Leading Through Crisis: A $13 Million Lesson in Trusting God with the Outcome

with Mark Adelmann

 

In this episode of The Sharpen Podcast, host Steve Van Diest sits down with Mark Adelmann, a former CPA, CFA, church planter, and investment firm partner and CFO who is now an Acumen executive coach. Together, they look back at the small and large experiences that shaped him, from his early days as a baseball player and missionary to helping lead a firm through the 2008 crisis and a $13 million arbitration loss.

Mark shares what those seasons taught him about trust, the pull of “generally accepted” business practices, and why he now tries to do everything from a place of peace. He also talks about being stretched into private market investing after retirement, the value of stillness and journaling, and why the thing he missed most after leaving the firm was the team.

Mark Adelmann - Episode

 

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What You’ll Learn in This Episode

  • Why "generally accepted" business practices aren't always the right ones
  • How to lead a team through a crisis when you can't see the way out
  • Why doing everything from a place of peace can guide your biggest decisions
  • How to learn to hear and obey when you sense God's direction
  • Why God calls people to business, creativity, and government, not only to church work
  • How being stretched out of your comfort zone can build trust in what you can't control
  • Why stillness and a strong team keep a leader sharp

About the Guest

Mark has been a baseball player, CPA, missionary, CFA and public markets investor, and church planter. He was a partner and CFO at an investment firm for about twelve years and stepped into leading it through the 2008 crisis. After the firm was sold to a private equity-backed buyer, he retired and moved into private market investing and entrepreneurial startup work.

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Practical Takeaways for CEOs and Leaders

  • Question what's "generally accepted" in your industry, and ask whether it's right, not just whether it's allowed
  • When you see a problem coming, rally your team around it before it forces a crisis
  • Before a big decision, check whether you have peace about it, not only whether the numbers work
  • Ask "What do I need to know today?" before writing checks, hiring, or firing
  • Do your homework, then hold the outcome loosely. Skill and trust work together
  • Lean into situations that stretch you, and ask what you're afraid of
  • Journal regularly so you can look back on what you've learned during hard seasons
  • Build a team that's a little ahead of you and a little behind you, and that will disagree with you

Key Topics & Timestamps

  • 1:02 — Mark's winding career: baseball player, CPA, missionary, CFA, church planter, and CEO

  • 3:32 — Leading through the 2008 crisis, the $13 million arbitration loss, and keeping 95 jobs

  • 6:55 — Looking past "generally accepted" practices and what the crisis refined in him

  • 10:17 — Doing everything from a place of peace

  • 15:54 — Breaking the myth that church work is the "spiritual" path and business isn't

  • 16:47 — "Do you trust me?" Being stretched into private market investing after retirement

  • 22:42 — Stillness, journaling, and why he missed the team most after retiring

 

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