world’s first management “cine-case”, based on “Crossroads Life”, a movie that has received numerous film awards and that follows the journey of a CFO in a large corporation.
This method comes closest to a lived experience, making the learning outcomes stay with participants for much longer than any traditional leadership teaching.
Key Learning Outcomes
Performing in a new finance leadership role.
Understanding and wielding influence in organisations
beyond formal reporting lines.
Motivation and inspiration for finance teams.
Numbers-based storytelling and identity leadership.
Authenticity in finance leadership.
Accepting and thriving under complexity and ambiguity.
Self-leadership under stress and the “loneliness of the CFO”.
Sample Discussion Themes
1
What does leadership mean,
for finance managers in a large organization?
2
Do finance professionals
have a different development trajectory, as leaders?
3
Going from “specialist” to “generalist”:
a scary leap?
4
Does context,
from the performance of your unit to corporate and country culture, affect how good of a leader you are?
5
The impostor syndrome:
something that only happens to others?
6
Do finance managers
need to engage in “politics”?
7
What are the sources
of power and influence for a division CFO in a complex organizations?
8
“Storytelling
is one of the most important responsibilities of the CFO”: true or dangerously false?
Outline
The workshop is structured over two half-day sessions.
During these sessions, the film is projected in several parts, each followed by an animated case discussion, punctuated by breakout sessions and role play.
About the Case Discussion Leader
Dr. Emilia Bunea, CFA,
holds a PhD in Management from VU Amsterdam.
Her leadership research was published in Frontiers of Psychology, HBR online, London Business School Review, Les Echos, Academy of Management Proceedings. Dr. Bunea has extensive senior executive career experience, including 15 years as CFO in several multinational companies.
Most recently she was CEO of MetLife Romania, an organization with 2 million customers and 800 staff. Dr. Bunea also has deep non-executive experience, currently as board member of an asset management company. She has been guest lecturing across the world as part of business school and corporate leadership development programs.
Her TED talk at London Business School on serious leisure for leaders has received wide acclaim.