Between the main and companion skills the article lists an unwieldy and somewhat confusing array of more than 100 leadership attributes that advancement-minded executives should comb through on the way to making sense of their career path. Making the list even harder to follow, some of the 16 core skills share the same companion skills, while several core skills are listed as complements to yet other core competencies.

To simplify things, it could be useful to arrange the various skills in a spreadsheet --- an early use of cross-training, in a sense. Several core leadership skills, particularly under "Personal Capability," relate distinctly to the experience of many finance managers keen on promotion to the next level. These managers often face the difficult realization that their expertise in accounting and financial reporting --- which got them to their current management level -- aren't enough to see them through to a vice-presidency, and C-levels of corporate finance.

One core skill, for example, is "exhibiting technical/professional expertise," with complementary skills that include "communicating powerfully and broadly." By improving the ability to communicate, as a complement to existing strengths in financial management, the authors argue, finance managers can better communicate their goals and contributions, thereby making technical expertise both more apparent, and useful to more people.

A complicated route, to be sure, to pursue after a decision to improve one's communications skills -- a goal that most managers already know is important. Nonetheless, there is merit in the heeding the message that enhancing one's strengths with related skills is a path to indispensability. Aspiring CFOs are constantly told that "what got you this far won't get you any further." And that can make the learning curve seem overwhelming.

By starting with the expertise they already possess, future finance chiefs may well find acquiring the necessary leadership skills more manageable.