Transformational Leadership: Insights from Christopher Justice – Partner, CEO Coaching International.

You're listening to Bridges to Excellence.

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Inspired leadership in

payments and fintech.

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Justice: If you're a CEO,

an entrepreneur or a leader.

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Who wants to scale your company,

improve profitability and make

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decisions better under pressure?

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This should be the conversation for you.

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I've built and led and scaled

businesses, navigated a variety

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of major industry shifts, and led

multi-million dollar transactions.

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So today, we're gonna be discussing

leadership, scaling, and decision making.

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Around some real world strategies

that CEOs need to thrive.

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Welcome to Bridges to Excellence Podcast.

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Bringing you conversations

with payments most fascinating

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people on top of their game.

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Leaders, influencers,

experts, and innovators.

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Each weekly episode turns our

guests wisdom into practical advice.

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Their personal journey starts now.

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are meant to inspire and challenge

you to explore your possibilities.

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Here's your host, Desmond Nicholson.

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Desmond Nicholson: My guest today.

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Christopher Justice, a six time CEO,

with a track record of transforming

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businesses and delivering big wins.

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He's led the sale of four companies,

including a $415 million deal to

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spent over two decades scaling high

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growth startups and Fortune 350 Giants.

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Chris has held leadership roles

at Global Payments First Data.

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Now Fiserv and Concord EFS once

called the Porsche of Wall Street

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by Investors Business Daily.

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Christopher is an expert in M&A

product innovation and turning

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underperforming businesses around

as CEO of Pavilion Payments.

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He led a major transformation.

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Expanded into new markets like sports

betting and I lottery and launch AI

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driven projects, including a mobile

funding solution, handling $1.3

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billion a year.

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One of Chris's most notable

accomplishments was the 12 month

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carve out of a 30-year-old business

unit from global payments to form

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pavilion payments as CEO of CenPOS

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chris doubled profitability

before its sale to Elavon.

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As President and CEO of Merchant

Link, he led the expansion with

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cutting edge technology products that

secured key enterprise partnerships.

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Among them the likes of Best Buy,

Chris knows how to drive growth

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and execute bold strategies.

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Now let's dive into his insights

while gaining some actionable

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takeaways along the way.

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Mhm.

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Desmond Nicholson: Chris, welcome to

the Bridges to Excellence podcast.

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How are you today?

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Justice: Desmond, I am fantastic.

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It's great to be here and I

appreciate you inviting me.

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Desmond Nicholson: Well, I'm so

excited, uh, for this opportunity

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of catching up after so many years.

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It's, I would say about 20 years

since our time as First data

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merger of Concord EFS into First Data.

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I'm sure you remember that well

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Justice: Oh, abso, absolutely.

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Those were great times.

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Desmond Nicholson: Now Chris.

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someone just clicked on this conversation

and they consider listening for the next

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35 minutes or so, based on everything

that you do and have done in your

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professional career, can you tell me

exactly why you believe they should stay

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and listen and who should stay and listen?

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Justice: That's a great question, Desmond.

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I think if you're a CEO, an

entrepreneur or a leader.

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Who wants to scale your company,

improve profitability and make

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decisions better under pressure?

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This should be the conversation for you.

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I've built led and scaled

businesses, navigated a variety

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of major industry shifts, and led

multi-million dollar transactions.

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So today, based on our previous

conversations, we're gonna be discussing

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leadership, scaling, and decision making.

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Around some real world strategies

that CEOs need to thrive.

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Desmond Nicholson: Well said.

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Let's get on with it To begin,

can you share with us a quick

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introduction overview of CEO

Coaching International, its mission,

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and specifically who you serve.

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In other words, be your best fit client?

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We'll then circle back later to

get into some of the details on how

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you serve your prospective clients.

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Okay.

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Justice: Of course.

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So CEO Coaching International helps,

CEOs and leadership teams grow

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faster, increase profitability,

and really build world class teams.

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Uh, our make big happen

system or framework.

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Is based on real world experiences and

the 65 or so former CEO coaches that are

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part of the organizations have all scaled

businesses and sold companies themselves.

