Mark Wilson, CEO for Europe, Middle East and Africa as well as Asia Pacific at SYSPRO
Full Name: Mark Wilson
Position: CEO for Europe, Middle East and Africa as well as Asia Pacific at SYSPRO
Main Activity of the Company: SYSPRO is an enterprise resource planning software provider
Date and Place of Birth: Cape Town, on February 4 many decades ago
Schools and Tertiary Education: University of the Witwatersrand
First Job: Costing clerk
Career History Prior to Current Position: Siemens, Fujitsu, Siemens Computers, and then Fujitsu
Size of First Pay Packet: R1 500 a month
First Job with Present Group: CEO for Africa
Number of People under Your Leadership: More than 100
Management Style: Visionary, engaging and collaborative
Personal Best Achievement: Having a great family that followed me to Dubai and India on work assignments
Professional Best Achievement: Achieving business growth and customer centricity in many countries around the world
Person Who Has Had the Biggest Influence on Your Life: This is rather simple – my mother and father
Person Who Has Had the Biggest Influence on Your Career: I was fortunate to have had two people drive me away from finance and into business leadership at the start of my career
Person You Would Most Like to Meet: Kenny Daglish
Businessperson Who Has Impressed You Most: Warren Buffett
Philosophy of Life: Work hard, play hard; don’t be ‘weak’ – find solutions
Biggest Ever Opportunity: The move from FD to CEO
Biggest Ever Disappointment: I am still working towards a decent handicap at golf
Hope for the Future: I love South Africa and hope that one day we will eradicate the issues and start building the country again for all
Favourite Reading: Easy reading thrillers (Deon Meyer)
Favourite TV Programme: Liverpool on a Saturday afternoon
Favourite Food/Drink: Indian (Dosa) and a glass of wine
Favourite Music: The Pogues
Favourite Sport: Football and golf
Favourite Website: Any business or financial read
Hobbies: Golf, followed by good food and wine
Car: Mercedes-Benz
Pets: Two dogs and a cat
Miscellaneous Dislikes: Procrastinators
Favourite Other South African Company: There are so many creative entrepreneurs in the small and medium-sized space that are the backbone of our country that continually find solutions and remain relevant
Favourite Foreign Company: I appreciate the great family-owned businesses that have added value to society for generations and are not household brand names but are suppliers to industry; an example is Lallemand
Married: To Sandra, for more than 20 years now
Children: Two teenagers, Julian and Bela
Clubs: Pretoria Country Club