How FP&A Leaders drive company strategy

Written By Christian Wattig

Image by JESHOOTS.COM via Unsplash

A 5-step guide to more influence

#1 Select metrics that matter

We live in an age of information overload. It’s not sufficient to show the same 15 KPIs in every leadership presentation. You need to dive into the numbers to see which metrics indicate an opportunity to capitalize on or a risk to negate. Usually, that’s no more than 2-3.

Then, use them to tell the story - without adding additional figures that distract more than they help. Keep in mind that often it’s non-financial metrics and leading indicators that best tell the story.

You can always share the entire KPI package in an email or a dashboard afterward.

#2 Link metrics to strategies

Great FP&A leaders know how strategy and KPIs are linked. Analyze how the trend indicated by your chosen metrics ties back to a higher-level strategy.

For example, if coupon redemptions are down significantly at the same time your promo strategy was supposed to be most effective, there may be an issue.

#3 Identify root causes

It’s not enough to say WHAT went wrong if you want to influence decision-making. Instead, you must dig deeper to get to WHY it happened. That’s called root cause analysis.

Say, we missed the profit target. “Lower sales of product x” is not the root cause.

But “the new website converted fewer leads to paying customers than expected” is.

How do you know you found it?

When the cause suggests an explicit action that would address the issue.

You can’t simply “increase sales”, but you can fix an underperforming website.

#4 Pick your battles

So, you selected the right metrics, discovered a strategy isn’t performing as expected, and you know why. Next, you include it in your leadership presentation.

But, after a brief discussion, you don’t get a clear agreement on the next steps. Instead, senior leaders argue that, in fact, nothing is wrong with their strategy, and we should continue as is.

Now you have two options, 1) keep pushing back by finding more evidence that supports your hypothesis, or 2) decide that it may not be the right time.

You may think it’s your duty to always advocate for your recommendation as thoroughly as possible if you are convinced it’s the right thing to do.

But that’s not always the best choice. See, you need to think long-term. You may be able to escalate and push your idea through. But that may well hurt the relationship with your business partners. As a result, they may be less open-minded to your future ideas or - worst case - even withhold information you need to do your analysis.

So, you need to pick your battles; meaning weigh pushing back against the size of the opportunity.

#5 Build a coalition

Let’s say you decided it’s worth it to advocate for a controversial recommendation.

If you don’t get broad alignment right away, your first step should be to build a coalition.

Talk to people 1-to-1. Often, they may be less opposed to your idea than if it’s in a big meeting where people are hesitant to disagree with the most senior person in the room.

There are two additional advantages of building a coalition one person at a time: 1) You can have a deeper discussion about why exactly they were initially against it. It may be a simple misunderstanding. And 2), you get to practice your pitch and refine it until it’s perfect for the final big decision meeting.

In sum, to drive company strategy:

1️⃣ Separate signal from noise by highlighting only the metrics that tell your story

2️⃣ Determine how the change in trends links back to a higher-level strategy

3️⃣ Don’t stop until you find out not just what happened but also what caused it

4️⃣ Decide when to push back against opposition based on the size of the opportunity relative to the potential hit to your professional relationships

5️⃣ Get buy-in one business partner at a time

Christian Wattig
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