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So we primarily work with CEOs that

lead businesses from 10 million to,

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well over a billion dollars in revenue

across a variety of industries, from

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FinTech to SaaS software to gaming.

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Uh, in manufacturing

in a variety of others.

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But, fundamentally our core objective

is to meet CEOs where they are.

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Help them leverage the tools and

experiences that they have to achieve

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what they want to achieve, and help

them to avoid a costly mistakes along

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the way and accelerate their success.

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Desmond Nicholson: Thanks for sharing.

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Now, let's begin with your backstory.

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your early life, where you grew

up, schools you've attended, and

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of course, anything else you would

like to share over that time period.

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Justice: Well, of course.

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so I grew up in Louisville, Kentucky

and I earned my, economics degree

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from the University of Tennessee.

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and early on I was really fascinated by

how to scale businesses and how markets

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evolve and how leadership drive success.

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And that curiosity really led me to the

FinTech and payments business where I've

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spent the majority of my career scaling

businesses and launching new technologies

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and helping to drive major transactions.

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And that's really been the kind

of foundation of my overall

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backstory within the industry.

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Desmond Nicholson: How and

when did you get into payments?

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Take us through the highlights

of your career progression.

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Justice: Sure, yeah.

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I got into payments primarily because

I think it sits at the intersection

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between technology and consumer

behavior and business growth.

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Um, primarily from a payments perspective.

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I first got into the industry oof too

many years ago to remember, uh, but I

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led sales for Comdata Gaming Services.

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Uh, which was a private equity backed,

company that built the largest privately

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owned ATM network in the country.

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And we were also the leading provider

of casino payments, at the time.

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That business, itself, that Portco

was primarily or fundamentally sold

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to First Data, back in the day.

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That was my first stint with the company.

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and so have been in the payments

industry, in various parts of

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the payments industry ever since.

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I've also led a company called Respond,

which, developed and deployed the

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software to help financial institutions

back in the day manage off-premise ATMs.

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And we cultivated relationship

with some of the world's largest

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financial institutions to develop.

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Or to, actually manage

those off-premise ATMs.

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from there I went to Concord EFS, where I

led enterprise sales for the organization.

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and then after the acquisition by

First Data, I helped to, consolidate

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a number of individual or a bunch

of different business units within

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First Data into more of a cohesive,

enterprise sales organization.

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from there, if you remember the name Mike

Duffy, he had recruited me out of First

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Data to become the CEO of Merchant Link.

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And, that was my first role actually

as a CEO which was a very fascinating

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technology driven company, very much

in the enterprise payment space.

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help that company grow from

a single integration with.

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Micros to being a very diversified

business, connected into a number

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of different software partners.

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But we deployed the first commercially

deployed tokenization solution that,

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you'll see today actually in an

organization like Best Buy to develop

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that mile long receipt that leverages

payment, tokenization data to.

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Cultivate all of your past purchases to

then predict what should be the offers

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that they make to you to help bring you

back into the store, uh, more frequently

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to help drive incremental revenue.

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So other stops along the way.

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I helped to lead the SEMV

migration, uh, with Ingenico from

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a payment device manufacturer.

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but likewise, I'm really proud of

the time that I've spent with Global

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Payments because got us into sports

betting, helped to develop some really

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fantastic innovations such as the gaming

industry's first mobile cashless payment

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system, that helps to enable consumers.

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To walk up to their favorite game, eat

quickly and easily fund their favorite

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game, and deliver a lot of increased

safety and security to the player.

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we were able to, we were lucky enough and

fortunate enough to sell that business

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to, Parthenon Capital, and then spent

the next 12 months, driving a very

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complicated carve out of that business,

to create a standalone company, which

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today is called Pavilion Payments.

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So each one of those experiences really

reinforces kind of the power of vision

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and execution and building the right team.

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And those are a lot of the same

principles that I use today to help other

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CEOs grow and scale their businesses.

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So that's a little bit

about my background.

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Desmond Nicholson: Very good.

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it's now July 20, 24, 8 months as

of this recording, and you are a

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partner at CEO Coaching International.

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Let's pick up from here.

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What initially.

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You to executive coaching what

attracted you to CEO Coaching

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International in the first place?

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Justice: Yeah.

