Greg Sullivan is president and CEO of Sullivan, Bruyette, Speros & Blayney, a wealth management firm providing financial planning and investment advice to high-net-worth and ultra-high-net-worth clients. He has over 35 years of business, investment management, and financial planning experience. SBSB currently services approximately 1000 clients and manages over $3.7 billion in assets.
Entrepreneurial Role Models:
When business started difficulties overcame:
“I don’t really think I understood what it meant to build a business plan or to lead a company at the pace that we needed to be making changes. I had to learn a lot on the job. There is a lot of on the job training. My competency was in my skill set… I started the business with no clients and three employees… I didn’t really know how to focus on just the most important two or three items, I was really stretched then and that’s what’s hard when you are a small company, so I am the marketing executive, I am the new business generator, I am the tech wiz” …[Listen for More]
Favourite Books:
- Lincoln On Leadership: Executive Strategies for Tough Times Book by Donald T. Phillips
- First, Break All the Rules: What the World’s Greatest Managers Do Differently Book by James K. Harter
- If it Ain’t Broke … Break it! Book by R.J. Kriegel and L. Patler
Favourite Quote:
“love the life you live.live the life you love.” Bob Marley
Recommended Online Resources:
- Podcasts
- The Entrepreneur Way
- Harvard Business Review podcasts – A weekly podcast featuring the leaders in business and management
- Economist – offers authoritative insight and opinion on international news, politics, business, finance, science, technology and the connections between them
- Oprah Winfrey’s Podcast – Awaken, discover and connect to the deeper meaning of the world around you with SuperSoul. Hear Oprah’s personal selection of her interviews with thought-leaders, best-selling authors, spiritual luminaries, as well as health and wellness experts. All designed to light you up, guide you through life’s big questions and help bring you one step closer to your best self.
Best Advice to Other Entrepreneurs:
“Never stop learning, never stop reading and never stop improving. It’s too easy to get caught up in the activity of a business and just focusing on the day-to-day activities and the hiring of people and changing your business that we stop the learning process. And I mean learning in new areas not just in your skill set. But the reading of books that are outside of your normal skill area. Reading about leadership or great events that have happened in the world. You know those things just open your eyes to different ways to think about your business and communicate what you are doing”…[Listen for More]
More About Greg Sullivan:
Neil’s Quote at the Beginning:
“Pose your questions to people and you will get countless useless answers.” Dejan Stojanovic
Other Quotes From the Chat with Greg Sullivan:
- “at the early age I had to learn the value of a dollar”
- “too many decisions are made out of an irrational period”
- “people will look at situations and fear or anxiety or concern or anxiety causes people to not necessarily be very rational. So how do we bring a rational approach to it? And often times it needs to be you need a third party to intervenes and helps you or sometimes you just need time. And it’s ok to tell somebody you know what maybe we should make the decision right now, let’s all wait until we are all feeling a little bit more calm about the situation”
- “the puzzle is constantly changing, it’s always dynamic”
- “I wish I had a mentor that would have guided me along the way”
- “find a mentor or at least a group of entrepreneurs that you can meet with, and you need to meet regularly”
- “I would recommend that you never stop reading and learning its absolutely the key to keeping fresh ideas in front of you”
- “make sure you know how to build a clear business plan”
- “build a business plan around purpose, people, process, price and profits”
- “the number one secret to success is surrounding yourself with people that are as smart or smarter than you are”
- “if you can understand the why you exist, you surround yourself with great people, and you have a culture that people want to work in, where clients want to come and join in, you have a great business”
- “always look to innovate, always look at what you are doing and say how can I do it better, how can I do it different?”
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