Steven Wilkinson

Background

About Steven Wilkinson

Working at the interface of finance, strategy and leadership, I partner with owners of human-scale organisations to master growth and create legacy businesses. About a decade ago, my wife told me that I was made for advisory work, but I didn’t listen because, after twenty years in finance and investment work, I thought that the only place I should be was on the “buy-side”.She was right.Today I love the intimate relationships that advising and supporting leaders of small and not-so-small businesses enables. I lead business owners through my proprietary FutureMapping process to create a Vision of Success for them and their companies and bring clarity to their medium-term intention and aspiration for the future. This transformational process is quite simply the most powerful leadership tool I know of and creates extraordinary energy and focus when it has been completed.Just over 30 years in finance and investment work, in leadership positions in both private and public companies has gifted me a wealth of insights and experience in all aspects of commercial life and the business of creating value. I have experienced some breathtaking successes and some gut-wrenching, horrible failures and learned more from the latter.I also love teaching entrepreneurs, business owners and enterprising employees who struggle to find confidence around numbers. I have evolved a program on Financial Fluency that allows them to understand the stories that their numbers are telling them and that builds critical confidence and competence around the language of business. My Vision is to have shared this program with 1 million students over the next 7 years.My work takes place at the intersection of business finance, strategy and leadership. I am happiest working with owners of human-scale organisations looking to create legacy businesses. I bring a few decades of “investor perspective” and a well-stocked toolkit and library to every relationship. I have been closely associated with the Small Giants Community since before its official founding in May 2009 and some of my best and closest business friendships have their roots in that community. I am also a Mentor in the Ryan Academy/UCD “Mentoring for Growth” program in Dublin, a long time supporter of Ashoka, the worlds leading support network for Social Entrepreneurs in both Germany and Ireland and am a board advisor and participant in the Birthing of Giants Growth Accelerator program based in NYC.