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after years of really leading

businesses, I realized that I could

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help other CEOs scale faster and

avoid pitfalls and build better teams.

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It's frankly, CEO is one of the

only jobs where you really don't

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have a boss, you don't have

somebody showing you what to do or.

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Teaching you the ropes, they

basically point you to the

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chair and wish you good luck.

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And I've been fortunate along, my

career path to have a number of

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fantastic coaches and mentors, a lot

of which, you've had on your podcast.

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And, you reach a point in your career

where giving back is a, very important

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element and being able to help unlock the.

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Treasure map for other CEOs to help them

do those things and effectively learn

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at to discount, one of those things

that I find, highly valuable in my life.

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CEO Coaching International,

by the way, is a perfect fit.

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I was a client of theirs, over

the last several years and after,

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completing the carve out, they asked

me to join the firm and, it was

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very much a perfect fit, primarily

because the Make Big Happen platform.

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or framework that, we use, is the same

one that I've used to scale businesses.

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It's fast, it's focused, it's

results driven, and, really, it's the

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combination of the framework, the great

people that are associated with it

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and the opportunity to give back are

all just incredibly important to me.

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Desmond Nicholson: Well, Chris, at this

stage in your career, you have amassed

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an enormous wealth of knowledge, skills,

and of course expertise in just about

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all levels of management and leadership

roles within the payments FinTech space.

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And so I'm sure you have battle scars

awards and the t-shirt to show, right.

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Justice: of course.

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Desmond Nicholson: Now, having said

that, from your vantage point, can

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you share your perspective on the

following three areas of influence

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within the domain of every CEO one,

leadership and CEO effectiveness, and

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two, scaling and business growth, and

three, decision making and strategy.

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Now starting with leadership and CEO

effectiveness, here's the question.

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What do you see are amongst the top tier

most common challenges CEOs face today,

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and how do you help them navigate these?

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Justice: Desmond, that's a great question

because everybody's different, right?

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We all have our strengths and

we typically wind up leveraging,

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especially as we matriculate on up

through the organization, we leverage

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our strengths to the extent that

we start to create blind spots and.

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Part of the work that we do is

to help CEOs really uncover and

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look at those blind spots and

help to fill in around those.

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But yet I still think that there

are about, four things that most

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CEOs still tend to struggle with,

especially, as they're growing.

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The first one is really

scaling beyond themselves.

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Far too many still try to do it

all themselves, especially from an

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entrepreneurial or a, you know, a

younger stage company business, where

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doing it all they lack the ability to

build a scalable team around themselves.

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Um, I think the second is really

making high stakes decisions.

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They second guess themselves

and then a lot of times they

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will wind up delaying execution.

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The third is around, um, aligning talent.

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They don't always have the right people

in the right roles, and that is 100%

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critical to the success of any business.

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You can't win championships without

the right players on the field.

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And then the last part the fourth

most important part is the ability

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to balance kind of long-term

vision with short-term execution.

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And growth in a business really

requires that you have to do both.

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Mhm.

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Desmond Nicholson: Chris, that's

such a powerful breakdown, and I love

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how you framed it around the real

struggles CEOs face as they scale.

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The point about scaling beyond

themselves really resonates.

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So many founders, especially

in the early stages, feel like

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they have to carry everything.

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On their shoulders.

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But as you said, that approach

eventually creates bottlenecks.

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I also think the challenge of balancing

long-term vision with short-term

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execution is one that even the

most seasoned leaders wrestle with.

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It's a constant push and pull.

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Staying focused on where the

company needs to go while also

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making sure that the day-to-day

operations are running smoothly.

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I would love to dive deeper into that.

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How do you help CEOs develop a

long-term vision while staying

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focused on short-term execution?

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Justice: So the vision really boils

down to what do they really want?

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And a lot of times, some CEOs

right, have great grandiose

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visions, which is fantastic, and

others don't think big enough.

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So we try to focus on truly what do you

want, but what do you want with clarity?

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Because there's a big difference in saying

that Desmond, you and I should meet in

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New York City to you and I should meet at

New York City next Friday at five o'clock

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at the base of the Empire State Building.

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That level of clarity starts to set

about a chain or chain reaction of

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events, of things that must happen.

