#029 | Mentor Series – Mark Horstman with Manager Tools

April 20, 2020

Episode Summary

In this episode, Mike and Maggie kick-off their new mentor series with a discussion with Mark Horstman, the co-founder of Manager Tools. Manager Tools is a management consulting firm with a dual mission to make every manager effective and every professional productive. Mark co-hosts a podcast also called Manager Tools, which has millions of downloads a month and has won tons of awards, being named the world’s best business podcast. We have a great discussion with Mark as he shares his wisdom on money, work, happiness, retirement, lean living, and more.

Episode Notes

Mark Horstman is an incredibly accomplished business leader and personality. He graduated from West Point, served in the military for many years, had a successful business career, and now has two popular business and career podcasts (Manager Tools and Career Tools). He runs a successful consultancy firm, Manager Tools, and has written two books (The Effective Manager and the Effective Hiring Manager). And on top of all of that, he’s a father of 7! He’s accomplished a lot throughout his life, and shared his wisdom and life experiences with us.

We tap into many topics throughout this discussion, from how Mark grew up, to what he taught his kids about money, his favorite books, and his views on productivity and retirement. Mark shares his views on “lean living,” which is a term he coined that was inspired by lean manufacturing and lean supply chains. Mark also shares some of the things he’s been doing to save money lately.

Mark talks about the concept of “race don’t chase,” which he has multiple podcast episodes on. The race don’t chase concept is from the business world, but heavily applicable to personal finance. Race don’t chase is the concept that when the market turns and things start going down, what you’re supposed to do is cut your expenses faster than your revenue drops. You race your revenues to the bottom of the market, so you can be profitable even when your revenues are going down.

Mark leaves us with some final wisdom and life advice to 1) tell the truth, 2) be kind, 3) save and do not fall into the trap that the things you have will bring your joy, and 4) give back. Mark has been podcasting for 15 years and also shared some great advice with us on podcasting.

Please listen to enjoy all that Mark has to share!