Todd Kobus.

• Author: Heffes, Ellen M.
• Position: Balance Sheet

Like a sports pro recruited to don the jersey and play for his dream professional sports team, Todd Kobus said he was working in Australia for KPMG when he got the call for the job with the NBA's then-Vancouver Grizzlies. His response: "Which plane do you want me on?" An avid basketball fan who says he lacks the height and the talent to be on the bench, Kobus believes he got the next best thing by combining his finance and accounting talents with his sports passion--to land the job of his dreams.

Title: Vice President, Finance

Company: Memphis Grizzlies, National Basketball Association (NBA) Franchise and FedExForum (arena under construction; due to open September 2004).

Born: North Vancouver, Canada; Feb. 11, 1972

Fiance: Stephanie; plan to marry in May 2004

Education: BBA, Simon Fraser University, 1996; Chartered Accountant, 1997

Career Summary: 1993-97, KPMG, Vancouver, Canada; 1997-98, KPMG, Sydney, Australia; 1998-2000, Director of Finance, Orca Bay Sports & Entertainment (owner of Vancouver Grizzlies, Vancouver Canucks, General Motors Place); 2001-present, Vice President, Finance, Memphis Grizzlies & FedExForum. (Memphis headquartered FedEx Corp. has naming rights for the new arena.)

FEI Chapter: Memphis

Leisure: "Soccer, snowboarding, travel, avid sports fan and former ice hockey and basketball player. I was a Canuck (hockey) fan and sports-card collector. Fortunately--with the accountant in me--I kept my hockey cards neatly in number-order, and now my collection is quite valuable. Also, with no NBA basketball franchise in Vancouver, I drove three hours in an old car to see the Seattle SuperSonics play. When the Grizzlies franchise came to Vancouver, I was an inaugural-season ticket-holder."

Time Management: "Keep meetings effective and focused; ensure that you take time weekly to focus on longer-term important strategic items, and not get caught up in smaller day-to-day details; set daily 'work' time with no phone or email interruptions."

Stress Management: "Maintain a strong balance of work and personal priorities. Work hard while at work, but always make sure to take time away for your family and personal life and, most importantly, to leave the work behind when re-charging your battery."

Favorite Deal: "Relocating the Grizzlies franchise from Vancouver to Memphis in 2001. We spent months researching and doing due...