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In order for us to meet

at that specific spot.

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So getting that clarity is really

key to the start of the formation of

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a real vision because you can work

backward from that real vision into

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what must happen within a defined set

of business operating rhythms that

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allow for incredible execution to

drive the results to get you there.

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Desmond Nicholson: Now tell me, how do

you differentiate between a good CEO?

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And a great CEO.

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Justice: Well, great CEOs really don't

just run a business, they transform it.

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And I think that also boils

down to about four things.

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I have one of which I touched on a

minute ago, and it's really around

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making high quality decisions

fast without analysis paralysis.

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You gotta get to it and make

the decision and move on.

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Second, you gotta surround

yourself with those A players.

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get a great team.

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Let them do their jobs, put

'em to work, make it happen.

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Three, relentlessly execute on

a strategy and a strategy that's

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built to win, not just to play.

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And the fourth is really adapting to

change and managing that change quickly.

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those are the four key elements

to me that makes a great CEO.

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Desmond Nicholson: Very good.

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what mind shifts are necessary

for a CEO when scaling a company?

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Justice: Well, I think scaling a

company goes from frankly thinking about

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things from an operator perspective

to becoming more of an architect.

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It's trusting and empowering the team.

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It's.

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Letting go of outdated playbooks

and thinking about how to put,

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modern capabilities in place.

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And it's about balancing short-term

execution with long-term strategies.

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A lot of times that shift in mindset

requires the CEO to think differently.

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So if you think about a general

who's on the field battling with

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a sword, if that's the case.

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Who then is directing the cavalry,

the archers, and the rest of the army.

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It's very important for a CEO, to be

working on the business as much as it is

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for them to be working in the business.

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And that's a critical area that

a lot of CEOs make mistakes.

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Desmond Nicholson: Good.

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what frameworks or methodologies

do you use to help, CEOs

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become more strategic thinkers?

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Justice: Well, there's, there are

quite a few frameworks that we use

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and a lot of those frameworks I think,

effectively are all very similar.

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So frankly, whether it's the

entrepreneurs operating systems, the

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four discipline that's of execution.

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frankly, CEO coachings

Make Big Happen Framework.

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A lot of them are very similar.

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it starts with that big vision that is

supported by huge, outrageous targets

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or the pillars that support what has

to happen or what must be true in order

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for the vision to become a reality.

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breaking those huge

outrageous targets down into.

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What are the specific and measurable

actions that need to happen over

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the course of the time period,

let's just say the next five years.

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Breaking that down into a quarterly

plan, and at that point, putting a

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business rhythm in place that then

measures our performance week by week,

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month by month, quarter by quarter.

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How well did we do.

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Where did we miss what

opportunities are ahead?

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What risks do we see?

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What have we learned in

continually making adjustments?

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So with all of those frameworks and

all of that activity, it's a lot like a

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plane that leave its, origin off track

90% of the way to its destination.

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A good pilot, or all pilots

effectively, continually make

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adjustments to keep that plane flying

to land safely at the destination.

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And so leveraging those frameworks and

leveraging those predictable business

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rhythms, that's how we're able to really

drive execution in a way that helps a

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business scale at levels that are beyond

what is typically the national average.

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Desmond Nicholson: Good.

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in your bio, it's mentioned that amongst

your most notable accomplishments was

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the 12 month carve out of a 30-year-old

business unit from Global Payments.

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I.

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To form Pavilion payments as a

standalone entity, of course,

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meeting aggressive timelines and

ensuring business continuity.

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No doubt, uh, it was a complex

and daunting undertaken.

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That being said, what were some of

the major hurdles confronted you

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in the process that you and your

team had to address and overcome?

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Justice: Well, Desmond, we are

gonna spend the next four hours

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talking on this conversation.

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the carve out was one of the biggest

challenges I've ever faced and

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actually one of the most satisfying

and fulfilling, things that I've ever

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done, because leading the carve out

was very much high stakes, a high

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speed transformation because over the

course of a 12 month process, we had

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to stand up a fully independent company

while maintaining business continuity.

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Under aggressive timelines while

extracting data from a platform that

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is not designed to share data, right?

