#262 How Relationship-Focused CFOs Gain Real Influence, Catherine Clark, GrowCFO Mentor
Influence is earned long before numbers hit the board pack. In this episode, Catherine Clark, GrowCFO Mentor, reframes influence as the practical outcome of deliberate connection. She and host Kevin Appleby unpack how remote and hybrid work have thinned everyday rapport, making it harder for finance leaders to shape decisions, mobilize teams, and retain talent. Their premise is simple: influence compounds when CFOs intentionally build trust, recognition, and emotionally intelligent dialogue across stakeholders.
Catherine offers a playbook for finance leaders to operationalize connection: stakeholder mapping early and often, creating unstructured time for human conversation, signaling appreciation consistently, and showing up with presence—even through a screen. The episode highlights how small, repeated behaviors (gratitude, active listening, regular check-ins) turn into strategic leverage: faster alignment, better decision inclusion, higher engagement, and materially improved performance environments for finance teams and their partners.
Key topics covered:
- Why remote/hybrid erodes spontaneous trust, and how CFOs can rebuild it with intentional routines
- Stakeholder mapping and early relationship-building as core influence mechanics, not “nice to haves
- Recognition and gratitude as low-cost, high-impact leadership signals that boost engagement and retention
- Emotional connection and presence (active listening, curiosity) driving performance and decision quality
- Practical cadence: unstructured touchpoints, pre-alignment conversations, and regular reconnection rituals
- Cultivating a culture of connection—small, repeatable behaviors that scale influence across the organization
Links
Timestamps
- 04:14 Remote/hybrid realities: the connection gap and its impact on leadership/retention
- 12:00 Relationship strategy: stakeholder mapping and early outreach to accelerate trust
- 27:42 Recognition and gratitude as influence multipliers
- 35:31 Emotional connection, interference removal, and performance outcomes
- 44:48 Building an organizational culture of connection and shared values
- 46:37 Final actions: small, consistent behaviors that compound into influence
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