CFO As Storyteller

Leadership Influence and Communications

Last Week’s Panel Talk: CFO as Storyteller

At last week's Annual Sequoia Grove Conference in SF, I had the opportunity to speak on a topic that’s been central to my career: "CFO As Storyteller." The room was filled with over 100 Finance and HR operators, ready for what many might have expected to be a checklist-style presentation on how to become a great CFO storyteller.

But instead of handing out a neatly packaged list of steps, I decided to take a different approach—one that modeled the essence of storytelling itself. My goal was not to give answers but to engage the audience members as characters in their own story.

The result? A lively and interactive conversation where we explored not just the mechanics of storytelling, but the heart of what makes any story compelling.

What Makes a Great Story?

Before diving into how a CFO can become a great storyteller, I asked the audience to reflect on what makes a great story in general. After all, being a storyteller is in our human DNA. Our ancestors sat around fires and learned from each other through the art of storytelling to make sure their tribe could learn fight or flight and several other lessons. 

I posed several questions to set the stage:

• What was the last great story you read or watched in theaters or on Netflix? Why was it such a a great story?

• Now, what was the last story you stopped reading/watching? Why?

• Do you remember a story where you were so deeply absorbed in it that you lost yourself in it and felt like you were there?

That’s the power of storytelling. It doesn’t matter whether the story is film, television, your favorite novelist, your company, or finance, certain storytelling elements remain universal.

Great Storytelling Elements:

1. Journey and Destination: Every story should have a journey, with a clear destination or outcome that matters.

2. Character Connection: A relationship with the characters is essential. Why should we care about the characters in the story?

3. Conflict or Drama: Without conflict, there’s no tension and no reason to engage.  One of my favorite sayings? “No Conflict? No Interest!“

4. Risks and Opportunities: Great stories involve risks, challenges, and opportunities—and the hero’s actions to navigate them. The Hobbit was one of my favorite childhood stories.

5. Heroes and Villains: Every story needs one or more heroes who take action and a villain who is trying to stop you from your journey.

The CFO’s Storytelling Framework

Once we had a shared understanding of what makes a great story, I introduced the challenge of applying that framework to the role of CFO. As finance professionals, we are often expected to be data-driven, pragmatic, and—let’s be honest—a little boring. But in reality, our role is to tell one of the most critical stories of any business: the financial story.

To help the audience connect with this idea, I posed another set of questions: