CEO 30 Second Mindset Shift: Finance Is Not Tightening Because of Cost

Mid-February is when Finance stops reacting to numbers and starts reacting to leadership.

Author

Glenda Carnate
February 10, 2026

Read time: 2.5 minutes

The first evidence of finance becoming more conservative is delays in the approval of items such as hire/recheck and project review. The shift in adopting a more conservative form of finance is primarily due to the uncertainty related to the disruption of the company's strategy in favour of growth, rather than an expressed desire on their part. This problem in financing due to the lack of certainty of the company's plan only compounds the issues with the financial side of things.

What Do Strong CEO's Do During A Period Of Increasingly Restrictive Financing?

1. Treat financing tightening as a validation of confidence, rather than a validation of cost

When Finance starts tightening (in February typically), that signals the corporate strategy is not landing well.
CEO Move: Determine what is ambiguous - not what is expensive.

2. “Finance is conservative” is a denial

Often, “finance is conservative” means finance does not have enough confidence to fund the bet.
CEO Move: Articulate the bet in one sentence.

3. CFO’s pushback on direction is always a pushback on unbounded downside

Defining risks that are not owned will trigger defensive controls.
CEO Move: Name the risk and decide who owns it.

4. Stop asking why Finance is pushing back

This is the question you shouldn’t ask.
CEO Move: The correct question should be, “What risk have I not owned explicitly?”

5. Flexibility without boundaries causes anxiety

Because everything is now ‘possible’, Finance views nothing as protected.
CEO Move: Define boundaries for expenses, employee counts, and timelines.

6. Alignment isn’t the same thing as agreement. Alignment is a defined risk envelope

Strong enterprise CEO’s don’t argue with finance forever.
They define what risks the corporation is taking and which ones it isn’t taking.
CEO Move: Clearly state the risk envelope, then execute within it.

💡Key Takeaway: 

When companies tighten up on finance, it is rarely because of their finances... it is actually due to the leaders' lack of confidence. Great leaders do not challenge finance but instead take ownership of their risks openly.

👉 LIKE this if you have ever witnessed a company tighten when they are losing alignment with their company strategy.

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👉 COMMENT: When did you realize finance was no longer responding solely to numbers?

👉 SHARE this with your CEO, indicating to the CEO that this is about having a “conservative finance”, not a clarity issue.

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