Good afternoon, from a sunny, and warming (2 degrees C) Brandon Manitoba! It’s good to be back.
I had the honour of hearing my friend Ellen Clark King speak on Sunday morning. http://www.cathedral.vancouver.bc.ca/2014/03/10/sermon-by-archdeacon-ellen-clark-king-mar-9-2014/ Ellen is a brilliant theologian and writer and her words exploring the ancient story of Adam and Eve and the serpent are worth listening to regardless of your own religious convictions. What she does is interpret the story and provide us with a challenging and engaging interpretation of it.
One of my points in sharing this with you (besides giving her a broader audience), is that she is expert at what I believe is a key competency for all leaders. She is expert at hermeneutics. Now this word, most often associated with theology, philosophy and even art history, means ‘interpretation’ of texts. What does the text tell us? Who wrote it? What was the context? What were the issues of the day? What are the relationships between the characters, as well as what they say? How have others interpreted this text? As you listen to Ellen’s words, you’ll hear her ‘unpack’ this story by asking such questions indirectly.
I believe that as leaders we need to be able to ‘unpack’ the information we receive especially in financial data, in the same way. Who wrote it, what was the context, what are the issues around the writing and the writer, what are the relationships between the numbers as well as what they say? how have others interpreted this report? These questions will help us get closer to the bottom of what the financial data is actually trying to tell us. We need to be much better at reading the story the numbers are telling us. If you’re a leader or a manager who shies away from finance because it appears to be ‘complex’, my best advice is get over it, I did. I’m not a CA, far from it, but by sitting next to people who were CA’s, by asking for points of clarification, comprehension, and implications, I’ve become more financially literate, and as such, a better leader. Find someone who can ‘read’ the story in the numbers, to help you learn how to ‘read’ the story in the numbers.
May we find this week the opportunity to learn more about the hermeneutics of financial reports.