It’s no secret that we are living in uncertain times. Every day seems to bring a fresh wave of change and unpredictability, and for leaders in finance, the pressure to navigate these headwinds is immense.
In moments like these, it’s natural to look for guidance. For me, that has always been a set of clear, guiding principles. Today, I feel honoured to share some of these principles with you—not as a rigid set of rules, but as a framework for thinking about our collective role. Because if we want to build sustainably successful organisations, we must accept a new reality. We have to master two things at once: we need to be performing and transforming, all the time. The days when we could focus on one and then the other are behind us.
This new mandate for leadership rests on three core pillars.
pillar 1: the duality mandate — master performance AND transformation.
For years, performance and transformation were seen as sequential. You performed for a few years, and then you focused your efforts on transforming. I believe that model is now obsolete. Today, the two are intrinsically linked in a continuous cycle. Performing well guarantees you have the resources and stability to transform, and transforming effectively guarantees you will continue to perform in the future. It’s a skill every modern leader and organisation must master.
As finance leaders, we sit at the very heart of this dynamic. We are the stewards of resource allocation. This gives us a profound responsibility—and it requires courage. It means we must actively review where our resources are going. We have to be willing to have the tough conversations, to say, "To continuously build for the future tomorrow, we may need to reduce our focus here to reinvest it there". This active, courageous approach to resource allocation is absolutely critical to successfully managing the duality of performance and transformation.
pillar 2: the human mandate — lead with empathy and radical transparency.
If the Duality Mandate is the ‘what’, then this pillar is the ‘how’. Let's be honest, uncertainty is not easy for anyone. As leaders, the most powerful thing we can do is to be human. That means being transparent. It means being clear with people, acknowledging that times are tough, and being open about the choices we are making, acknowledging what is well and what is not well, about the need to continuously improve, and being open about our vulnerabilities, limitations, and our genuine commitment to learning and growing together.
This extends to how we communicate. I've always felt it's a bit of a myth that finance people aren't great communicators. We possess a wealth of knowledge; the key is how we share it. My personal approach is to always simplify. Before any important meeting or announcement, I ask myself: what are the one or two key messages I need to land?
By focusing on those core messages, I try to deliver them with clarity and then use the rest of the time to reinforce them with empathy. It opens the door for dialogue and allows you to understand how the message is being received. In times of change, this combination of transparency and empathy is the northern star that guides an organisation forward.
pillar 3: The future-proof mandate — cultivate curiosity and ‘productise’ finance.
Looking ahead, our success will be defined by our mindset. While technical expertise will always have its place, the truly non-negotiable skills for future finance leaders are deeply human.
The first is curiosity. We must be curious about the tools that are reshaping our world, like AI, but more importantly, we must be curious about the needs of our stakeholders—our talent, our clients, and our colleagues. This curiosity is fueled by the second essential skill: active listening. To truly serve the business, we must first listen to understand.
This mindset is what will allow us to embrace the most exciting opportunity ahead of us: the chance to completely re-engineer our function. I believe we are moving towards becoming strategic co-pilots for the business. To do this, we need to 'productise' finance. What do I mean by that? I mean we must stop thinking of ourselves as the necessary back-office service or mid-office operations. Instead, we can design our processes as scalable, measurable products that are seamlessly embedded in the talent and client journey and that can be continuously improved and further combined.
Our finance product should ultimately maximise the power of one Randstad, ensuring that the whole is greater than the sum of its parts. It must enable the experience for our clients at the scale we strive to achieve - creating a finance 'product' that is so effective and user-friendly that our clients are not just satisfied, but actively eager to consume it. By doing so, we transform from a traditional finance function to a strategic enabler that adds tangible value to every aspect of our business ecosystem.
our opportunity to lead.
Looking ahead, I am incredibly excited about the future of finance in our industry. I feel genuinely lucky to be part of an industry, where you can find your purpose in the purpose of your company. It’s a privilege to feel that connection, and I know from my travels that it’s an energy that unites all of us.
Now, with the power of digital innovation at our fingertips, we have the chance to transform our services and create more relevant, specialised experiences for the people we serve. I honestly cannot think of many industries that still have this incredible opportunity to transform, and ours does. For that, I am simply grateful, and it inspires me to keep going.
Thank you for joining me on this journey.
Jorge Vazquez
chief financial officer at randstad
