Ben Garthwaite is the President of Pegasus Insights.
The last board meeting of the year is behind you. The presentation is a distant memory, the forecasts are locked, and your CEO has already moved on to the next initiative.
Before you do the same, pause. The best leaders—whether in combat or the boardroom—know that the most valuable work happens after the mission ends.
In the military, we call it an after-action review: a structured debrief that dissects what was supposed to happen, what actually happened and what will change next time. But the real secret isn’t just the review itself—it’s the discipline that surrounds it: alignment, clear objectives and shared understanding long before the first move is made.
Finance leaders can learn a lot from that.
Lessons from the field translate to the finance function.
Before I worked in finance, I served as a U.S. Marine infantry squad leader in Afghanistan, where clarity and structure weren’t paperwork; they were survival. The military excels at what many organizations struggle with: aligning people, decisions and intent so that even under pressure, the team acts with unity and purpose.
That unity comes from two rituals that apply beautifully to business leadership: “commander’s intent” and after-action reviews. Here are eight ways you can implement them into your 2025 boardroom evaluations and preparations for 2026:
1. Revisit the commander’s intent.
In every military operation, commanders issue a clear intent: the overarching purpose of the mission. It’s not a detailed to-do list—it’s the why behind the mission. If communication breaks down, every Marine still knows the goal and uses their best judgment to move it forward.
Finance leaders should define their own version of commander’s intent for 2026. Instead of overwhelming teams with endless targets, articulate a few high-order outcomes. For example: “Protect liquidity while scaling,” “Shorten the cash conversion cycle,” or “Preserve margin while investing for growth.”
When uncertainty hits—as it always does—your people will know how to act without waiting for new instructions.
2. Align around clear, repeatable structures.
The military doesn’t improvise when it comes to processes. It runs on muscle memory. Every briefing, every debriefing and every plan follows a format that everyone understands. That structure removes the need to reorient and creates speed and calm under pressure.
Finance teams should aim for the same predictability. If every board cycle feels like reinventing the wheel, codify it. Standardize how forecasts are reviewed, how variances are explained and how board materials are built. When a process becomes second nature, your energy shifts from administration to analysis.
3. Audit the 2025 mission.
Look back at the year as you would an operation.
• What was the objective set for you in 2025?
• How clearly did your team understand it?
• Where did you deliver, and where did communication break down?
This reflection should be as honest as a field debrief. The point isn’t self-critique; it’s calibration.
4. Measure clarity over complexity.
CFOs often equate readiness with detail. In reality, the board values clarity over volume. Review your materials and discussions: Did they highlight decisions or overwhelm with data? The most effective board decks communicate the commander’s intent in every slide—this is what we’re achieving, this is why it matters and this is how it changes the business.
5. Evaluate alignment and agility.
A Marine unit trains until alignment becomes instinctive. When something unexpected happens, no one freezes; they fall back on shared understanding.
Ask yourself: When 2025 threw curveballs—market shifts, covenant pressure, funding changes—did your finance team adapt automatically, or stall waiting for direction? Alignment and intent make agility possible.
6. Document your after-action review.
Just as every mission ends with lessons learned, every fiscal year should close with a structured review:
• What worked in our board preparation cadence?
• Which variances caught us off guard?
• Where were the friction points between teams or systems?
Capture insights in a living document—your “Boardroom Playbook.” Revisit it before each cycle, the way military units review prior operations before a new deployment.
7. Simplify to strengthen.
In high-stress environments, overcomplication is the enemy. The same holds true in finance. When your processes, dashboards or forecasts become too dense, they stop serving their purpose. Strip them back until the objective—and your progress toward it—can be seen at a glance.
8. Build your 2026 readiness drills.
Don’t wait for the next board meeting to test your alignment. Run “readiness drills”: scenario exercises where your team responds to simulated challenges—a revenue miss, a credit shock or a sudden acquisition.
You’re not training for perfection; you’re training for composure. When the real question comes, the response will already be muscle memory.
Take advantage of the leadership parallel.
In the field, the commander’s intent ensures that everyone knows the mission even if communication breaks down. The after-action review ensures that everyone learns from what happened. Together, they create a culture where clarity replaces chaos.
In the boardroom, that same mindset turns finance teams from reactive scorekeepers into proactive leaders. When your people know the objective and the process, you can move fast without breaking alignment.
Get ready for 2026 now.
Board performance isn’t just about accuracy—it’s about clarity, alignment and adaptability under stress.
As you close out 2025, take a page from the military: Define your commander’s intent for 2026, structure your playbook, and run your after-action reviews with rigor.
The best CFOs don’t just survive volatility—they’re ready for it. Because readiness isn’t about predicting the future. It’s about preparing your team to move the mission forward, no matter what happens next.
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