Marshall Glade

Managing Director, GlassRatner

40 Under 40 Category: Business Consulting/ Turnaround

Biography:

Marshall Glade, CPA, is a managing director at GlassRatner. He has worked on many engagements in various industries such as healthcare, technology, real estate, and transportation. Some of his most prominent cases include: appointed as chief restructuring officer at Campbellton Graceville Hospital; appointed as financial advisor to Ch. 11 Trustee to Hutcheson Medical Center; appointed by the VidSys Board of Directors as interim CFO; advised Arcapita, Inc. on multiple resort/hotel restructurings; advised Scholle IPN on the sale of their subsidiary Alchemix as financial advisor/sell side advisor (M&A) and advised equity investor on sale of TaxiCo as financial advisor/sell side advisor (M&A)

Marshall graduated from the University of Georgia with a Bachelor of Business Administration in accounting and a Master of Accountancy. 

Is there a piece of professional advice that you would give yourself if you could go back in time?

While the details are extremely important, it is important to gain an understanding of the big picture.  I would have made a greater effort to understand what my specific analysis would be used for so I could both make sure my analysis would be on target and grow more rapidly.  It is a balancing act, since there are only so many hours in the day, but at the end of the day you need to understand the bigger picture. Additionally, I feel I was too focused on the minutiae and details of my everyday tasks.  In retrospect, I would have made a stronger effort to develop a positive relationship with everyone I had interaction with.  Those relationships are the key in building a long-term career. 

What role has mentoring played in your career?

I recognized early on that everyone needs a coach. Even Michael Jordan and Tiger Woods had help assessing their goals and improving their performance. Throughout my career I have been very fortunate to have mentors who spent their extremely valuable time assisting my professional development. This was done through enhancement of specific technical expertise, leading by example and making time to assist with any complex or difficult decisions.  My mentors have allowed me an opportunity to both succeed and fail. They understand every situation will not be a resounding success and failing is a major part of the development process, and needs to be experienced.

I am also fortunate that these mentors recognized me as an individual and helped me develop my own voice and my own way of managing situations. I am able to apply specific learned skills from each mentor/mentee relationship to various situations, and also put my own spin on it.

However, it is important to understand that success in your professional career does not mean success in your personal life or vice versa. My mentors understand this dynamic and encourage growth in both areas. Accordingly, I have also sought and found role models and mentors for personal issues as well.

A rewarding mentor situation usually happens organically, but it is incumbent on both mentor/mentee to make that effort. Your work environment is a great place to allow that to happen. Many of us have jobs where you interact with a number of people on a daily basis. That allows an opportunity to develop a mentor/mentee relationship. I think it is important for young professionals to look around their company and see if strong mentor relationships exist or could exist. If that opportunity does not exist, I would recommend finding a different, better fitting company. 

What do you know now that you wish you knew when you first started your career?

“You don’t know what you don’t know.”

Listen, listen, listen and ask good questions. It is important to hear all issues and facts and ask the right questions. The right answer is not always the most obvious.  It is nearly impossible to step into a completely new situation and expect to be effective without the proper foundation. When I first started, I wish I knew it was acceptable to not know all the answers right away. The fundamentals of my job exist in reviewing all information and formulating a conclusion based on all information, not just the first bits of data received.

Keep an open mind and keep learning. If you stop growing, you will never advance in your profession.