THE FINANCE CHIEF INTERVIEW final decision always rests with the human. Rafael’ s human philosophy takes a practical approach. To avoid leaving us behind, the key, he says, is training. Similarly, companies must be growing talent at home. Businesses must“ incentivise internal entrepreneurship,” Rafael advises.“ Out of the 50 + initiatives we identified, we are launching a contest to reward the ideas that are the most attractive, implementable and scalable. This shows the team that they will be rewarded for innovation and that we aren’ t afraid of change.“ I will showcase them during our quarterly all-hands meetings so everyone sees the real-world effects of that training.” Change comes with time, and as the latest generation embarks on their own journeys to become the newest and most in-touch wave of leaders for future innovation. Rafael is candid about what the future we need to invest in looks like:“ At the same time, we need to allow young people to be brave. A 25-year-old is going to have a much faster, better grasp of new technologies than I do.” There’ s a reason for‘ Chief’ in any major title. Leadership is not only about showcasing excellent business decisions, but also about investing in your people.“ We must give them the time and platform to show what they can do, without middle management putting stoppers on that creativity. Our job as leadership is to create the right governance in terms of access and compliance, while fuelling that entrepreneurship,” Rafael explains.“ We need to make sure our people know we count on them to make things better and faster.” Being a CFO, therefore, marries knowing the business, empowering the people and utilising the technology. Rafael relays:“ There are many people who are incredibly good at the technical side of what they do. What will differentiate finance professionals and future CFOs is going beyond.” But what steps can you take in order to come close to the Group CFO for the Radisson Hotels? Rafael suggests that it all goes back to knowing the pulse of the business in addition to the impacts of one’ s actions, global and granular.“ Ultimately, always help,” he concludes.“ We are a support function; if we don’ t help the organisation, why are we here? When someone from another department comes to you and asks,‘ What’ s your view on this? Can you help me analyse that?’ – that is the best sign.“ It means you are influencing decisions and that they respect and count on your perspective. If no one is asking for your input, that’ s when you need to worry.”
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