Your first 100 days as a CFO

Build trust fast – it will unlock everything else

By:

Katie Nightingale

12 Mar 20265 min read

30 seconds on building trust in your first CFO role:

Be reliably consistent – follow through even on the small commitments; early dependability sets the tone for how you’ll lead on the big things later.
Show credibility early – share your thought process, not just what you’ve done, so your team quickly understands your judgement and decision‑making.
Create psychological safety – listen openly to your team's concerns, tailor your style, and make it clear they can come to you early with issues, not after they have already escalated.
Be transparent about your motives – explain why you’re prioritising certain actions so your team doesn’t fill gaps with doubt.

Contents

This is one of nine insights in our guide to navigating your first 100 days as a new CFO. Discover more insights here.

As the leader of your finance function, the trust you build in your first 100 days will directly shape your ability to drive change throughout your tenure.

To help you quickly establish trust as a reliable and trustworthy leader in your new role, you can use the 'trust equation' created by David Maister, an American professor and expert on business management practices, as a useful reflection. The equation states that trustworthiness is the sum of credibility, reliability and intimacy, divided by self-orientation.

Credibility: Show you’re the right person for the job

Not everyone in your team will be familiar with your background, so taking time in introductory conversations to share the experiences that shaped your leadership helps people quickly understand how you make decisions.

Sharing not only what you’ve done, but how you think – how you weigh trade-offs, where you see value, how you balance rigour with business judgement – builds far deeper credibility than a CV-style recap.

Reliability: Deliver against everything you say you can

With so many people to meet early, it’s easy to over commit on the small things. Passing comments in meetings or during introductory calls. Following through on the small promises gives people confidence early that you will deliver on the big ones.

Even small gestures, such as forwarding the article you mentioned you would or sharing that weekly update you mentioned on time, signal that people can depend on you.

Intimacy: Make people feel secure with you

It’s important to quickly instil in your team that they can trust you with confidential information, and that they can feel comfortable coming to you when something isn't working.

Tailoring your communication style to work well with others, encouraging transparency, proactively listening, and looking for common ground in your conversations all encourage confidence in you.

Self-orientation: be transparent about your personal motivations

Your early decisions will be scrutinised. You may make calls that differ from what your inherited team is used to. Being open about what you’re prioritising, why you’re taking certain actions, and how those choices align with the business’s strategy reduces uncertainty and prevents doubt from filling the gaps.

Transparency here boosts trust and helps people feel confident about the future – something that becomes essential for retention as you begin to shape your function.

As an incoming CFO, people will naturally wonder, ‘will things change?’, so I made it a priority to give people that comfort sooner rather than later. I think it’s important to provide that stability, whether through an all-hands meeting or via email, to let people know who your direct reports are, what they’re responsible for, and whether you’re planning to make changes.

Anonymous Attracting and retaining talent within your finance function

Attracting and retaining talent within your finance function

Once you’ve gotten to know the team and built early trust, your next priority is understanding what you need to do in order to keep and grow it. You won’t be able to change everything overnight, but considering whether you really have the building blocks needed to attract and retain the right team will be key.

Here are four questions to guide your early thinking.

1. Is the talent in your team being nurtured?

Many finance professionals aspire to senior leadership roles – many to CFO. You now offer something unique: first-hand experience of how to develop the skills, experiences and exposure needed to work towards a CFO role.

Use that experience to lift your team. Involve them in strategic decision‑making, connect them to the wider business, and create meaningful stretch opportunities. And if those opportunities don’t already exist, don’t simply maintain the status quo; shape the environment for them to grow.

2. Are you leading an inclusive culture?

Your early interactions set the cultural direction of the finance function. Being open about how you prefer to work, the behaviours you value and the environment you want to create helps people understand how to succeed alongside you. This clarity builds trust, belonging and engagement.

I spend a lot of time talking through my decision-making processes with my team so they can see the vantage point of a CFO and ask, for example, why I’ve concluded that investing in a certain area is the right thing to do, when they wouldn’t have made that decision from the numerical argument alone. Giving someone in a financial controller type role that exposure can really help them develop.

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3. Is agile and flexible working in place?

Flexible working is no longer just an employee preference; it’s a powerful lever for attracting and retaining diverse, high-performing talent. Understanding whether your team has the right flexibility to perform at their best, and whether current models support collaboration. Options such as hybrid working, part-time roles or compressed schedules can all make your function more inclusive and competitive.

4. Are the basics of your employee value proposition (EVP) in place?

All of the tips above won't help if the basics aren't in place. Consider whether pay is genuinely competitive, whether benefits reflect what your people say they value, and whether your development pathways are visible and compelling. A strong EVP isn’t just about retention. It signals that your finance function is a place where people can go to build a long-term career.