This focuses on strengthening your partnership with the CEO and executive team—mastering the business model, aligning on long-term goals, owning the data narrative, and becoming a strategic force from boardroom conversations to operational execution.
Strategic Business Partner
Overview
In today’s business world, finance leaders are expected to go beyond financial reporting—they must influence decisions, shape strategy, and drive performance across the organization. This course is designed to equip CFOs and senior finance professionals with the skills, tools, and confidence to become indispensable strategic partners. You’ll learn how to build influence strategies that resonate with the C-suite, combine financial insight with commercial understanding, and develop the credibility needed to become a key voice in leadership. The course also focuses on managing stakeholder relationships with agility, confidence, and empathy, preparing you to partner effectively with the CEO and executive team. By the end, you’ll have the mindset and tools to operate as a trusted, influential leader who helps shape strategy and drives long-term value creation across the business.
Learning Objectives:
After completing this course, participants will be able to:
- Identify effective influence strategies that enable finance leaders to shape decisions across the organization.
- Select appropriate techniques to support decision-making through financial insight and commercial understanding.
- Recognize characteristics and behaviors that enable finance professionals to become credible, strategic voices within the leadership team.
- Differentiate between stakeholder engagement approaches to manage internal and external relationships more effectively.
- Match CFO leadership actions with the expectations of a strategic business partner to the CEO.
Lessons:
Lesson 1: Building Strategic Relationships and Visibility
This section helps you build influence by ensuring you’re involved early in key decisions, balancing risk with partnership, and aligning stakeholders to elevate your voice and strategic impact.
Lesson 2: Maximizing Value Through Influence
This helps you lead lasting impact by aligning finance with strategic goals, influencing without authority, and guiding the business through change with clarity and confidence.
Lesson 3: Influence Strategies
This equips you to become a truly influential CFO—mastering strategic input, stakeholder alignment, and decision-making influence to consistently add value and lead with authority, even without formal control.
Lesson 4: Support Decision-Making
Helps CFOs sharpen decision-making by combining data, emotional intelligence, and communication skills to guide boards, manage conflict, and build consensus across diverse stakeholders.
Lesson 5: Become a Critical Voice
Empowers CFOs to become a trusted strategic voice at Board level—building strong relationships, communicating with clarity, and confidently challenging leadership to drive unified, high-impact decisions.
Lesson 6: Manage Stakeholders
This explores how CFOs can build trust and alignment across internal and external stakeholders—nurturing key relationships, managing up effectively, and becoming a connector between the boardroom, customers, and partners.
Lesson 7: Be the Co-Pilot to Your CEO
Additional Information
CPD Hours: 2
Field of Study: Management Services
No prerequisite knowledge is required to be successful in this course.
No advance preparation is required.
Program Level: Basic
Delivery Method: QAS Self Study
Unlock Full Access with Premium Membership
Gain access to:
- A vast library of on-demand courses
- Interactive simulators for hands-on practice
- Exclusive live boot camps
- Join today and start learning instantly!
