Frazier & Deeter’s Business Beat: John Coleman, Author of HBR Guide to Crafting Your Purpose
John Coleman, author of HBR Guide to Crafting Your Purpose and Managing Partner at Sovereign’s Capital, discussed with host Roger Lusby his firm’s work investing in redemptive companies. John also covered themes from his new book, including why finding purpose runs deeper than just the “hero’s journey,” the elements of a life that build meaning, why relationships are a cornerstone of purpose, the role of purpose in the workplace, and much more. Business Beat is presented by Alpharetta CPA firm Frazier & Deeter.
John Coleman, Author of HBR Guide to Crafting Your Purpose
John Coleman is an investor, writer, and public speaker. A frequent contributor to Harvard Business Review, John and his work have been featured in Forbes, the Washington Post, the New York Times, the Financial Times, and the Los Angeles Times among other publications. He previously published Passion & Purpose (HBP, 2011) and How to Argue Like Jesus (Crossway, 2009). A frequent public speaker, John has addressed hundreds of audiences on college campuses, at conferences, and for corporations and non-profits.
In January 2022, John published HBR Guide to Crafting Your Purpose. John debunks three misconceptions about purpose at work: that purpose is found, that you have only one, and that it remains the same over time. Packed with tips and advice for how you can cultivate more meaning in your life and at work, this book teaches you how to endow everything you do with purpose each day.
John is a Managing Partner at Sovereign’s Capital, which invests in public equities, private equity, and venture capital. He has prior experience at McKinsey & Company, Invesco, and Bridgewater Associates, among others. He’s active in the community, with current or prior experience on the boards of Berry College, the DeKalb County School System, the Georgia Student Finance Commission, the Georgia Charter Schools Association, and the Georgia Independent College Association. He’s been recognized as a Term Member at the Council on Foreign Relations, a Presidential Leadership Scholar, and as one of both Georgia Trend’s and the Atlanta Business Chronicle’s “40 Under 40.”
John is a summa cum laude graduate of Berry College, where he was the student commencement speaker. He’s an MBA graduate with High Distinction from the Harvard Business School, where he was Class Day Speaker and a Dean’s Award Winner. And he’s an MPA graduate of the Harvard Kennedy School, where he was a George Fellow and a Zuckerman Fellow.
John lives in Atlanta with his wife Jackie, their four young children, and a menagerie of small animals, including a bearded dragon affectionately named “Bruce Willis.”
Sovereign’s Capital
Sovereign’s Capital provides capital and strategic partnership to values-driven, market-leading companies and funds with potential for outsized returns for all stakeholders.
Sovereign’s has four main practices: early-stage venture capital, lower middle-market private equity, fund of funds, and public markets.
Sovereign’s is distinct in its capacity to match values-motivated entrepreneurs with aligned investors, its ability to hold investments long term, its willingness to customize solutions to owner needs, and the excellence with which it executes through disciplined strategic, operational, and financial partnership.
Frazier & Deeter
The Alpharetta office of Frazier & Deeter is home to a thriving CPA tax practice, a growing advisory practice and an Employee Benefit Plan Services group. CPAs and advisors in the Frazier & Deeter Alpharetta office serve clients across North Georgia and around the country with services such as personal tax planning, estate planning, business tax planning, business tax compliance, state and local tax planning, financial statement reviews, financial statement audits, employee benefit plan audits, internal audit outsourcing, cyber security, data privacy, SOX and other regulatory compliance, mergers and acquisitions and more. Alpharetta CPAs serve clients ranging from business owners and executives to large corporations.
Roger Lusby, host of Frazier & Deeter’s Business Beat, is an Alpharetta CPA and Alpharetta Office Managing Partner for Frazier & Deeter. He is also a member of the Tax Department in charge of coordinating tax and accounting services for our clientele. His responsibilities include a review of a variety of tax returns with an emphasis in the individual, estate, and corporate areas. Client assistance is also provided in the areas of financial planning, executive compensation and stock option planning, estate and succession planning, international planning (FBAR, SFOP), health care, real estate, manufacturing, technology, and service companies.
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