Greg Graves is the former CEO for the employee-owned engineering firm, Burns & McDonnell based in Kansas City, Missouri. Greg’s new book is Create Amazing which a readable, informative, and even at times, an inspiring discussion on ESOPs. In this interview, several themes surfaced including how a band of committed employee owners tamed rivers and captured the wind by making a difference for the clients they served.
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The Microsoft Mastermind Behind the E-Strategy
Brad Chase was the marketing mastermind behind one of the most successful software launches ever – Windows 95. He replicated this success while serving at Microsoft on several other high-profile projects. Brad is the author of Strategy First: How Businesses Win Big. In this episode, we discuss the big ideas in his book including the E-Strategy and simple formula that’s simple, impactful, and memorable.
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What is a Rock Star CFO?
There is typically a 4-6 week delay between interviewing a podcast guest and going live with the show. Waiting on this one seemed like forever. Jack McCullough is the CFO of all CFOs. He’s the founder and President of The CFO Leadership Council. He’s also the author of Secrets of Rock Star CFOs, a book he released in 2019. In this episode, we talk about the traits of great CFOs.
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A CFO’s Playbook for Data Science and Analytics
If I’m going to listen to a data science and analytics expert for nearly an hour, that person better speak a language that I can understand and that is relatable. I got lucky and found that person, and his name is Jon Daniels of BambooHR. In this episode, he talks about data lakes, data warehousing, ETL, data governance, no intelligence, BI, and AI.
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ERP Implementations with Ed Kless
I have no desire to read books on ERP project planning and implementation. This is a topic where I believe we learn by doing and by listening to the sage advice of others. One such person is Ed Kless, the co-host of The Soul of Enterprise podcast. In this show, Ed talks about what we do before, during, and after ERP implementations.
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The Wisdom of Profit Wise with Jeff Morrill
I always jump at the opportunity to visit with CEOs as I come away from those discussions energized and a bit wiser. When I learned that I had the opportunity to interview the author of Profit Wise by Jeff Morrill, I jumped at the chance. Jeff and his brother co-founded Planet Subaru based in Boston. They call their business an undealership.
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Strength Versus Corporate Momentum With Mike Berland
Some of my favorite words in the CFO lexicon are momentum, acceleration, velocity, drive, and even thrust. Coincidentally, Mike Berland is the author of Maximum Momentum – How to Get It, How to Keep It. And it’s those very words we focused on during our conversation. Mike is the founder of Decode_M, a research and analytics firm that decodes data into momentum for clients.
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The Origins of the Fintech Money Hackers
If you liked The Big Short by Michael Lewis where we learn about the investors who bet against the housing market before its massive plunge in 2007-2008, then you might like reading about the financial revolution that emerged the following 10 years. Daniel Simon weaved more than 150 interviews with technologists whom he calls misfits for his book, The Money Hackers which reads fast in its narrative-driven arc.
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The Tools and Frameworks Behind a Massive Cultural Turnaround
The legendary CEO, Hunter Harrison, was making an impact with his tools and philosophies while turning around Canadian National Railway. But he still needed help with a serious problem. The organization’s culture was still a problem. That’s where Judy Johnson and her other consulting team members played a role in the cultural turnaround. Judy is the co-author of SwitchPoints which addresses this journey and their tools.
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The Complete Financial History of Berkshire Hathaway
In any Amazon book search, one can find some 200 titles about Warren Buffett, Charlie Munger or Berkshire Hathaway. Yet, the book Adam Mead was searching for never existed – a complete listing of every purchase that Berkshire Hathaway made from its very beginning. Even Hagstrom doesn’t come close in his great book, The Warren Buffett Way. It took him 5 years to write it, and Adam Mead finally has the book he was wanting to read himself.
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