Leadership through change - Fireside talk with Greg Wolfe

This post is part of the Create Confidence series, where my goal is to help you on your leadership path – whatever that means to you.

A couple of months ago, Allocadia had the pleasure of welcoming Greg Wolfe, a Canadian B2B software tech veteran, to our Vancouver offices. Most recently Greg was the COO of Marketo (now Adobe) and in prior experience has been the EVP of Operations at Business Objects (now SAP) and the VP of Sales at Crystal Decisions – where I was once an intern many moons ago. Throughout Greg’s career, his involvement in companies has led to dramatic growth, radical transformation, and stakeholder benefits of over $10B in net returns. In his most recent endeavor, Greg played a key role in Marketo’s sale to Adobe for $4.8B, generating 300%+ returns, and all in an amazing two short years. We were fortunate enough to have Greg share some of his experiences with the Allocadia team, where common themes emerged regarding the necessity for constant transformation and the criticality of leadership to make things happen. Below are a few key takeaways:

1. Count the cards, make big bets, then make it happen. By far, my biggest take-away is the power of taking stock of what you do well (counting your cards) and from there placing focused bets. To set a foundation for transformation, your team ultimately needs to set a strategy and make choices – change is initiated by choosing both what to focus on, and what to say no to. Conversely, while it produces the least amount of resistance, staying comfortable is the worst path to be on. Nurturing a culture which demands and rewards intelligent risk taking, while potentially uncomfortable, is incredibly critical to success. Credibly challenging everyone to stretch themselves to constantly evolve an enterprise is the key to real leadership. This was a timely message for the team as, that very day, we dove into a big bet strategy at the company session, helping propel us further on our mission of bringing confidence to 8.1m marketers in the world. Greg then reminded us about the power of execution: Making it happen. We all know - and say - that change is ever constant in technology. Building on successes of the past, often builds confidence in the big bet, however it also means saying no to previous successes should they no longer fit your strategy. While this can bring individual changes, and company culture shifts, it will ultimately provide your team with the confidence to pursue their own big bet as passionately as they can. 
2. Growth and operational excellence are not mutually exclusive. Greg’s experiences at Marketo, Business Objects and Crystal Decisions, all involved transformations driven by making a few big bets, while simultaneously doubling down on operational efficiency. What I particularly liked about Greg's story was his focus on operational efficiency as the key to business-responsible growth, and not just a way to pad the balance sheet. Creating a company culture that challenges everyone to be as efficient as possible, creates opportunity to finance the next big bet. It gives you the opportunity to re-direct investments into areas that drive growth (the growth you want). A headset of prioritizing operational excellence permits organizations to transform rapidly toward high growth initiatives. Sound familiar?! :) It should to our CMO customers; At Allocadia we believe that improving your operational efficiency around investment management, not only saves you time, but it allows you to maximize your investments toward growth. Strategically placing these investments against corporate objectives, allows you to transform, and have the greatest impact overall. It's easy to look at operational efficiency as cutting costs, doing more with less, or working lean - but remember, what’s most important is what you do after operational efficiency! (Accenture's CMO report identified one of the top 3 ways that CMOs are transforming their organizations is by “re-wiring operating models for growth”. And BTW: they also talk about "rejecting a broken marketing culture", near and dear to our heart as we define the digital transformation of the Marketer Experience).
3. A powerful reminder: Good can change quickly in technology - don’t take it, or your customers for granted. We asked Greg what he heard from customers about Allocadia. He said, "everyone I talk to loves doing business with you." But, (and with a healthy dose of reality) he added "that can change quickly." This was a great reminder that making your customers happy today, and in the future, is an ever present, urgent, and deep focus for your team. Your opportunity is to always continue to deliver value. This never stops. Always look to the future.

This post is part of the Create Confidence series, where I share my own experiences, and stories from peers and team members, with an aim to help inspire you to create from yourself. We will focus on CMOs and marketers, but it can be for anyone! My goal is to help you on your leadership path – whatever that means to you – so you can go into the world and put your own stamp on it.

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