It's not all about the numbers! By GENCFO

What happens when the Wi-Fi disappears?No Teams. No cloud. No maps. No card payments. And, most importantly for Joel, potentially no Duolingo streak.In this episode of So What...?, Chris Argent, Mike Rose and Joel Johansen explore just how dependent we've become on permanent connectivity and whether the infrastructure underneath our increasingly digital lives is actually keeping up.From patchy UK mobile coverage and businesses unable to take payments to internet blackouts and the expectation that we're always reachable, the team ask whether connectivity has quietly become critical infrastructure.And if it has, should leaders also be asking a different question?Could your people still function without it?

In this episode of It's Not All About the Numbers, Chris Argent and Mike Rose are joined by Michael Mills, Global Director of Finance and Shared Services at Aramex, to talk ambition, adaptability and what it takes to keep growing as a leader.From his Top Gun-inspired RAF ambitions to leaving JLR for a new industry, culture and life in the Middle East, Michael shares why he deliberately puts himself in uncomfortable situations, how feedback changed his leadership style, and why celebrating the wins can be just as important as chasing the next 1%.

AI can write the email. Analyse the documents. Brainstorm the strategy.But would you actually put it in charge?In this episode of So What...?, Chris, Mike and Joel take on the rise of the bot boss and ask what happens when AI stops being something we talk to and starts becoming something we delegate to.From agentic AI going spectacularly off-piste to the danger of leaders blindly accepting convincing AI-generated answers, the team debate how far they're willing to hand over control.Is keeping a human in the loop enough? Or does AI become significantly less useful the moment we put it on a tight leash?

What separates a manager from a leader?In this episode of It's Not All About the Numbers, Chris Argent and Mike Rose are joined by Dr Veronika von Heise-Rotenburg, CFO and Managing Director at Everphone, to explore why leadership is a skill that must be learned, not simply inherited through promotion.The conversation covers everything from mentoring and developing future leaders to the evolution of the CFO role, the impact of AI on finance and why tomorrow's finance leaders will spend less time administering the business and more time enabling it.

From sorting mail and changing light bulbs to becoming Global CFO of Interbrand, Ben Castle's career definitely didn't follow the traditional finance playbook.In this episode of It's Not All About the Numbers, Chris Argent and Mike Rose talk to Ben about curiosity, continuous learning and why some of the best finance careers aren't planned at all.They explore how the finance function is changing, why Ben hired a data analyst with no finance background into his team, the skills tomorrow's finance leaders will need, and why empathy might be one of the most underrated qualities in a CFO.

Every organisation reaches the same crossroads. A major transformation is on the horizon, deadlines are slipping, and someone inevitably says: "Let's bring in the consultants."But are consultancies really solving business problems, or have they become the default answer to every challenge?In this episode of So What...?, Chris Argent, Mike Rose and Joel Johansen explore the consultancy model, from junior project teams and off-the-shelf methodologies to commercial incentives, repeat business and the growing reliance on external expertise.

What if your biggest competitor could actually make you a better leader?In this episode of It's Not All About the Numbers, Chris Argent and Mike Rose are joined by Koula Achillea, Finance Director at Marella Cruises (TUI), to explore the leadership lessons that emerge from crisis, collaboration and community.From navigating the hospitality industry during COVID to building trusted networks with industry "frenemies", Koula shares why humour, trust and authentic relationships are some of the most underrated leadership tools. The conversation also explores the evolving role of finance leaders and why influence now matters just as much as technical expertise.

Executive coaching has become a multi-billion-pound industry. But is it solving leadership challenges, or simply filling the gap left by poor management?In this episode of So What...?, Chris Argent, Mike Rose and Joel Johansen unpack the difference between coaching and mentoring, question why coaching has become such a dominant part of corporate life, and explore whether organisations have lost the ability to develop people from within.From sports coaching to executive coaching, they debate when coaching genuinely adds value, when mentoring is the better option, and why businesses may be treating symptoms instead of solving leadership problems.