Find your Voice, Take your Seat, Own your Space
However much support you need - an hour, a few sessions or the whole journey - there’s a starting point here for you.
Where to from here?
Up and Coming
FIND YOUR VOICE
You’ve earned the seat. Now it’s time to find the words to go with it.
Sound Familiar?
Leaders at this stage often sit in meetings where the conversation shifts from operational to commercial and something changes in the room. The confidence that got them the seat doesn’t quite carry over.
They know their function inside out. But when the CFO starts talking margin or the Board asks for a business case, the language feels foreign even though the thinking underneath it isn’t.
Many hold back questions they’d ask without hesitation in any other context because in this room, asking feels like admitting they don’t belong.
And quietly, some start to wonder whether the seat was a mistake. Not because they’re not capable but because no one ever taught them how commercial conversation actually work.
Why this happens
This isn’t a confidence problem. It’s a training gap.
Commercial fluency isn’t something most senior leaders are ever taught. It’s assumed, not built. You’re expected to pick it up by osmosis, usually by watching people who already speak the language and hoping it rubs off.
It doesn’t. Not because you’re not sharp enough to learn it but because no one ever sat down and translated it for you.
What’s possible from here
This stage isn’t about becoming a finance expert. It’s about building enough fluency that commercial conversations stop feeling like a test you’re about to fail.
That means understanding what the numbers are actually asking, being able to hold a line of questioning without losing your footing and speaking about your function’s value in terms the room already understands.
The goal isn’t perfect. It’s presence - being able to sit in the room and actually be in it, rather than just present.
Where this leads
Finding your voice is the first step Once it’s there the next stage isn’t about being heard occasionally, it’s about being able to hold your own, every time.
Newly Promoted
TAKE YOUR SEAT
You’re in the room. Now it’s time to actually hold it.
Sound Familiar?
Leaders at this stage are established. The seat isn’t new anymore, and on paper, they’ve arrived.
They can present their function’s work with total confidence. But hand them a business case to defend in front of the CFO, or ask them to push back on a commercial decision they disagree with and the certainty wavers.
Many have built quiet workarounds such as leaning on a trusted finance partner, letting someone else lead when numbers get involved, choosing battles carefully rather than always speaking up. It works, mostly. But it’s not the same as genuinely holding their ground.
And because they’re senior now, admitting the gap feels riskier than it did earlier in their career. There’s a reputation to protect.
Why this happens
This isn’t about ability. It’s about exposure.
By this stage, most leaders have learned to navigate around the commercial gap rather than close it because avoiding it has worked well enough, for long enough. The workarounds became habits and the became invisible.
The problem is that workarounds have a ceiling. They get you through the meeting but they don’t get you credibility that comes from actually holding your own when it counts.
What’s possible from here
This stage isn’t about learning from scratch. It’s about closing a gap that’s been quietly there for a while, without it looking like remedial work.
That means being able to defend a business case under real scrutiny, hold a line of reasoning when the CFO pushes back and speak with the kind of certainty that doesn’t rely on someone else being in the room to back you up.
The goal is credibility that doesn’t need a workaround. Commercial conversations become something you lead, not something you carefully navigate.
Where this leads
Holding your seat is what makes the next stage possible. Once you’re not just managing commercial conversations, but genuinely comfortable in them, the shift moves from defending your position to shaping decisions before they’re made.
Established C-suite
OWN YOUR SPACE
You’ve held your seat. Now it’s about shaping what happens next.
Sound Familiar?
Leaders at this stage have stopped needing to prove they belong. The commercial conversations that once felt like a test are now just part of the job. They can hold their own, defend a position and speak the language without effort.
But there’s a next gap, quieter than the ones before it. Being good in commercial conversations isn’t the same as being sought out for them. Finance still comes to them after the decision is largely shaped, not before. Strategy discussions happen and they’re included but not always the first call.
They’ve earned credibility. What they haven’t quite built yet is influence. The kind where other functions think of them early, not just loop them in.
Why this happens
This isn’t a skills gap anymore. It’s a positioning one.
Being commercially competent gets to taken seriously. But being seen as someone whose input shapes strategy, rather than someone who responds well once it’s already forming, requires something different: visibility, timing and a reputation for commercial thinking that precedes the conversation, not just performs well within it.
Most leaders never consciously build this. They assume that once they’re fluent, the influence follows automatically. Often it doesn’t, not without deliberate effort to be known for it.
What’s possible from here
This stage isn’t about learning anything new commercially because that groundwork is already there. It’s about becoming the person other functions think to involve early, because your commercial thinking is known, not just competent.
That means Finance seeking your input before the numbers are finalised. Strategy conversations where you’re shaping the options, not reacting to them. A seat that isn’t just held, but actively used to influence outcomes.
The goals is strategic weight. it’s being someone whose perspective is factored in by default, not requested as an afterthought.
Where this leads
This is the top of the journey - voice, seat and now space. From here, it’s less about closing gaps and more about sustaining and using the influence you’ve built.
Ready to kick off your Commercial Confidence journey?
Book your free 30-minute Discovery call today.
Let’s get to know each other and see how FinE can support you!