We live in a business era where the fractional chief executive officer is becoming indispensable. Before considering hiring a fractional CMO or CFO, I’d always start with a Fractional Chief People Officer, such as Susannah Robinson. She has worked in big-company HR for more than twenty years and has written a simple and pragmatic guide on organizational design for small businesses. In this conversation, we discuss her new book, Beyond the Boxes and Lines.
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The Early Investments of Warren Buffett
When I read a book on Buffett, and there are many, I want to know if this book has been written before—the ones where the narratives state the same thing about Buffett’s investing style. In the case of Brett Gardner’s new book on Buffett, he checks all the boxes of a fascinating investment book. It’s informative, inspiring, and even entertaining. More importantly, the book Buffett’s Early Investments is not a rehash of Buffett material you’ve read before.
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A Pragmatic Approach to Sensemaking
When I encountered the Cynefin Framework in an HBR article years ago, I did not adapt it to my work until I interviewed Bryce Hoffman, author of American Icon and Red Teaming. Bryce made the Cynefin Framework understandable and accessible. However, Kevin Eikenberry has gone a step further, showing leaders how to act when surrounded by varying problems they are trying to navigate with this sensemaking framework. He outlines these ideas in his newest book, Flexible Leadership.
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The Rise and Fall of the Match King
One historian calls Ivar Kreuger The Match King. He was a financial genius and master of deception who built a global empire on innovation, speculation, and fraud. In the 1920s, he was one of the world’s most powerful financiers—until his empire collapsed in scandal. His story is a cautionary tale for business professionals, highlighting the dangers of unchecked ambition, financial engineering, and the illusion of stability. Understanding Kreuger’s rise and fall offers valuable ethics, risk, and leadership lessons.
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The World’s First Stock Exchange
I recently came across a book that’s been out for over 10 years by an exceptional and tenacious researcher and an engaging writer, Lodewijk Petram. His book, The World’s First Stock Exchange, might be the first to explore how early investors bought and traded shares of the Dutch East India Company (VOC). In this conversation with the author, we learn that complex trading techniques did not start in the modern era–far from it.
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The Making of Modern Corporate Finance
When I think of the CFO’s role, a few questions emerge: What will we invest in and reinvest in? How will we finance those investments? What about risk management? And what is the role of corporate governance in these activities? Not only does Don Chew answer those questions in his new book, The Making of Modern Corporate Finance, but he also avoids complex formulas, which keeps this book from being too obtuse and abstract.
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It’s Time to Start Loving Mondays Again
A financial executive no longer loved Mondays until a health scare recently changed his mindset. Today, Ron Monteiro coaches and mentors leaders to help them build high-performance teams. His book is Love Mondays: A Proven Process to Bring Joy Back into Your Work Week and Life. Ron teaches us four simple steps to becoming Monday Mavericks. He then outlines seven clever tactical steps for leaders in developing Monday Mavericks. The brain candy continues in section three.
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The Pig, The Lipstick & the Playbook of Champions
When John Rossman is not busy delivering keynote addresses to large audiences or consulting with brands we recognize, he’s writing. John is making his third appearance on the show after discussing two of his other successful books: The Amazon Way and Big Bet Leadership. John’s newest project is a 54-page manifesto entitled The Pig, The Lipstick, and The Playbook of Champions. It shows organizations how to escape their self-created world of mediocrity.
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The Money Trap
Imagine having a front-row seat to observe a billionaire making decisions on acquisitions that will be nothing short of transformational for his organization and investors. And let’s assume you get to sit next to a talented mathematical and financial genius to explain everything you are watching. I’ve just described Alok Sama’s brilliant new book, The Money Trap. Alok was an investment banker at Morgan Stanley and SoftBank International’s former President & CFO.
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Practice Makes Profit
David is a dermatologist whose practice is not making the money it should. The physician meets a great accountant who is a TOC bottleneck specialist for all types of businesses, not just manufacturing. The accountant speaks and teaches his clients in a way that is easy to understand and can quickly implement the ideas. That’s the storyline of the very readable and accessible Practice Makes Profit by Graham Scott, our guest on this episode.
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