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You remember your time at First Data

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Desmond Nicholson: Absolutely.

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Justice: is coming in,

it is not going out.

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So when you think about separating

a business right now, we've got to

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basically reverse the tracks and

that is an incredibly hard process.

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Um, and boy.

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There are so many great lessons

learned, but a lot of it

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really starts with strategy.

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What truly what do you want?

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What are we trying to accomplish?

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And as we start to define what do

we want to accomplish, and that

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means who do we want to be as a

company on the other side of this?

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What kind of service parameters

are we wanting to deliver?

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How are we wanting to deliver?

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Really defining all of those

aspects of who we are as a company.

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Then it starts to set about, a

cascade of decisions at that point.

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When you think about technology, is

this a lift and shift or a rebuild?

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How do we need to think

about what we're going to do?

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Are we just going to.

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Effectively replicate the problems of the

past or within this 12 month timeframe.

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Do we have the opportunity to think

about doing something different?

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And do we build that capability now?

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Or based on the timing, do we just need

to pick it up and move it someplace

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else and think about that later?

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So there's a lot of

conversation that goes in there.

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In our case, we chose a hybrid approach

so that we were progressively kind

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of extracting and rebuilding systems.

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To minimize disruption, but

yet we were still trying to

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future proof our operations.

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Fortunately, I'm happy to say we didn't

have a single minutes worth of downtime.

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The teams from both Global Payments

as well as my team at Pavilion did

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just an absolutely magnificent job of

orchestrating so much of the difficulty

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that comes from, carving that out.

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Execution speed with aggressive

timelines is another one because.

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Carve outs often stall because, we

execute it on time and on budget.

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But that really comes down to

having really solid execution

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sprints across all disciplines.

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And that becomes a very much a

coordinated effort of parallel work

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streams to prevent bottlenecks.

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It's around predefined decision

paths to try to eliminate delays.

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Which all boil back down to

the third point, which is a

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communication and alignment.

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And that is the success of a carve

out really comes from relentless

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clarity, cadence, and teamwork,

bringing everybody together.

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And that defined cadence.

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So some teams, we were doing

daily standups because of the

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criticality of what they were doing.

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It just required everybody to make sure we

were on the right path, on the right time.

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So we're gonna talk every

day about what's going on.

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In other cases, it's weekly

executive check-ins, all of

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the teams coming together.

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What do you need from me how can

I help to eliminate roadblocks?

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How do I knock the things out of

the way that are slowing you down?

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All of that then coordinated

through a PMO process so that

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we had a single source of truth.

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That ensured that all

decisions were data driven.

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There wasn't any thought process

around, oh, I think I heard this.

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No, no, no, no.

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We are gonna go find out exactly

what the proof points were, what

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the decisions needed to be made,

and we're gonna move forward.

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And that allowed us to effectively

update with everybody transparently.

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And so we did have a elevated

source of communication so

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that everybody on all teams.

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No matter whether they were involved

in the weekly or daily standups or

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what have you, there was at least

a minimum of weekly communication

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coming out, holistically telling

everybody what was going on.

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Because let's face it, with a carve

out, especially if you were one of

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the people that was migrating from

Fortune 350 Global Payments to a new

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standalone private equity backed entity.

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Um, there's some concern, right?

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Your 30-year-old employee leaving

a Fortune 500 company to go off

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to this little unknown entity.

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It's scary.

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So we wanted to make sure that our

teams were continually updated.

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Here's what we're doing, here's how it is.

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We may now have all the answers,

but we're working on 'em.

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You can have trust.

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The fact that we are

leading from the front.

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We are doing everything that we can

possibly do to make sure that this

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thing is going to be successful.

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And so we really focused on that.

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And so while carve outs often exceed

budgets by 20 to 30%, we really stayed on

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track because we did zero based budgeting.

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We did some some vendor renegotiations.

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We had red flag reviews where we

had immediate escalation processes

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when things were coming up.

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But at its core, Desmond, this all

boiled down to just crystal clear

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conversation continuously to make sure

that we were keeping people informed,

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Desmond Nicholson: Wow.

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The ultimate juggling act

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Justice: flaming swords.

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Yes,

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Desmond Nicholson: yep.

