Today’s CFOs are not just confined to practicing traditional finance. They are experts in business strategy, macroeconomics, analytics, risk management, talent acquisition, retention, and more. Working abreast the Executives, CFOs are often the most impartial ‘constructive’ critic and steward of governance of an organization. A particularly fine example of one such successful modern-day CFO is Tatiana Bardokina of Global Service Solution.

Having a strong and meritorious academic background, Tatiana is an alumnus of Siberian State University, Russia where she graduated with a Bachelor degree in Economics; majoring in Accounting and Auditing. She began her profession as an Accountant and scaled her career as an executive director in a short span of four years. She parallelly pursued her Masters in Finance and Economics. In 2008, Tatiana moved to UAE and joined AAL Group as Finance Project Manager. Today she is a part of the transformation of Global Service Solution; delivering strong and sustainable financial gains through her expertise in cost reduction, process redesign, revenue growth, and profit improvement.

Tell us about the various responsibilities you shoulder as the CFO of Global Service Solution.

The CFO of any company is responsible for strategic planning, information systems management, cost control, and reporting. They also participates in tax planning, including optimization of taxation, and establishes internal control in the company. In other words, CFO is responsible for everything that is related to finance.

In the process of company development, the formulation of goals of the company changes. A small company and a multinational corporation cannot have the same goal names. A financial director is a professional who understands what he does, why he does it, what result it should lead to, and is able to achieve these results in practice. At different stages of the company's development, my responsibilities change depending on the goals of the company. But because Finance first of all means discipline and a strong control system, my responsibility to keep discipline and control system never changes.

Throw light on some of the most critical challenges you face as a CFO.

The main problem is the definition of the functions of the financial director. A significant number of customers, up to the owners of holdings and concerns, do not fully understand what a financial director should do. It is important to come to a consensus between the owners of the company and the CFO to have the same understanding of the functions that the CFO should perform at a certain stage. To achieve this understanding, I put myself in the place of the owner and arrange my work as I would like my financial director to work if I were the owner.

The second problem is your team. As I said above the area of responsibility of the financial director includes everything related to money including the recruitment of staff. As everyone knows, "the king is created by the retinue”. In other words, your team decides everything. In this case, one cannot be lazy and be creative in the choice of candidates and not get tired of training them. I prefer people who just graduated from University, with a fresh mind, open eyes, hearts, and, what is more important, a strong habit of learning.

"The three most important qualities that characterize my financial leadership are: a deep understanding of business, expert strategic planning, and ability to spot opportunities in any situation."

What are some of the most significant milestones you cherish? What has been the driving force behind your success as a business leader?

I do not consider any of my professional and educational accomplishments more significant than the others. All these are links of the same chain that led me to the place where I am now.

The main driving force behind my success is the loyalty and emotional support provided by my family. In childhood, the role of emotional support was almost exclusively filled by my parents. However, as time went on, this role was increasingly fulfilled by my friends, colleagues, and mentors. I am also especially inspired by my child.

In other words, the driving force behind my success it's the people around me. Moreover, I just work much harder than anyone else.

What is your take on the underrepresentation of women in top leadership roles in the finance landscape?

I do not share the opinion that we have an underrepresentation of women in top leadership roles including in the finance landscape. To be a leader is hard daily work with huge responsibility, that changes you and I'm not sure that these changes make a woman attractive. In my opinion, we should not try to bridge this gap. Let's leave it to men to do the hard job.

What would your advice be to young women who aspire to become business leaders?

My advice is to learn from world-renowned experts in the field of business. I like the following quotes, which were said by Kevin Eikenberry, who has twice been named one of Inc.'s Top 100 Leadership and Management Experts in the World perfectly illustrate what it truly means to be a leader. In my humble opinion, the following quotes are rules that every current and future leader should live by:

“Realizing that leadership is an action, not a role. When you realized this, you can make a difference wherever you are!

Being a first-time supervisor. Being placed in a role of leading supervising and managing others is an important and obvious milestone on your journey.

Leading leaders. This is the point at which you are more than a first-line supervisor, where you have other formal leaders looking to you for guidance.

To coach and mentor others. This is a point when others (including other leaders) aren’t just following, but asking for and seeking out your advice.

Realizing leadership isn’t about you. When we realize that our job as a leader isn’t about us, it is about others, the organization, the goals of the organization, in which we live and lead.”

Tatiana Bardokina, CFO, Global Service Solution

In her professional journey, Tatiana witnessed fast-tracked promotions through a series of increasingly responsible corporate finance positions and advanced to CFO with full treasury, controllership, and responsibility of heading a large team including financial departments of company branches all over the World.