What distinguishes strong from weak leaders? This raises the question if leaders are born or can be grown. It is the classic “nature versus nurture” debate. What matters more? Genes or your environment? This question got me to thinking about whether business analysts within an organization can be more than a support to others. Can they be leaders similar to C-level executives? Some answers for me came from a provocative talk by Alan G. Dunn, President and founder of GDI Consulting and Training Company. I share some of Alan’s thoughts in this article.

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Analytics is becoming a competitive edge for organizations. Once being a “nice-to-have,” applying analytics is now becoming mission-critical.

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A managerial movement is now in motion and picking up steam. It is the application of business analytics for organizations to gain insights to determine good decisions and the best actions to take. This topic was once the domain of “quants” and statistical geeks developing models in their cubicles. Today applying analytical methods is on the verge of becoming mainstream.

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I was recently a presenter in the financial planning and analysis (FP&A) track at an analytics conference where a speaker in one of the customer marketing tracks said something that stimulated my thinking. He said, “Just because something is shiny and new or is now the ‘in’ thing, it doesn’t mean it works for everyone.”

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Am I alone in wondering if the many references and articles concerning the CFO’s emerging role as a “trusted advisor” is more hype than reality?

Increasingly, I read articles and research studies alleging this emerging CFO role to be actually happening. In an article written by Gianni Giacomelli, senior vice-president at Genpact, titled “Can a CFO Innovate?” he states:

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