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Justice: I.

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Desmond Nicholson: And of course, a

follow up question to that, uh, what

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advice would you give to the CEO

of a company faced with a similar

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challenge of carving out a business

unit to make it a standalone entity?

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I.

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Justice: Well, first and foremost I

would say this the number one thing you

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could say to a CEO around every decision.

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They gotta make, assemble your A

team, get the leadership team on

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board that's going to help you get

this done and do it very, very well.

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You gotta define then the roadmap

of what it is that you want.

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It's a crystal clear vision.

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Start from there, work your way back with

a clear roadmap because that helps to set

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about all of the incredible milestones

that you need to hit along the way.

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the third piece, and I think this is

incredibly overlooked by most, and

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that is secure the right advisors

that you need to augment your team.

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You can't have an a team

in every discipline.

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Especially disciplines like a carve

out where you don't need people,

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in certain roles for a long period

of time, like a data migration.

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we're migrating, Google Cloud data

from Global Payments into Pavillion

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I'm not gonna need that migration

team long term, but I do need people

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that are the Michael Jordan, Scotty

Pippin of, data migration people to

446

make sure that we don't lose data.

447

So make sure you got the right

advisors to help in that process.

448

and then fourth and foremost, over

communicate with your stakeholders.

449

From our perspective, it's over

communicating with the management team.

450

It's over communicating with the people,

doing the work at the lowest level,

451

making sure that everybody understands.

452

The lead, the vision, the leader's intent,

where we're going, when we need to get

453

there, how we're going to get there.

454

It's communicating with Global

Payments, it's communicating with the

455

executive steering committee at Global.

456

It's communicating as well

with our sponsors at Parthenon.

457

So.

458

Make sure everybody

understands what is going on.

459

'cause a carve out is like a startup.

460

Desmond Nicholson: Mm-hmm.

461

Justice: act fast, but you

gotta execute strategically.

462

If you want to be able to

get it done with success.

463

Desmond Nicholson: Sage advice indeed.

464

Now, let's switch gears for a moment

to the personal side of things.

465

Mhm.

466

Desmond Nicholson: What role

mentorship played in your career?

467

Does any one person comes to mind?

468

I.

469

Justice: Oh, mentorship has been huge.

470

one of my first mentors told me, be the

person who solves the hardest problems.

471

And, frankly, that mindset has, helped

shaped my leadership style over the years.

472

Right.

473

Really leaning into

challenges and not avoid 'em.

474

And, I think that's evident in

the conversation that we were

475

just having about the carve out.

476

You gotta lead from the

front and take action?

477

Desmond Nicholson: Well, Chris,

as you're aware, uh, there are

478

all kinds of leadership styles.

479

How would you describe your style

of leadership, your approach, and

480

the guiding principles behind it?

481

Justice: That's a good question.

482

I think folks would describe me as

very collaborative, but yet decisive

483

results driven and focused on

building those high performance teams.

484

So.

485

My, approach is very much around

setting that clear vision and the clear

486

goals that are associated with it.

487

Hiring the best people, trying

to remove the roadblocks as best

488

I can so that they can execute.

489

'cause I believe that, leadership is

about alignment and accountability

490

and not micromanagement.

491

So get the best people on the field

and let 'em do their best work.

492

Desmond Nicholson: Good.

493

over the years, CEOs and business

leaders have shared their thoughts

494

on the phrase work life balance.

495

What does that mean to you?

496

Justice: Hmm.

497

Desmond Nicholson: you

phrase it differently?

498

Justice: Yeah, I think I've got phrase

it different because for me it's about

499

work life integration, and it's about

being a hundred percent present, wherever

500

you are with whatever you're doing.

501

And so whether it's leading a company

or spending time with the family, it's

502

about work life integration because,

um, I think all of us, once we reach

503

the C-suite level, and frankly, even

down below, we're taking calls on the

504

weekend, we're working on holidays,

we're taking our laptops on vacation.

505

there's not a time when we're

not necessarily all on, we need

506

to be incredibly on and focused.

507

Doing whatever it is that

we're doing at that time.

508

Desmond Nicholson: Chris, you're

not busy working, how else do you

509

spend your downtime besides rocking

it out at the Eagles concert?

