8
2nd QUARTER 2014
THE PEOPLE-FOCUSEDCFOATQUEST
DIAGNOSTICS IS HELPING PUSHGROWTHAND
PROFITS—TO EVERYONE’S BENEFIT
Q
uest Diagnostics’ business is about
informing health care decisions. It’s
about being timely and accurate with
scientifically derived information. For
the medical test provider, everything rests on
people getting it right — and that includes
getting it right on hiring. Quest CEO Steve
Rusckowski faced that challenge when he
filled the key CFO position last summer. His
choice? Mark Guinan, who is friendly, open,
gregarious, and, in addition to having the right
set of financial skills, a great communicator.
Friendly, open, gregarious, communicative:
Is this the makeup of today’s CFO? Arguably,
yes; the best CFOs. It’s that emotional
intelligence that allows a good CFO to
transcend the job’s day-to-day demands and
become the CEO’s strategic partner.
Guinan is also a problem solver. He likes to
organize processes. Joining the company
last July, he arrived at the Madison, NJ, head-
quarters in time to help execute a five-point
strategy to drive excellence. Guinan had been
CFO of Chicago-based medical technologies
provider Hill-Rom Holdings Inc., and had
proved he could deliver capital efficiency.
Now he would do that and a lot more for the
country’s leading provider of diagnostic infor-
mation services, which range from advanced
genetic tests for cancer and rare disorders to
wellness checks for diabetes and heart disease.
Rusckowski, who himself joined Quest in
May 2012, wanted someone “operational” at
the company’s financial helm, Guinan says,
and Guinan has just that sort of proficiency.
But sit down and talk to him and you get the
distinct impression that he’s a people person
first and foremost. You’ll hear about his direct,
candid interactions with sales reps, customers,
and staff members. You’ll hear his thoughts
on coaching a staff, both to develop individual
performers and to give them the skills to
develop talent in their own areas. You’ll learn
that he has spent the majority of his career in a
business-partnering role, supporting sales reps,
business development staff, and R&D people.
- BY JULIE BARKER -
Photography by David Yellen
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