Reply To: The Role of Treasury: From Operational to Strategic Leadership

Interesting read with lots of very true statements, especially Benjamin’s focus on the role of soft skills. I’d rather invert the issue: the Treasury will be as strategic as the treasury leadership is capable of. Treasury best practices have evovled since the 1980’s and demnostrate the business benefits of a highly strategic treasury focus. At the same time, not all treasuries archieve this holy grail status. Benjamin hit the nail of on the head by emphasizing the importance of soft skills and communication.

Viewed from career development perspective, treasury professionals should push for a wider treasury agenda when talking to management and other treasury stakeholders. I agree with Benjamin on this wholehartedly that having great communication skills and a vision for treasury are key. However these are only half of the equation. In this respect the JFK quote “Don’t ask what the country can do for you…” comes  to mind. Key to the discussion between treasurer and stakeholder is being able  explaining what treasury can do to make the business more successful; next to being vocal about what treasury is, a treasurer ought to be able expressing why treasury should matter to the stakeholder.

At the same time I would also urge CFO’s develop a strategic view on their treausy function and  map the current treasury organisation’s skill set to those necessary for realizing the ambition for the function. The skills lacking either have to be developed or acquired from outside.