What kind of bear has no teeth?
A gummy bear.
I actually used that in a meeting the other day. We were all stressed and I wanted to put some smiles on our faces. Whether you like corny jokes or not, I love adding a bit of fun to meetings. It’s how I’ve always approached my business career, pairing a touch of lightheartedness (go ahead and google me on The Daily Show with Jon Stewart – Mach Trial) with a lot of blood, sweat and tears.
I’ve known what I wanted to do since I was in high school, when I was president of the marketing club and already devising a plan for how I’d crush my goals and rise to the top.
Of course it hasn’t been a straight trajectory; more of a roller coaster, actually. Twenty-five years ago, the business world was still largely a man’s game (and much of the tech world still is) so wanting to be a woman at the top has demanded a unique approach.
Perhaps my love for marketing and business in general has helped me in that area. I’ve learned how to position myself and how to walk the talk. I’ve cultivated a reputation for having both hard and soft skills, and delivering on the financials. Keeping in mind my overall wellness and that of my team and family makes me a better person – and a better leader.
Empathic Leading (Yawn)
Back when I was a marketing director at a large healthcare company, the department VP told me this: “The good thing about you is you hit numbers, but what makes you different is you take the team with you.”
High praise from a much admired business leader. I like to think of it as a combo of art and science; or, data coupled with my gut and experience. It’s about driving your team (and yourself) to excel, while not killing yourselves in the process. It’s about inspiration and understanding … and dare I say, empathy?
My strategy for building dynamic, successful teams has been to live at the intersection of both a top/down and bottom/up approach. It can be a difficult place to reside, but I think that’s where you find a lot of beauty.
When I moved into the tech world about six years ago, I naively had no idea what I was getting myself into. I took over leadership of a MSP sales and marketing department and within 13 months, brought their growth numbers into the double digits. They were soon acquired by a large, national MSP—and I took over a national position.
Yet I’ve always found start-ups interesting, and since I have a bit of a reputation as a change agent, I thought a start-up would be a great fit. I was also super interested in start-ups that were headed by people with solid leadership experience. (Again gravitating towards that yin and yang!)
And when I heard about Channel Program, it just felt right.
Disrupting the Channel. Supporting the Team.
Being part of a start-up’s journey speaks to both sides of my brain. I’m excited to positively influence and disrupt the IT Channel – the purpose of Channel Program (where I’m Chief Marketing Officer) – with a marketing-driven focus (something that’s historically been lacking in the Channel). And when things get tough, I’m here to remind the team (including our founders and leaders, Kevin Lancaster and Matt Solomon) that we can still dance in the rain, have some fun, and support each other through both the muck and the mountain top moments.
I love this article about empathy and leadership, focusing on the need for heads of companies to think about others in all they do. “Empathy makes you a better innovator,” according to Microsoft CEO, Satya Nadella. (Did you know there’s a Global Empathy Index that uses hard data to measure the impact of empathy in business?)
No one loves to hit numbers more than me – irrefutable proof of hard work and the resulting success – but the integrity of the path is just as important as the result. I believe we can achieve massive success while supporting and encouraging our teams, having fun, and making space for feelings in the often cold world of business. Some days I feel I accomplish the balancing act. Many I don’t. But I keep trying because I firmly believe it’s the way forward. In fact, during a time when war is raging in Europe, and division seems more common than cooperation, I think it might be the only way forward.
Sure, I’ve headed up marketing teams at Fortune 500 companies, executed high-profile product launches, and consistently surpassed financial targets; but, I’d like to think my value (and everyone’s value!) runs much deeper than that. Support, communication, working hard but just as importantly working together to bring out the best in each other is what both business and life should be about. It’s what we’re about at Channel Program, helping to connect technology vendors and IT service providers in a meaningful, organic way so that we can all do and be better; and it’s what I’m about, too.
Is it an easy out to be a woman in tech who talks about the importance of warm and fuzzy things like empathy, support, and cooperation? Maybe. But when you do so and hit your numbers, people start to listen. And men at the top of major corporations are finally talking about these things as well, so I know I’m on the right track. Yes, I believe we can have it all.
The business world is finally catching up.
What’s better than a laugh? Tell me your best corny (and clean) joke! And if you’re in the Channel, sign up for our next Pitch event, and log onto Explorer (more on that next month!).
