CFO Bookshelf

Jeff Polovick started Canadian-based Driving Force with just $80,000 and just a few years of experience. 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, and Jeff's value system.

He gained the world. He then lost the world and those who were the closest to him. But he never lost his soul while hitting the lowest of lows in a federal penitentiary that once housed John Gotti.

Shaun Hayes 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.

 Shaun tells his story in his book, The Gray Choice, where we learn about a young man with entrepreneurial instincts as a teenager. After college, he worked for a larger-than-life legendary banker in Kansas City. That work took him to St. Louis to grow that bank's presence in that region.

A few years later, Shaun bought into his first bank, which would become a small $1 billion empire that went public. Shaun points out that his gray choices started well before he was arrested, which is the topic of this conversation.

We recently watched a video by the CEO of the UK-based retail chain, Timpson. We loved the material so much that we found a book by the company's chairman, Sir John Timpson. The title is based on how the business is run, Upside Down Management.

According to Business Sale Report, Timpson is now a 2,000-branch-strong business with turnover totaling £300m and profits of up to £20m. 

In this conversation, we break down John's book into three big ideas, which include the hiring of ex-offenders, putting money in the till and acting the part, and unconventional management tactics in a large organization.

Of the nearly two thousand books that the producer of CFO Bookshelf has read, there is one title he has gifted the most to CEOs than any other title. That book is Executive Toughness by Dr. Jason Selk.

In this episode, we learn three of Mark's favorite big ideas in Jason's short and fast-based book: 1) product and process goals, 2) written daily debriefs, and 3) relentless solutions focus.

Two other titles are also mentioned that are excellent companions to Jason's book.

Last year, one of our top episodes was our favorite books of 2021. We're at it again this year with our Top 10 books for 2022.

We also share our favorites in fiction along with a handful of honorable mentions. 

Rounding out the lists of favorites include unexpected surprises, books we didn't like, books that were worth rereading in 2022, and our heavy favorite for 2023.

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, Times Up!

In this conversation, we talk about the necessary mindset needed for professional firms to shift to a subscription model. Outputs vs. transformations. Easing in or starting a brand new model? Technicians vs. professionals and the role of intellectual capital. And finally, we address one of the biggest questions every professional will ask, "How will we price this?"

What can any business or financial leader learn from a twenty-year vet in the fire service?

I'm now calling John Cuomo the John Maxwell for firefighters and other public safety officials based on his book, Leadership Refined by Fire.

John has always been interested in leadership and lifelong learning, and his book is full of stories, inspiration, and big ideas that can be applied to any playing field. He ends his book on mental health, specifically PTSD, the last topic we address in this conversation.

As a financial expert, could you estimate the cost savings in the U.S. alone through the country's use of daylight savings time?

Benjamin Franklin's estimates in 1784 yielded about $200 million in savings in today's dollars if people lived their days by making the best use of daylight.

David Prerau is the leading expert on daylight savings time, and his book, Seize the Daylight, explores not just the history of DST, but also the other two forms of artificial time--Greenwich Mean Time and the introduction of time zones.

I love investment books. It's a topic I could talk about for hours if allowed.

I also started listening to the podcast Investing by the Books produced by the Nordic investment banker Redeye. The hosts are Eddie Palmgren and Niklas Sävås, and they are great. Both are lifelong learners and they love books on investing.

In this show, we're going to talk about the best investment books that Eddie and Niklas have ever read. We'll find out their favorite book about Buffett. We'll also get more insights on Mr. Market, durable businesses with a competitive advantage, and the Ackman Paradox.

Important Links:
Investing by the Books podcast
Redeye

Gordon was an IT professional who took lifelong learning seriously. He joined a public utility district (PUD) because it stood for collaboration, communication, and support. Those core values at the PUD started deteriorating as a new leader focused on personal gain and power pushed for a new $8 million ERP solution without his most important team members to manage the implementation.

Gordon Graham is the author of The Intrepid Brotherhood, which provides the story leading up to the day he was pushed out of the organization. The final chapters reveal the jury's verdict on Gordon's termination.

This is a business book without trying to be like one. Readers will learn how not to manage an ERP implementation. We learn how easily corporate governance at the board level can fall apart. We also gain unique leadership and ethical insights from an IT professional's viewpoint.

Show Notes to Episode