Multiply your value with strategic thinking and innovation skills

Finance leaders can elevate their value as a finance leader in their organization. 

Jon Lokhorst, CSP, CPA, PCC, spent what he refers to as a “jagged, winding career” in both public accounting and the nonprofit sector before founding Your Best Leadership LLC. Now, he’s using his experience to help finance professionals develop strategic thinking and innovation skills, an area identified in a variety of different surveys and research as a critical competency.

As the keynote speaker at the Strategic Finance and Accounting Conference on April 17, Lokhorst will be sharing ways finance leaders can up their game and bring more value to the organizations they serve through strategic thinking. 

The challenge? Strategic thinking is a fuzzy term. “It’s like trying to hold onto Jell-O,” he explained. “You reach in, grab it, and realize it’s a mess you don’t know how to handle.” 

During his keynote presentation, Lokhorst will help OSCPA members wrap their arms around what strategic thinking really is, and more importantly, how they can actually practice it and build it into their work. 

“CEOs often express frustration with finance leaders because they’re seen as tethered to the transactional work, not getting above and beyond to those higher value activities like strategic thinking and innovation,” Lokhorst said.  

Attendees will work through how to create a framework to build strategic thinking into their regular routines, which Lokhorst described as one of the challenges facing finance leaders. “Strategic thinking and innovation are important, but not necessarily urgent, so it’s easy to neglect those activities,” he said. “CEOs don’t ask ‘Hey, just wanted to check in. Have you done any strategic thinking lately?’ No, they’re curious about cash flows or version 3.0 of the budget. Those are the things that command your attention.” 

But Lokhorst cautioned that if you don’t practice strategic thinking along the way, you’ll eventually run into a challenge. “Suddenly, there’s something urgent, and you’re looking back and asking yourself, ‘Why didn’t I see that trend? Why didn’t I see that opportunity before today.’” 

Lokhorst said a series of easy questions and prompts can help set finance leaders up for success. “These are all simple questions focused on asking if there are more opportunities to change our business model in a way that will create competitive advantage.” 

It’s important for people to know they don’t have to be a Steve Jobs or another highly visionary leader who seems like all of this comes naturally to them. “Finance leaders can take these tools and put them into practice,” Lokhorst said. “It’s about bolting these strategic skills to your technical skills to bring more value to the organization.” 

Register for the Strategic Finance and Accounting Conference today!