The CFO Strategy Brief - CSOsandbox
Welcome to the CSOsandbox Podcast Channel, home of The CFO Strategy Brief—a business strategy podcast offering deep, actionable perspectives for finance and corporate leaders.
At the crossroads of finance, strategy, and leadership, this series delivers CFO perspectives and CFO insights that help you navigate organisational complexity and shape forward‑looking strategies. Designed for CFOs, CEOs, and senior executives, it’s a podcast for CEOs and strategic thinkers who want to connect financial discipline with long‑term corporate purpose.
Each episode captures how today’s CFOs drive transformation; not just managing numbers, but redefining the role of financial leadership in enterprise growth. Through strategic podcasting conversations, we explore themes from capital allocation and digital transformation to risk intelligence and the evolving governance agenda.
This podcast is part of a broader corporate podcast strategy that links executive education, research, and analytics as an integrated ecosystem helping leaders turn insight into action through:
1) Strategic research and intelligence for informed decision‑making,
2) Power BI‑enabled strategy monitoring via our stratāgaia Strategy Navigator app,
3) Executive learning programs and consulting designed to build strategic capability.
Tune in to shape your thinking, deepen your foresight, and lead with clarity. Whether you’re a finance leader or exploring new frontiers in organisational design, The CFO Strategy Brief is your CEOs podcasting guide to strategic leadership in a changing world.
Our insights are powered by the stratāgaia Power BI App and inspired by the works Corporate Strategy (Remastered) I & II and Corporation of the Future (Routledge). Learn more at www.smiknowledge.com, connect with our consulting and learning platforms via www.phsandl.com, or explore the full episode library at https://csosandbox.buzzsprout.com and www.smiknowledge.com.
The CFO Strategy Brief - CSOsandbox
Making the role of Chief Strategy Officer (CSO) your own
Use Left/Right to seek, Home/End to jump to start or end. Hold shift to jump forward or backward.
Scant research has been undertaken into the role of the Chief Strategy Officer (CSO), that is, the determination of what a CSO does. As specialists in strategy practice, the Strategic Management Institute (SMI), the research arm of Paul Hunter Strategy and Leadership has evolved a representation of the role. It is based on raw experience in the field, empirical research, and conclusions drawn from corporate strategy specific publications. Our derived description of the role is presented in this video, as is a response to the question: “How does the SMI’s definition of the role of the CSO compare with actual demand? To draw a comparison an analysis of CSO position descriptions drawn from LinkedIn advertisements in Australia, London, New York and San Francisco were reviewed and conclusions drawn. It will be a surprise for many to learn that one critical component of the CSO’s role is missing from formal job descriptions, even though its existence is vital to the long-term survival of many corporations.
A written version of this podcast is available to CSOsanbox subscribers. Submissions can be made at our web site website: www.CSOsandbox.com. References applicable to parts of this video are as follows:
References
1. Hunter, P., Corporate Strategy (Remastered) II: A Fieldbook, Implementing High Performance Strategy and Leadership, Routledge, Oxford, UK, 2020
2. Hunter, P., Corporate Strategy (Remastered) I: High Performance Strategy and Leadership in a Volatile, Disrupted World, Routledge, Oxford, UK, 2020
3. Ansoff, H.I. (1965), Corporate Strategy, New York: McGraw-Hill
4. Pfeifer, S., The Financial Times, London, UK 21 May 2023. Accessed 25 may, 2023 https://www.ft.com/content/3436ab7e-728f-4ca0-9cde-d51ab2c4b90e
5. BHP, Our Strategy https://www.bhp.com/about/strategy, Accessed 15 May 2023
6. Rademakers, M., Corporate Universities as Drivers of Organizational Learning, Routledge, Oxford, UK, 2014.
7. Allen, L., “Chocolate Fortunes; the Battle for the Hearts and Minds, and Wallets of China’s Consumers”, AMACOM, 2010
8. Mars Edge, https://www.mars.com/our-brands/edge, Accessed 25 May 2023
From the CSOsandbox Podcast Channel, The CFO Strategy Brief delivers focused, strategy‑led conversations for CFOs, CEOs, and senior executives at the intersection of finance, strategy, and leadership. Each episode explores how modern CFOs drive transformation, connect financial discipline with long‑term corporate purpose, and shape enterprise‑wide outcomes.
We tackle themes such as capital allocation, digital transformation, risk intelligence, and the evolving governance agenda, helping leaders turn complex realities into clear, forward‑looking strategies. The podcast is part of a broader strategic intelligence ecosystem, linking executive education, research, and analytics for CFOs and corporate leaders.
Insights are powered by the stratāgaia Power BI app and informed by the books Corporate Strategy (Remastered) I & II and Corporation of the Future (Routledge). Learn more at www.smiknowledge.com, connect with our Strataegic Intelligence and learning platforms via www.phsandl.com, or explore the full episode library at https://csosandbox.buzzsprout.com.
