Finance: Fast Track to Success

BUSINESS

FAST TRACK

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I

rrespective of your chosen function or discipline, look around at the

successful managers whom you know and admire. We call these

people Fast Track managers, people who have the knowledge and

skills to perform well and fast track their careers. Notice how they excel

at three things:

Tools and techniques

They have a good understanding of best practices for their particular

field. This is in the form of methods and techniques that translate knowl-

edge into decisions, insights and actions. They understand what the best

companies do and have an ability to interpret what is relevant for their

own businesses. The processes they use are generally simple to explain

and form a logical step-by-step approach to solving a problem or captur-

ing data and insights. They also encourage creativity – Fast Track

managers do not follow a process slavishly where they know they are fill-

ing in the boxes rather than looking for insights on how to improve

performance. This combination of method and creativity produces the

optimum solutions.

They also have a clear understanding of what is important to know

and what is simply noise. They either know this information or have it at

their fingertips as and when they require it. They also have effective filter-

ing mechanisms so that they don’t get overloaded with extraneous

information. The level of detail required varies dramatically from one situ-

ation to another – the small entrepreneur will work a lot more on the

knowledge they have and in gaining facts from quick conversations with

experts, whereas a large corporate may employ teams of analysts and

research companies. Frequently when a team is going through any

process they uncover the need for further data.

Tools and

techniques

+

Technologies

+

Implementation

=

Fast Track

to success

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Technologies

However, having the facts and understanding best practice will achieve

little unless they are built into the systems that people use on a day-to-

day basis. Fast Track managers use appropriate technologies to

maximise both effectiveness and efficiency.

Implementation

Finally, having designed the framework that is appropriate to them and

their team, Fast Track managers are also great at implementation, putting

in place the changes necessary to build and sustain the performance of

the team.

In the next chapters we will outline the structures and processes that

cover all these topics, but the choice as to how tightly or loosely you will

use them will vary, and will to a certain extent depend on personal style.

As you read through the following three chapters, first seek to under-

stand how each idea could impact you and your team, and then decide

what level of implementation may be appropriate, given your starting

point, authority and aspirations.

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