Going Beyond the Balance Sheet
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Future Directors Founder, Paul Smith
ONE THING is for the busy (speak of the devil) Future Director, in which we pick just one thing Future Directors oughta know or do or stew on for the next month. We hope you get something (at least one thing) out of it.
According to the Edelman Trust Barometer, trust in institutions continues to decline, and scepticism continues to rise. When decisions are made in companies (the essence of governance), many assume the worst—especially when those decisions aren’t well communicated. For board members, this poses a major challenge. It’s no longer enough to make sound decisions; how you communicate and frame those decisions is crucial to maintaining or rebuilding trust.
During my recent conversation with Dr. David Bond, who has launched his new Financial Governance for Board Members course on the Future Directors Hub (see here), we discussed how the financials -which are at the heart of so many board decisions - can become a point of confusion and mistrust.
Financials are supposed to provide clarity and insight, yet they often leave stakeholders in the dark, unsure of the story behind the numbers. The ‘so what?’
David shared a story of a board he sits on that faced a stakeholder backlash over a financial decision. It wasn’t a controversial move internally, but because they failed to explain their rationale properly, people outside the boardroom were left to draw their own conclusions - most of them negative. It became clear that they had not spent enough time considering the best way to craft the financial narrative. They shared the numbers without the story behind the numbers.
As a result, their stakeholders felt misled and sceptical.
So, so what?
Boards need to own and lead their financial narrative
Board members need to view financial information not just as regulatory or auditing requirements but as critical key messages about the company’s priorities, challenges, and future direction. Boards must demand this storytelling from management.
When your CFO presents your financial facts, how are they connected to context? What story are they telling? How do they explain why certain financial decisions were made? What were the key considerations? How do those decisions align with the organisation’s overall strategy?
Financial data without a narrative is just numbers on a page. When properly contextualised, they can inspire confidence, clarity, and build trust.
Too often, boards sit through presentations full of forecasts without understanding the bigger story those figures are meant to tell. Let’s demand more.
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