Successfully charting a path for their businesses’ long-term health and growth is a key part of the CFO role today. For finance chiefs to be able to do so, however, they need to be able to trust the people and the processes they have in place — making both talent and data management an essential element of strategic discussions, said Greg Sigrist, CFO of Pathward Financial.

Almost every opportunity that lands on the desk of the CFO comes with that step of assessing the talent, technology and processes the business needs to meet their goal. While this is a core part of the role of the CFO, as Sigrist’s own career as a financial executive has progressed, he’s moved to “minimize the amount of time I've got to take to do that assessment,” he said in an interview.

“If you're building around the right people, you can then focus on just talent development there, and then liberate them to really run the day to day, the operational bits [and] know when to bring you in,” he said.

Pulling back the strategy curtain

A long-time alum of the banking industry, Sigrist has served as CFO for the Sioux Falls, South Dakota-based Pathward since November 2023, according to his LinkedIn profile. His previous roles in banking include serving as CFO for Metropolitan Commercial Bank and Columbia Banking System. He also logged a 12-year stint at Morgan Stanley, serving in roles including CFO, Morgan Stanley Bank, N.A.  

CFOs are steadily being asked to become strategic and operational leaders at their businesses, but that means more than simply hashing out the broad strokes. When it comes to serving as an operational leader, finance chiefs are responsible for pulling back the curtain — ensuring all of the pulleys and levers needed to execute on key goals are running smoothly.

“The big picture to me is more about setting the strategy, and everything it takes to execute on that strategy, to me has elements of the operational side of the CFO,” Sigrist said.

That can mean anything from ensuring the business is making the right technology investments to keeping pace with macroeconomic and regulatory changes, all elements which can impact the ability for a company to successfully meet their long-term goals. To keep the wheels turning, CFOs need to balance risk alongside opportunity — meaning they need to hit a sweet spot when it comes to the way they think about and manage talent.

It’s important to create the space and opportunities needed for team members to elevate their skills, Sigrist said, which means leaving some elements in the hands of human resources or the people development team. However, it’s also crucial for CFOs to be able to “parachute in” should there be risk, he said. 

“I think through doing that, you're not only giving your folks an opportunity to…have a broader impact across the organization, but the goal should be to turn them into resources for the entire organization,” Sigrist said.

Data stays top of mind  

Building a strong, trusted team is only one part of being able to execute one’s business strategy, however — those employees also need to have access to the tools they need to fulfill their own roles successfully. In today’s world, that means access to clean, insightful data.  

“You’ve got to make sure you've got good data, and [can] empower your people to use good tools to manipulate it,” Sigrist said.

In reporting to management or the board, for example, CFOs need to be able to tell a consistent story — focusing on where the company’s done well, where it’s faltered, and, most importantly, what actions and insights will make a difference in the future.

“To me, that has an element of both strategy and operations,” Sigrist said. “You can't have that conversation unless you have the pipes, you have the platform, you have the people.”