https://youtu.be/dxdFmUiiQds
Mark Josephson, Executive Coach, three-time CEO with three exits, Founder, Advisor, and Investor, is driven by a mission to empower leaders and think big to achieve clarity, purpose, and lasting impact in their organizations and lives.
We learn about Mark’s journey from leading three companies to successful exits to coaching leaders and teams to unlock their potential. He explains the Wouldn't It Be Great If framework, a four-step approach to setting ambitious goals: pushing away from the desk, asking bold questions, identifying what needs to be true to achieve them, and brainstorming without constraints. Mark also introduces the Balcony vs. Dance Floor framework, which helps CEOs balance strategic vision with operational focus. He shares lessons from his entrepreneurial journey and insights from his podcast Critical Moments.
Think BIG with Mark Josephson
Good day, dear listeners. Steve Preda here with the Management Blueprint Podcast. And my guest today is Mark Josephson, Executive Coach, three-time CEO with three exits, Founder, Advisor, and Investor. Mark, welcome to the show.
Thank you, Steve. I'm so excited to be here. Thanks for having me.
Oh, it's exciting to have you. You have built two companies up to exit. Oh sorry, three companies. That's very impressive. And you're advising other companies. And now you're going to advise our listeners, which is very cool. So, let's start with my favorite question, which is, what is your personal “Why” and what are you doing to manifest it in your practice?
Great question. I believe that we have a choice that we make every single day that we wake up to put goodness in the world or to take goodness out of the world. And I wake up every day, most days anyway, with the intention of helping the people I meet, the people I come across have better days than they did yesterday. It is that simple. I want to make a positive impact on the people around me. I will say that I have three goals as it relates to those “Why” more personally and I borrowed this from somebody else so I didn't invent this but it resonated. Number one, I want to stay married to my wife. And I'm specific because that's the most important relationship that I have in the world. We will be celebrating our 26th wedding anniversary next week. And we met in college and have been together for over 30 years. So it is the number one most important thing that I need to do every day is make sure my wife is happy. Number two is I want to be thin and fit and why I say that is because I want to live a long time. I want to be healthy. Another really important relationship in my life is with me and my health and well-being. So I want to take that seriously and the third goal, Steve, is that I want my sons and I'm blessed with three sons, 22, 20 and 17. I want them to call me when they need help. That's it. I'm going to be really happy and healthy and will die a happy man if those things are true.
It sounds like that's a great formula. Relationships, purpose, and more relationships. It helps. I mean, they say that these are the three most important things that are required for happiness, so, definitely, you seem to be on the right track. No surprises there. Well, before we talk about the framework, I'm curious about these three businesses that you ran and exited.
Sure.
Tell me a little bit about that. Is this, is all this private equity, what companies did you find them? How did you come about it?
Sure, so to start at 10,000 feet, I've spent 30 years in technology startups with being born and raised in dot-com one in the 1990s. And I was blessed to be at a high growth company that went public and sold. And I ended up having 12 different jobs in five years there, like truly a rocket ship kind of ride. That was a company called about.com. And I got my MBA in the world there. That was incredibly foundational for me. I have been the CEO three times.