article thumbnail

How to Improve Your Finance Skills (Even If You Hate Numbers)

Harvard Business Review

But having a grasp of terms like EBITDA and net present value are important no matter where you sit on the org chart. ” Joe Knight, a partner and senior consultant at the Business Literacy Institute and the coauthor of Financial Intelligence , says that an absence of financial savvy is “career-limiting.” Go it alone.

article thumbnail

Improve Your Ability to Learn

Harvard Business Review

It became clear that John had succeeded in the past by doing what he knew and operating rather conservatively within his domain. In a 2010 study with Cornell University, we showed that our assessment grades predict performance, as measured not only by revenue and EBITDA but also by boss ratings (often issued by the Board).