At our final CFO Women Connect breakfast of 2026, Executive Coach Sue Rosen, FCA, PCC joined a group of senior female finance leaders to explore the challenge of turning insight into action.
Once we have the insight, what do we actually do differently?
Self-awareness is often seen as the foundation of leadership development. Most leaders have spent time reflecting on who they want to be, how they want to lead and what matters most to them. Yet insight alone rarely creates change.
The discussion focused on what happens next: how leaders can use their values, choices and daily actions to close the gap between intention and behaviour.
This session was the final chapter in this year’s CFO Women Connect series, building on earlier discussions around leadership identity and the internal barriers that can influence behaviour and decision-making.
Read our previous event highlights:
Values provide a compass when leadership gets difficult
One of the central themes of the session was the role values play in leadership.
Values are not goals. Goals can be achieved, completed and replaced. Values are different. They reflect how we want to show up, lead and make decisions over time.
While it is easy to recognise our values when circumstances are straightforward, their real importance emerges during periods of uncertainty.
For CFOs and finance leaders, these moments often involve competing priorities, difficult stakeholder conversations, changing market conditions and decisions without a clearly defined right answer.
In these situations, values can provide a reliable compass when certainty is unavailable.
Rather than asking, “What is the perfect answer?”, leaders can ask:
“What decision best aligns with the values I want to lead by?”
From “have to” goals to “want to” goals
The session explored an idea that resonated strongly across the room: the difference between goals we feel we have to do and goals we genuinely want to pursue.
Many leadership responsibilities can begin to feel transactional.
Preparing a board paper. Delivering a presentation. Managing a difficult conversation. Leading a transformation project.
When approached as obligations, these tasks can feel draining and create resistance.
However, when leaders reconnect these responsibilities to the values and purpose behind them, the same tasks can take on a very different meaning.
A presentation becomes an opportunity to communicate clearly.
A difficult conversation becomes an opportunity to lead with integrity.
A transformation project becomes a way to create meaningful improvement for stakeholders.
The discussion highlighted that the strongest motivation often comes not from external pressure, but from reconnecting with what matters most.
Small actions create meaningful change
Leadership development is often associated with major breakthroughs or significant career moments.
Yet one of the strongest messages from the session was that meaningful change rarely happens that way.
Instead, progress often comes through what Sue described as “tiny tweaks.”
Just as a small adjustment in direction can significantly alter the destination of a journey, small shifts in behaviour can have a substantial cumulative impact over time.
Rather than focusing on dramatic change, leaders were encouraged to consider:
- What is one action I could take today?
- What is the next small step available to me?
- What would move me even 2% closer to the leader I want to become?
These questions move leadership development from theory into practice.
Leadership starts with agency
A particularly powerful discussion emerged around the concept of personal agency. The ability to recognise and exercise personal agency is a critical part of turning insight into action, particularly during periods of uncertainty and change.
Many leadership challenges involve circumstances beyond our direct control. Economic conditions, organisational decisions, stakeholder behaviour and market uncertainty all influence how leaders operate.
While we cannot always control events, we can control our response.
The concept of agency is grounded in recognising that we always retain some element of choice.
How we respond.
How we communicate.
Where we focus our attention.
What action we take next.
One comment from the group led to a reflection that resonated throughout the room:
“No one owns you. You own yourself.”
The discussion that followed reinforced the importance of personal responsibility, intentional decision-making and maintaining a sense of ownership over our own leadership journey.
Professional friendships matter
One of the most powerful discussions of the morning had very little to do with strategy, leadership frameworks or career progression.
It centred on connection.
Both attendees and speakers reflected on the reality that leadership can be isolating. While many leaders have strong personal support networks, professional friendships offer something different.
They provide perspective from people who understand the pressures of leadership, difficult decisions, board expectations and the weight of responsibility that often comes with senior roles.
It was a timely reminder that leadership is rarely something we navigate alone.
Professional networks are valuable.
Professional friendships can be transformational.
Turning Insight into Action for Finance Leaders
For many finance leaders, the challenge is not knowing what needs to be done.
The challenge is staying connected to what matters most when competing priorities, uncertainty and pressure make decision-making more difficult.
The session reinforced that leadership growth does not always require major change.
Often, the most meaningful progress comes from:
- Reconnecting with personal values
- Making intentional choices
- Taking small, consistent actions
- Building trusted support networks
- Focusing on what is within our control
These practices help leaders move beyond insight and into action.
Sue Rosen, FCA, PCC with the Moir Group team at the final CFO Women Connect breakfast of 2026.
Continuing the conversation
At Moir Group, we value these conversations and the opportunity to bring senior female finance leaders together through our CFO Women Connect event series.
As this year’s CFO Women Connect series comes to a close, the message is clear:
Leadership growth is rarely about a single breakthrough moment.
It is built through values, choices, relationships and the small actions we take every day.
If you are a female CFO or senior finance leader interested in attending future CFO Women Connect sessions, please feel free to Contact us here.
If you have any recruitment needs in your team on a permanent or temporary basis we would be delighted to assist. Contact us here.
Moir Group is a specialist finance, accounting and ESG recruitment company. We cover temporary and permanent roles from Financial Accountant to CFO level. We also recruit Sustainability and ESG positions across all industry sectors.
