This episode features Oliver Rowe, the editor-in-chief of FM, detailing the contents of the February digital edition of the magazine.
The discussion summarises articles on developing executive presence, more effective people leadership, and the right way to share and analyse data.
Rowe explains how members can access the most recent edition of the online magazine as well as the issue library.
What you’ll learn from this episode:
- Strategies for building executive presence, including the advice that not all the skills are must-haves.
- A summary of an article on ensuring that DEI initiatives enhance business outcomes.
- How finance business partners can optimise so-called “democratised” data.
- Details about the cover story on managing people.
Play the episode below or read the edited transcript:
— To comment on this episode or to suggest an idea for another episode, contact Neil Amato at Neil.Amato@aicpa-cima.com.
Transcript
Neil Amato: Welcome to the FM podcast. This is your host, Neil Amato. We’re discussing today the FM digital edition for February. It’s the first digital edition of 2025, and FM editor-in-chief Oliver Rowe is back on the show to discuss that edition. Oliver, we’re glad to have you back. Thanks for being on the podcast.
Oliver Rowe: Thanks, Neil. Great to be back on the podcast.
Amato: The February digital edition has articles on a variety of topics. One that caught my eye is on developing executive presence. What can you tell the listeners about that article?
Rowe: Well, the article first has a definition. The executive presence is a group of traits rather than one thing only, and the article explains what these things are. It’s knowing how to say the right thing, using the right body language. How you connect with others is part of it as well. It’s, of course, the ability to speak in public and also, as author Rhymer Rigby points out, it’s about charisma, a bit of style, and a bit of humour.
But, as he goes on to explain in this article, you don’t need all these things to have executive presence, but you need quite a few of them. It can be learned and practised, and he gives tips on how to build executive presence. And that means committing to things rather than equivocating, being authentic and decisive, admit when you make mistakes, and, importantly, really know your job, and that’s a great basis for confidence.
Finally, he talks about feedback from your manager, colleagues, and direct reports to help you build that presence. He also discusses the crossover between your online presence and in-person presence.
Amato: Right, in person, how you act. Executive presence is one of those things that it’s not just for executives. It could be as simple as you’re better at presenting. I think that can be a good, useful article for the readers. Also, there’s coverage that details how finance business partners can optimise so-called “democratised data”. Can you explain what that phrase means first and also the advice in the article?
Rowe: Yes, Neil, of course. This is about finance business partnering and how tech works with that, how data works with that. A goal for finance business partnering is data-driven decision-making. And to do that, data needs to be democratised. This is what the article’s about. It’s giving people access to the data, the relevant financial data, and making sure they understand it, giving them the right level of access.
And the article covers four areas. Firstly, it’s about finance inviting other areas of the business to lean in and understand the data, deciding the right level of data access, and then finance providing the financial perspective for the other parts of the business. Then it’s working collaboratively with business partners to use AI and advanced analytics carefully. As part of this, finance is needed to do the reasonability checks to make sure AI is not going in the wrong direction.
Amato: What else would you like to highlight in the February digital edition?
Rowe: Three further articles to highlight, Neil, I think. Firstly, there’s four ways to ensure DEI — diversity, equity, and inclusion — enhances business outcomes. This article talks about the business case for DEI, why businesses should commit to investing in diverse talent. It talks about the use of DEI data that’s broken down in subcategories, ie, what they call disaggregated data, and bringing together qualitative and quantitative data. The article talks about embedding DEI at every level of the organisation.
The second article is about leading people. It’s our cover story. This covers several aspects of people leadership, so it’s about leaders motivating and enabling their team to make the most of AI and other new tech and how they do that. It’s about how leaders communicate with their teams, the cadence of frequent communication and directly addressing difficult conversations about change. Thirdly, it’s about how leaders have to be adaptable when taking on a new team, and that means new people, new knowledge, and a new scope.
Amato: You’ve talked about ensuring DEI enhances business outcomes and leading people. I guess there’s also one that’s related to people, but it’s a different focus: job market trends for finance employees and employers.
Rowe: Absolutely, Neil. We’ve got an article looking at the global trends in the job market for accounting professionals and actions for employers and employees as a result of these trends. The trends are discussed by the author of this article, David Axson.
Three trends he talks about are the accelerating impact of AI, the growing disconnect between the needs of employers and the aspiration of employees, and the relative economic stabilisation we’ve seen in 2024 after significant turbulence previously.
Then, following that, he gives a list of actions for employees, stressing the need for skills development, so AI and other tech skills, as well as communication skills, collaboration, project management, and leadership skills. Then for employers, it’s about understanding what prospective employees are expecting from a job. The articles we’ve just talked about, all of them, they’re in addition to the regular columns at the front of the magazine, and also Institute News at the back, which contains updates on issues affecting the profession and membership of AICPA & CIMA. So, that’s the lineup.
Amato: That’s great. Thank you for that. Remind the listeners again, how can the digital edition be accessed?
Rowe: Absolutely, Neil. As a reminder, three ways to access the FM digital edition. You can go to the FM website at fm-magazine.com, and in the menu, go to “Digital Edition”. Click on the February edition, and this will take you to the AICPA & CIMA website. You’ll need to log in with your AICPA & CIMA login. Or you can go directly to the AICPA & CIMA website, and that’s at aicpa-cima.com. From the main menu, go to “Resources” and you’ll see “Financial Management magazine”. Then thirdly, lastly, there’s the FM email alerting members to each new edition.
Finally, Neil, I’d just like to add that feedback on editions, the February edition and other editions, is most welcome, and it he should be made to fm-magazine@aicpa-cima.com.
Amato: That’s great. That’s a rundown of the February digital edition and how to access it. Oliver, thank you very much for being on the podcast again. We’re glad to have you.
Rowe: Thanks, Neil. Great. Thank you.
