Vegard Klubbenes Drogseth

Why finance needs to be part of your senior leadership toolkit

I believe that as a senior leader it’s crucial to have a solid understanding of finance. In particular how to optimise the value of a company through financing decisions. I have held senior leadership and CEO positions in several media companies in Norway over the last 10 years, mostly in long-established companies that have a high degree of financial stability. Now I am keen on broadening my tool-kit to become even more effective as a leader, also for organisations with varying and perhaps less stable capital structures. This is what brought me to the Finance for Executives programme at LSE Executive Education.

Going into the programme I had high expectations of both faculty and learning outcomes, and I was not disappointed by either.

LSE Executive Education had been recommended to me by a friend who had taken Finance for Executives. This was a short, dynamic programme that packed a huge amount of knowledge into a week. The programme had a stand-out curriculum including the hands-on real-world toolkit and the understanding to confidently evaluate major investment and M&A opportunities. The format and learning goals articulated by the programme directors also clearly aligned with my own professional objectives.

The LSE professors are particularly skillful at dissecting the complexity of finance as a discipline and prioritising what is of real-life importance to leaders. They are also great at delivering actionable insights while building comprehensive understanding of the concepts, ideas and principles that underpin them. In class, I found the case method particularly illuminating. Here we had the chance not only to see complex theory in action, but also to put our learning into practice, analysing different scenarios and making decisions that drew on critical understanding as well as our own experience. We were also given a case study compendium to take away at the end of the programme, which is a terrific resource for later reference and exploration.

After attending the programme at LSE, I feel armed with a deeper knowledge on financial aspects of strategic decisions. My understanding of financial markets, capital structure, company evaluation and M&A has also been boosted.

I would not hesitate to recommend Finance for Executives to any senior leader or CEO who recognises the importance of strengthening their knowledge, skills, flexibility and confidence to lead in our changing and uncertain world.