It’s 6.30am on a Sunday and, before the house wakes up, I’m thinking back to a room that looked very different from the treasury events I’ve known for most of my career. A few weeks ago, Forvis Mazars hosted an International Women’s Day treasury event in partnership with the Association of Corporate Treasurers.
The audience was varied in sector, seniority and experience but united by a profession that remains heavily male-dominated. For one evening, though, that balance shifted and the change in the room changed the conversation, too.
What struck me most was the honesty. The guards were down and there was no sugar-coating around self-doubt, trade-offs and the load many professionals carry behind the scenes.
Another thread I’ve noticed in high-achieving leaders is genuine passion for the craft – a curiosity that pushes them beyond the day job into deeper understanding
So, what really sits behind treasury success? Not just technical competence but what happens around it. Technical credibility is necessary but it is not sufficient – and it is certainly not the only driver of career progression. Progression also depends on something less often discussed: articulating impact, putting your hand up before you feel fully ready and the courage to show up as yourself.
Another thread I’ve noticed in high-achieving leaders is genuine passion for the craft – a curiosity that pushes them beyond the day job into deeper understanding. In treasury, that matters because the profession is broad. It can stretch far beyond day-to-day responsibilities into areas such as financial risk management, treasury technology, systems implementation, target operating model design and strategic decision-making.
Many careers do not stall because ambition is absent but because it remains private. The “mind-reader problem” is the expectation that good work and ambition should somehow be noticed without ever being expressed. Occasionally, that happens. More often, it does not. Managers cannot support goals they have never heard. Mentors cannot encourage ambition they never see expressed.
After all, leadership is not defined by title or authority but by whether people genuinely want to follow you
Which brings me to another theme that struck a personal chord with me: leadership. Good leadership closes the gap between private ambition and real progression. Anyone can manage tasks; far fewer truly understand how to lead people. After all, leadership is not defined by title or authority but by whether people genuinely want to follow you.
The difference is profound. Good leadership can help people grow into the best version of themselves. Poor leadership can drive anxiety, self-doubt and stress just as powerfully in the other direction. As Michael Giuliano – Intel microchip designer, entrepreneur and someone I’m very fortunate to call a mentor – has often said to me: “People over everything”. Leading people is a responsibility like no other.
What felt more empowering was recognising that many of us are in the same boat: setting boundaries is okay
Building a career goes hand in hand with juggling work and personal responsibilities and let’s not pretend there is a perfect, elegant solution. “Employee guilt” and “mum guilt” – or, more broadly, parental guilt – were recurring themes but I would be careful not to romanticise guilt as the price of leadership.
What felt more empowering was recognising that many of us are in the same boat: setting boundaries is okay, quality matters more than quantity and some days will inevitably lean more towards work while others must lean more towards family. It was a refreshingly honest reminder that sustainable careers are rarely built alone.
And finally, to anchor the theme of the event – “Give to Gain” – it only works if the emphasis stays on the giving, with any gain being secondary. The most credible support in treasury is rarely grand.
More often, it is mentoring, honest feedback, a door opened or someone making space for your voice to be heard. In the end, careers are not built by competence alone but by courage, generosity and the people who choose to make room for others.
Nataliya Lloyd is liquidity and treasury advisory lead in the UK at Forvis Mazars
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A version of this article will appear in Issue 2 2026 of The Treasurer. Click here for more details and how to subscribe.
