Next, says Knight, you need to immerse yourself in your organization’s income statements. “Take an interest in the balance sheet and then do the due diligence to understand it,” he says. The best way to learn, says Ruback, is to “reproduce the numbers” either electronically or on a sheet of paper and then “group them into categories so you can start to see how much your company spends and where it makes money,” he says.
Overlook the impact of financial skills on your career. If you want to advance, you need financial acumen.Larry Dunivan, the chief revenue officer at Ceridian, firmly believes, “All leaders should be able to talk about the numbers in a broad and sophisticated way.” He needed help. Fortunately, Larry had a good relationship with a peer — “Rick” — in the finance department. Rick’s job was to build the financial models that would inform strategic decisions about potential M&A activity. Rick was always willing to detail how the models worked and answer questions. “He was very patient and knowledgeable,” Larry recalls.
“The great thing about accounting and finance is that it’s universal, so once you have the foundation you can go from there,” he says.
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