THE EDGE NEWSLETTER

Times are tough right now. Very tough. “Duh” you may be thinking – I’m just stating the obvious. We are just coming out of a global pandemic. Remote and hybrid work are here to stay. The labor market is the tightest it has been in decades. And on top of all that, the global recession is racing towards us hard and fast. Yikes. It’s an extremely challenging time to be a leader.  I was recently speaking at an executive summit, and someone asked me my main focus during these turbulent times. Given the number of people who approached me and sent notes and comments after the session, seems my answer hit a chord. Although most leaders are heads down driving operational excellence (as they should be,) I suggested that we as leaders have another key role. What is it? Being the Chief Belief Officer. Huh? What’s that? Never heard of CBO?  Well, that’s because I made it up.  Before accomplishing greater things, one must believe. Believe in the company. Believe in the opportunity. Believe in the te

In nearly every conversation I have with a sales leader, people ask about my best practices for sales hiring. Having A+ sales reps is more important than ever, especially in this macro environment and tight labor market. So is there a secret sauce to hiring top salespeople? I argue that there absolutely is! But the secret may be counterintuitive to many… Why is it tough to hire the best salespeople? It should be simple. Sales is a numbers game, right? Can’t you just take a quick glance at a rep’s quota performance over time and then hire those who consistently crush their number? Unfortunately, that’s too shortsighted. Prior performance alone isn’t a predictable indicator of future success. (It is feasible for a poor performing rep to hit quota based on many other factors – great account book, inheriting active opportunities, huge inbound lead flow.)  Layer in a desire to build a diverse sales team, and again, we all need to broadly expand our aperture of where and how we are looking f

Ughhh…. My stomach dropped…  And my heart started racing.  I squinted and leaned in towards the computer to confirm my eyes were not failing me (they weren’t).  Even though I didn’t want to believe it… there it was: A response to an email my team sent to key customers and prospects earlier that day.  Now, normally, small typos don’t ruffle me — but this reply was different:It pointed out an unfortunate email snafu that we sent.  With me as the sender.  To 101,451 of our customers.  Yes, that’s A LOT of people. Not exactly the vibe we were going for… WHAT HAPPENS NEXT? I share how I responded to this mistake, and give you a 4 step action plan in this issue of The Edge - my monthly newsletter for executives. Check it out and let me know what you think. Subscribe to The Edge

Many (actually most) companies lack a strong strategic narrative. In my first years post-Tableau, while transitioning into advising, board work, and speaking, I met with literally hundreds of executives. Over these coffees, meals, and happy hours, I sat down with over 100 CEOs, more than 30 venture capitalists and private equity investors, and dozens of founders and go-to-market leaders to discuss best practices for growing and scaling a high-performing team.  The vast majority of these leaders were leading companies with disruptive and compelling products, with vast market opportunities. Yet, they all wanted to scale bigger, faster. And most felt they could be better at communicating their story to the world. Digging in, it was clear that many of these companies had internal alignment issues. Sales, Marketing, and Product teams were often on different pages. They had different ideas about what they should be building, who they should be selling to, and what exactly their future should

It’s Thanksgiving season. That time of year when holiday decor shifts from Halloween ghosts and goblins to fall signs saying “Thankful”, “In Gratitude”, “Grateful”, and “Blessed”.   We decorate our houses with pumpkins, scarecrows, and fall colors of orange, yellow, red, and brown. While we know how to create the aura and vibe of Thanksgiving, do we also take enough time to reflect on the true meaning of the holiday? We should, as the holiday’s name literally is “giving thanks”. Thanksgiving Turkey! For me, Thanksgiving is about gratitude. Giving gratitude to others and remembering to be personally grateful for what I have. Gratitude is more than just the occasional thank you or showering praise at a company all-hands.  Thanksgiving may be the time of year when we intentionally focus on gratitude, but now is a reminder that gratitude is a muscle we should build and use all year long, not just during this season. Being grateful is a state of being, and we all (myself included) would ben

Throughout my 30+ years in leadership, I constantly get asked:  What’s your top strategic priority?  Questioners seem to expect the typical answers: revenue growth, cost reduction, operational efficiency. But these have never been (nor ever will be) my top three priorities. Throughout my entire career, regardless of company, stage, or sector, my top three priorities have always been the same.  #1 Priority: People#2 Priority: People#3 Priority: People People develop products. People sell and market those products. People engage with your customers. People hire people. And people manage those people.  But the market is telling us that our people are at risk. We did some digging and found that 45% of sales professionals have explored a new opportunity in the past 6 months. That means HALF of your team may be ready to walk out the door…  Unless you start prioritizing what matters most to them. I’ve jotted it all down in the latest issue of The Edge – my monthly newsletter for executives. T