It seems that the recent trends in commentary, stock analyst reports, and industry roundtables has been to take a critical eye of “what you should have been doing” and to state was is now so obvious as if to take the position of the new oracle. 

However, as a Finance leader, one should be proactively identifying areas of risk that might adversely affect the results of the company and prevent the achievement of financial goals.  In the companies I have been in, there has always been a focus on mitigating the risk in all areas.  From credit insurance on receivables, to increasing quality demands to avoid warranty issues, to identifying single source vendor risks, or ensuring that all employee issues are appropriately resolved. 

With some of the recent commentaries, we are hearing that companies should now be casting a critical eye on receivables and looking at areas of risk.  This should not be a view taken now and only in a poor economic environment, but in the good times as well.  One of the CFO’s that I had previously worked for identified the risk of a significant customer who was increasing order volume, had great momentum, and in a fantastic economy.  No need to worry, right?  Wrong….the company ended up going BK when they ran into financial issues themselves with customers and it happened extremely quickly.

More great backwards looking commentary….what about the volume of stock analysts following stocks who have promoted certain companies, watch prices fall over the last 6-months, only to now come out with a revised report and issue a downgrade on information that is already in the public markets.

The question we all need to ask ourselves on a daily basis is….“What value am I creating or adding in my efforts today?”

You need to ask yourself this question everyday, and in hindsight, you’ll find that you’ve accomplished a tremendous amount.