Some owners try to have everybody report to them, and the work they need to do best gets whatever time is left.
In this episode
Some owners try to have everybody report to them, and the work they need to do best gets whatever time is left. Mark Cross helps them get that time back.
At 30, he wanted enough money to play golf every day. He got there, and then kept working. After an international career at Kimberly-Clark, JohnsonDiversey, and MeadWestvaco, Mark now coaches executives and leads FocusCFO in Virginia. He walks through the three levers he coaches every executive on, the three engines every business needs, and the career lesson he teaches every twenty-something: ask.
Show outline
- 00:29 – Waking up with a sense of purpose
- 02:12 – Focus, systems, and time
- 05:28 – Living in quadrant two
- 10:07 – The three engines every business needs
- 18:53 – The number one rule of getting what you want
- 28:14 – Network when you don’t have to
- 33:22 – Don’t let strategy happen to you
- 37:05 – Lead with “How can I help you?”
Takeaways
- 1Getting your time back takes three levers: focus (the three to five things you’re measured on), systems (processes that make good habits automatic), and time (hours on important work that isn’t urgent).
- 2The owners who make the leap bring in people to complement them. Mark watched one founder grow a company from four men in a truck to just outside the Fortune 500.
- 3Time with clients before anything is urgent lets you see problems coming, so fewer become fires.
- 4Most owners weren’t built to run the finance engine. Mark’s goal for them, once they get help there: 60% of their time on the thing they do best.
- 5Ask. Mark got his first European role because he was the only one who asked.
- 6Before every meeting, spend five minutes on GRPI: goals, roles, process, interpersonal.
- 7Network when you don’t need anything, and put a system around the follow-up.
- 8Strategy is where to play and how to win. Test every new opportunity against both.
- 9Lead with “How can I help you?” and let the other person talk most.
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