Interview Series: Mentorship and Investing in Yourself with Mark Thompson

In this episode, Marty sits down with his longtime mentor Mark Thompson to talk about the importance of mentorship and investing time, money, and energy into yourself as a leader. No matter your position within a company, taking time to work on YOU always pays dividends.

Mark Thompson is a business advisor and former engineer who started his career as an engineer, then transitioned to a business leadership role where he served as president, CEO, and Chair of the Board at his engineering consulting firm. Recognizing the importance of understanding the 'soft side' of management and the fundamentals of business, he then transitioned to a business advisory role. Throughout the episode, Mark discusses the necessity of strategic planning, the role of leadership and collaboration, the value of low-risk experiments, and visual learning in business growth. He emphasizes the need to take small steps while keeping an eye on the future.

Discussion Points:

• Intro and background - Mark Thompson
• Thoughtful and professional management
• Selling and your value proposition
• Scaling - strategic planning for expanding a business from 5 million to 25 million
• Role of family in business and importance of teamwork in achieving goals
• Low-risk experiments and visual learning can benefit business growth
• Learning from failure and effective risk management
• The professional management journey and understanding people
• Benefits of low-risk experiments and visual learning in software design
• Business fundamentals and strategic planning
• Closing thoughts from Mark Thompson

The Grow Show podcast is sponsored by STIHL and brought to you by The Grow Group - a leading coaching and education firm for landscape professionals. Your host is Marty Grunder, president and CEO of The Grow Group and Grunder Landscaping Co., one of the most successful design-build operations of its kind in the Midwest. The Grow Show shares ideas, tips, tactics, and insights that will help you grow your landscaping business.

Resources:

The Deming System

GROW! Conference Feb 2024

The Grow Group

Grunder Landscaping

Marty Grunder LinkedIn

Stihl