510

At venues like the Sphere in Vegas?

511

Justice: Oh, you saw that, did you?

512

Which by the way, if you go to a

concert at the Sphere, it will ruin

513

you from concerts anywhere else.

514

166 thousands speakers programmed

to put music in your skull like

515

you were in a recording studio.

516

It is absolutely unbelievable.

517

Sorry.

518

Now what was your question?

519

Desmond Nicholson: So besides

attending concerts at the spare,

520

how else do you spend your downtime?

521

Justice: Oh yeah, so, my wife and I enjoy

doing a lot of off-roading together.

522

We do that white knuckle stuff

that you see on YouTube, rock

523

climbing in a highly modified Jeep.

524

I also have a legendary arsenal,

so I've got a lot of, friends

525

throughout the industry that.

526

Come to Las Vegas and we go shoot,

steel targets act out to 1,550 yards.

527

Um, so like to do that.

528

certainly concerts, sporting events.

529

I never would've thought about moving or

living in Las Vegas, for many decades.

530

But now that we're here,

wow, what a great place.

531

incredible food, incredible entertainment.

532

Just a terrific place to be.

533

Desmond Nicholson: Great.

534

we'll be right back

with our final segment,

535

The lightning round bridges to

excellence, inspired leadership

536

in payments and fintech.

537

Desmond Nicholson: Chris, in, this

segment, I pose a question and you respond

538

with a single word or a sentence or two.

539

Here we go.

540

What is the best career

advice you have ever received?

541

Justice: Make decisions

with imperfect information.

542

Speed matters more than certainty

would be my response to that.

543

Desmond Nicholson: What is a cause

that is important to you and why?

544

Justice: Education and leadership

development really hits my hot button.

545

It's really helping that next generation

of leaders to be able to scale faster.

546

Desmond Nicholson: What one book would

you recommend to our listeners and why?

547

Justice: Playing to Win by Roger Martin.

548

It's a masterclass on what

it takes to win, not just to

549

show up and play the game.

550

Desmond Nicholson: What is your

favorite quote in leadership

551

or otherwise that inspires you?

552

Justice: If you plan for nothing,

you'll get there every time.

553

Desmond Nicholson: How would you

define yourself in one or two words?

554

I.

555

Justice: Relentless.

556

Desmond Nicholson: What is one thing

that has you fired up right now?

557

Justice: Helping CEOs scale faster.

558

Many have no idea what's truly possible,

and I see firsthand every day how guiding

559

these folks can truly help them take

their businesses to amazingly, new levels.

560

Mhm.

561

Desmond Nicholson: Chris, it's

great catching up and have you

562

new on the to Excellence podcast.

563

As we're about to wrap up, is there

anything you want to add or that's

564

important for you to talk about?

565

I.

566

Justice: I would think back to

the audience for the things that,

567

we've been talking about today.

568

Success in business really

comes down to three things.

569

Getting crystal clear about what

you want, putting that elite team

570

around you that can do what needs

to be done, and then being very

571

focused on executing relentlessly.

572

And if you can do that,

you can make big happen.

573

Desmond Nicholson: Good.

574

how can someone get in touch for more

information on your CEO coaching program?

575

Justice: Oh, you can certainly send me an

email at, chrisJustice@ceocoaching.com.

576

Or I'm sure you can put, contact

information in the comments

577

or however you wanna do it.

578

Desmond Nicholson: Well, that's

our conversation for this week.

579

Our guest, Christopher Justice

partner at CEO Coaching International.

580

Chris, again, we thank you.

581

I.

582

And to our listeners, thanks for your

continued support, and remember to

583

hit the subscribe button on Apple

Podcast, Spotify, or wherever you

584

listen to your podcast, so as never

to miss an episode never forget.

585

The more you expect from

yourself, the more you excel.

586

You've been listening to Bridges

to Excellence podcast, inspired

587

leadership and payments and fintech.

588

Be sure to join us next time for more

conversations with another of your

589

colleagues in payments and fintech.

590

Insightful conversations in their

journey to excellence for transcripts

591

and other materials covered on the show.

592

Visit us at DesmondNicholson.

593

com.