CFO Bookshelf Blog

I have a very strong opinion about the restaurant industry. Before starting their careers, every professional should run or manage a restaurant. That’s because a restaurant encompasses manufacturing, service, and retail in the midst of intense competition. Add in the people element, where it’s hard to find and keep great people for the long game, and your management skills could reach new highs that will be difficult to experience in any other environment.

Author and HBR contributor Peter Cappelli asserts that accounting and financial reporting are wreaking havoc on damaging HR decisions by corporate leaders. In this conversation, Peter reveals that 90% of all company vacancies were filled internally prior to 1980. Today, that number is just over 20%. He adds that there were very few layoffs more than 40 years ago. Today, layoffs make headlines weekly. We’ll learn how accounting is driving these trends in the wrong direction.

Many business readers who are fans of Apple will probably state that Walter Isaacson’s book on Steve Jobs is the best starting point for learning about the business he co-founded with Steve Wozniak. Thanks to my guest and his unique insights on this episode, I now believe that Return to the Little Kingdom by Michael Moritz is the go-to book for learning both the backstory and the early days of this unicorn.

Occasionally, I’ll scour the podcast universe looking for other podcasts that focus on great business books. I recently found Business Books & Co. created by three friends who went to college together. There are ten to twelve shows per season, and they recently wrapped up their third season. I listened to one show and then another. In about three weeks, I listened to their entire episode catalog. I love this show, and I’ll continue to be a loyal listener.

Jeff Polovick started Canadian-based The Driving Force with just $80,000 and only a few years of experience in a narrow market niche – vehicle rentals. That modest investment has been parlayed into $400 million in revenues with 675 employees. Jeff’s book is Why Can’t We, and like many startup stories, there’s drama, adversity, success, more adversity, and even an exit. In this conversation, we talk about continuous and lifelong learning, family, adversity, exiting a business, and Jeff’s value system.

He gained the world. But then he lost it and those who were closest to him. However, Shaun Hayes never lost his soul while hitting the lowest of lows in a federal penitentiary that once housed John Gotti. Shaun was once at the top of the banking world in St. Louis until he was in the wrong place at the wrong time during one of the worst recessions ever, which led to approving bank loans that violated state and federal laws.

After watching a video by the CEO of the UK-based retail chain, Timpson, I looked forward to reading a book by its chairman, Sir John Timpson. The title is Upside Down Management. According to Business Sale Report, Timpson is now a 2,000-branch-strong business with revenue totaling £300m. In this conversation, we discuss their hiring of ex-offenders, putting money in the till and acting the part, and unconventional management tactics in a large organization.

The subscription economy is alive and well for products-based businesses and the software industry. But how about professional services firms? Does the subscription model apply to accountants, lawyers, consultants, marketers, and other professionals? Ron Baker founded VeraSage Institute, the leading think tank dedicated to teaching value pricing to professionals worldwide. He’s the co-host of The Soul of Enterprise podcast, and he’s the author of numerous books, including his newest title, Time’s Up!