Today’s finance professionals are no longer just stewards of data. They are navigators of business performance, strategic advisors, and culture builders. But excelling in this broader role isn’t simply about gaining new technical skills, it’s about how we think. It’s about cultivating a growth mindset across your team.
With a growth mindset, finance teams stop playing defence and start playing offence. They become proactive, resilient and collaborative, able to contribute with more confidence and influence.
What Is a Growth Mindset?
Coined by psychologist Dr. Carol Dweck, a growth mindset is the belief that intelligence and capability are not fixed traits. They can be developed through effort, curiosity and the willingness to learn from setbacks.
Finance professionals with this mindset don’t fear mistakes; they learn from them. They don’t resist change; they lean into it. And they don’t just report the numbers; they shape what happens next.
As one timeless idea reminds us, “We suffer more in imagination than in reality.” Adopting a growth mindset is a way of stepping into courage, action and continuous evolution. This is something every finance leader should model and cultivate.
1. Shift from Accuracy to Influence
It’s easy for finance teams to stay in the comfort zone of precision. After all, we’ve been trained to avoid errors and mitigate risk. But true business partners don’t just deliver data. They shape decisions. They translate numbers into narratives and insights into outcomes.
A report that’s 95% accurate and delivered on time with impact can often be more valuable than one that’s perfect but passive. It’s not about abandoning rigour. It’s about applying it in ways that move the business forward.
As Churchill once said, “Perfection is the enemy of progress.”
Reflection Question:
Where am I prioritising perfection over progress, and how could I be using that energy to influence outcomes instead?
2. Embrace Continuous Learning
The best finance teams aren’t just commercially aware. They’re commercially curious. They seek to understand the why behind the numbers, the context behind performance and the human dynamics behind decisions.
Learning shouldn’t stop once you become technically competent. In fact, that’s where the real development begins. Whether it’s cross-functional exposure, customer conversations or reverse mentoring, every new lens sharpens your ability to add value.
A powerful reminder: “The more you know, the more you realise how much you don’t know.”
Reflection Question:
What’s one thing outside of finance I could learn this month that would make me a stronger business partner?
3. Get Comfortable with Ambiguity
Growth happens outside the budget meetings and spreadsheets. Finance leaders must help their teams become more at ease in uncertain territory. That includes forecasting with incomplete data, advising through complexity or offering an opinion without every fact lined up.
High-performing business partners don’t seek control. They seek clarity in their decision making. They develop the muscle to operate with confidence even when the path is unclear.
“If you are distressed by anything external, the pain is not due to the thing itself, but to your estimate of it.”
Reflection Question:
What ambiguous situation am I currently facing, and how can I reframe it as an opportunity for growth and clarity?
4. Prioritise Relationships, Not Just Results
Finance often prides itself on objectivity, but influence lives in relationships. You can have the sharpest analysis, but if it doesn’t land with trust, it won’t drive action.
Finance business partners need to build credibility, listen deeply and influence without hierarchy. This requires empathy, curiosity and presence. These soft skills create hard impact.
“People don’t care how much you know until they know how much you care.”
Reflection Question:
Who in my stakeholder group do I need to better understand, and what’s one step I can take to build trust with them this week?
5. Celebrate Progress, Not Perfection
Success isn’t always a straight line, and growth rarely feels efficient in real time. That’s why finance leaders must create a culture that recognises small wins, values effort and normalises setbacks as part of the process.
Encourage your team to share lessons learned, not just polished outcomes. Create space for honest reflection. And remember, even failure is feedback.
“The impediment to action advances action. What stands in the way becomes the way.”
Reflection Question:
What’s one mistake or learning experience from this quarter that actually helped me grow, and have I shared it with my team?
Final Word
A growth mindset isn’t just a motivational concept. It’s helps business partners understand what it means to BE strategic. It transforms how finance teams show up, how they lead and how they drive value. Equip your team not just with technical skills, but with the mindsets that help them thrive as true business partners.If you’re ready to take this further, explore our Finance Business Partnering Development Program designed to shift behaviours, build commercial influence and fuel sustained success in your finance team.
