Women in Leadership

Commercial and Financial Acumen for Women Managers

Managers are routinely excluded from commercial conversations not by intent but by assumption, and the assumption is hardest to overturn where somebody has never been asked to defend a number in front of a finance director. This programme builds that ability. Delegates work through how their organisation actually makes money, and where their own function sits in that chain. Reading the accounts is covered to the point of asking a useful question rather than accepting a summary. Building and defending a budget follows, including the request that will be cut and the one that will not. Business case writing is practised, covering the investment appraisal a finance function expects to see. Cost, price and margin are addressed. Negotiating for resource against competing claims is covered. Speaking confidently in a commercial meeting is practised throughout. The programme closes on the numbers a manager should be able to quote without notice.