Say It Skillfully® – Mark Parsells Catapulting to the Top & Then…
September 21, 2021
Hosted by Molly Tschang
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Guest Information
Episode Description
Say It Skillfully® is a show that helps you to benefit from Molly Tschang’s expert guidance on the best possible ways to speak your mind at work in a positive and productive manner. In Episode 98, Mark Parsells, Founder and Managing General Partner Montpelier Ventures, shares a life journey that’s included Capitol Hill, running major, global multi-billion-dollar divisions for American Express, Bank One (Chase) and Citigroup, and being Chair and CEO of three private equity and venture backed FinTech businesses. Mark shares what it was like growing up the youngest of four boys with a minister-turned-entrepreneur father, who made being at the top the only option. He talks about difficult times at home and learning to embrace the truth that parents—and leaders—are people, too. Lively political conversations over dinner led to studying political science and then working for Senator H. John Heinz III, where Mark learned how things really work. Keen to cut his own path, he shares his decision process to business school and finding his way to the private sector (and his epiphany of a $20,000 summer internship vs. his annual Senate staffer salary of $18,500!). He chronicles his remarkable ascent and impact at American Express, where he succeeded at being entrepreneurial within the corporate bureaucracy—and was invited to the annual shareholder meeting to review his strategy that brought credit cards as a form of payment to government institutions for the first time in history. With humor, he recounts another epiphany of being a “terrible junior employee!” and is not bashful that he was horrible at taking feedback (and encourages you not to do what he did…). Unexpected twists and turns—in particular, a defining wake-up call overcoming lymphoma—and his time at Citicorp after being recruited by Father of the ATM John Reed and then a massive business turnaround for Sandy Weill are both sobering and inspiring. Don’t miss hearing how Mark went against everyone’s advice and chose to leave behind the world of corporate jets for his true north, one of happiness and no regrets. Learn how to navigate work while being invaluable and true to yourself. Molly’s thought for the week (Thank you Mark!): Do what YOU think is the right thing to do.
Say It Skillfully®
Tuesday at 8 AM Pacific Time/11 AM Eastern Time on VoiceAmerica Business Channel
Molly Tschang's Say It Skillfully® is a show that helps you benefit from Molly's guidance on the best possible ways to speak your mind at work in a positive and productive manner. She helps everyone from CEOs to interns to recognize that we are all both part of the problem as well as the solution, and that the path to solving any problem is to say what needs to be said.
Molly is a rare breed: tough enough to advise CEOs and company boards, but empathetic enough to understand the human costs of not allowing talent to shine. She has helped dozens of management teams navigate the human after-effects of mergers and acquisitions, and her show brings her expert guidance to a wider audience.
Say It Skillfully® every Tuesday at 8 AM Pacific Time/11 AM Eastern Time on the VoiceAmerica Business Channel.
Molly Tschang
Molly Tschang helps her clients' organizations gain the skills to Win As One, which most other companies never even try to do. She starts at the top, guiding management to commit to each other’s success and lead as one cohesive unit.
Molly is Founder and CEO of Abella Consulting, a New York-based leadership development and business advisory consultancy that helps senior leaders cultivate the collaborative capacity to elevate individual, team and organizational performance resulting in accelerated sustained, profitable growth. She created and hosts the “Say It Skillfully®” video series on LinkedIn, making it easier for all members of an organization to say what needs to be said in a constructive and productive manner.
Prior to launching Abella, Molly held executive leadership positions at Cisco Systems and U.S. Filter, where she led the integration of over 80 acquisitions. She holds a BS in chemical engineering from Cornell University and an MBA from UCLA. In 2017, Molly was selected from among 12,000 applicants to be a protégé of Marshall Goldsmith through his 100 Coaches initiative. In her downtime, she enjoys tennis, yoga and cooking with family and friends.
