The perfect Setup
My surgery to remove a brain tumor in 2018 led me to want to share my work experiences and turn my adventures and observations into something that could provide not only the observations, but a unique leadership “playbook” or “roadmap” for people facing similar situations in business. The book focuses on five sections: Leading, Not Managing, Human Resources Tips (that HR may not approve of), Improving the “Work” in the “Work” place, bringing on the “dynamite” to remove work obstacles and rising more rapidly in your organization. Each section concludes with a series of actions you can take to build your own playbook in business in challenging times.
About the Author
Robert was born in North Carolina and lived throughout the U.S and in (West) Germany during his childhood, including going to three schools between 9th and 12th grade. He gained a strong interest for both history and traveling due to his experiences and went to Southwestern University in Georgetown, Texas, for his BA in history. As a side note, with no offense to Baylor graduates, Southwestern is absolutely the oldest university in Texas being founded in 1840 while Texas was still a republic.
He has lived in Texas four different times and in eight different towns in the state. Since graduation, he has worked at different companies in Arizona, Texas, New Jersey, and Virginia. He went back to school and got his MBA with concentrations in finance and IT from Auburn University in Alabama in 2000. Although the majority of his career has been in finance and consulting, he has also worked as a bicycle mechanic, caterer, dishwasher, optical technician, apartment manager, and communications coordinator. He migrated from traditional finance roles, including vice president of finance and CFO roles, into being a consultant in 2013. Since then, he has worked with a wide variety of clients including the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Panasonic, the Iowa University System, University of California-Davis, First Data (now Fiserv), and the International Baccalaureate, traveling to Singapore, Hong Kong, Macau, Sri Lanka, France, Colombia, Mexico, the UK, and Poland for his work.
He moved out on his own in 2018 by forming his own company, 636 Advisors, to continue to help both small and large clients. He is also working with PrimCorp, LLC is an award-winning SBA 8(a) certified and Service-Disabled Veteran Owned Small Business (SDVOSB) management consulting company with a U.S. Federal Agency. In his free time, he continues to practice guitar and other instruments and has been working some singing and playing into training sessions for various business topics. Genealogy is another of his hobbies through which he’s found he’s distantly related to authors Henry Wadsworth Longfellow and Louis L’Amour.
Robert has testified before a sub-committee of the U.S. House of Representatives on Shared Services as well as serving on the Joint Commission to improve the connection between Radford University and the City of Radford, Virginia. He lives with his wife in Southwest Virginia in the heart of the New River Valley. Opinions vary over how a river this far west got a name like New River, but the prevailing theory says it was originally left off a map and added later. Another point of trivia is the river runs north, which is fairly rare for rivers for some reason he doesn’t understand, but he plans to figure it out someday
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Testimonials
I’ve known Robert for more than 25 years. His insight and guidance were instrumental in the early success of my company. This book provides the same nuggets that Robert shared with us that helped Firespring become chosen as one of America’s 50 Best Workplaces by Inc. Magazine. There are many lessons to be discovered here, and I believe that everyone in business should read this book.
Jay Wilkinson
Founder of Firespring and The Do More Good Movement
This book offers stories that apply beyond business situations, providing insights to a broad range of subjects. The stories draw one in, like binge-watching episode after episode of a television series. Valuable insights for improvement will assist you regardless of your role or stage of your career.
Rob Rowan
Author of Foreign Currency Financial Reporting and Former Client
I’ve seen Robert’s work up close through his participation in the Shared Services Leadership Coalition, including his insightful testimony on the value proposition of shared services to a subcommittee of the US House of Representatives. This book puts his distinctive leadership experience to work, helping other professionals move forward in their careers and in their life journeys.
John Marshall
Founder and CEO, Shared Services Leadership Coalition