Why some CFOs are more successful than others

ONE of the biggest challenges my team and I face is to continually do more and do it faster. When we meet that challenge, we have the opportunity to drive better business performance.

Why are some chief financial officers (CFOs) more successful than others? A recent study by Oxford Economics found six distinct traits that top finance leaders share. The common thread that distinguishes all these leaders is that they understand the importance of digital technology.

In a global survey of 1,500 finance executives, these high-performing leaders said that they view cloud-based applications, Big Data and real-time analytics as critically important to the finance function's successful performance today and in the future. I happen to agree.