NOTE: For this post – I’m deliberately cutting the timeline off of this role call to mid 2016, as I still have a number of mentos prior to this period that I’m working with today – let alone the team I joined while at Virtustream.
Over the years, I have been incredibly blessed in so many ways. I have had some incredible coaches and mentors in nearly every job and many of my academic settings as well. These people have served as crucial voices at the exact right time.
In summary – these mentors possess all of the following characteristics in common – these are characteristics I intend to cultivate at work and beyond – on a daily basis:
- A willingness to invest
- They are real humans, being
- They lead with integrity
- A willingness to take a risk –
A few come to mind over the course of my career:
- My initial District Sales Manager (Jeff) and Circulation Director (Lana at The Times Argus when I started on my paperboy career. It was due to their coaching that I eventually landed on my mission of becoming the Times Argus Paperboy of the Year. Which I never achieved, although I learned an incredible lesson and got to go to Europe for nearly 2 weeks instead. Talk about a swerve of fortune. The lessons learned during this stint are still in many ways shaping my approach to all of my work. Likely worth a post in the upcoming weeks.
- My original boss and a subsequent boss (Mike) at Subway – he took a chance on me as a no experienced, completely green, and highly motivated kid at 16 to begin working for him. I learned discipline, routine, trust, and a commitment to the team from the time here with these men.
- A few on campus bosses at Babson that enabled me to begin to scale my technology career. Working over at the new graduate school taught me flexibility as I learned how best to help the MBA community from varied backgrounds – typically within highly pressurized situations. My boss, Scott, was very flexible and very much focused on coaching me up on the interpersonal dynamics that I was still very green in learning. In many ways, I was still a country boy from Vermont… I thought I was going to get fired a couple times given the reactions from the MBA students, and every time he helped me navigate to a better stance for the next MBA that was freaking out about their inability to print, among other things. Looking back, this was a tremendous opportunity that Scott helped me with.
- A few real estate professionals at one of the most well known real estate firms in Vermont, based out of Montpelier – Heney Realtors. Tim gave me a shot after I proposed an approach to self develop my first internship, jointly with him. He was open to giving me a chance to help him, and everyone in the office was interested in cultivating the goals that ultimately resulted in a new/first website for them. Humility and results were two things that were huge takeaways. I also learned how to really get good at tying ties. This internship unlocked my love of technology and the transformative effects it could have on business. I went in thinking I wanted to be in real estate, and left that internship convinced I was a technology / business transformer…
- My ‘assigned’ mentor at Raytheon and my boss at Raytheon. Learned a lot from both men in terms of becoming a deliberate professional. Both Guy and Dan were always focused on the mission, and doing so in a way that was enjoyable – some would even say fun.
- A number of managers and colleagues at Instinctive and at eRoom. I advanced a ton in terms of my professional and personal development during this timeframe. It was a safe and compelling culture that I was blessed to be a part of. Anytime I run into the team from those days, it is invariably a smile and story. Chris, Jim, Peter, Glenn, Toppie, Melanie, Melissa, and many others really brought me along in terms of understanding that it was just as important doing the job well as it was doing it in the right manner as part of a team. I could have used some more seasoning here in this shop, but I was enamored with working for another mentor that I met at the time – Dave.
- My leadership at Starwood, and a number of folks on the team from those days are even today very close friends. This is where I learned that the team is the key, and to ensure everyone has a clear role aligned to their career interests. I also was mentored by a few key partners from IBM / Rational (Scott) and Surgient (Tom). Incredible opportunities for growth were realized here. My original boss (Dave) at Starwood promised me the professional and skills development that I yearned for – he delivered it big time. He also taught me what it meant to be a servant leader, and what it meant to truly be yourself. My second manager (Pam) was especially tough and she demanded a lot out of me. She was especially focused on results, and I learned the approach of ‘each day the scoreboard is reset to zero.’ The work ethic she cultivated in me, has been among the best gifts I received in my career. She also took a chance on me, and always supported the team in our mission.
- My leadership at Prolify. I met a man (John) here that has served as an ongoing inspiration for me, and many days he kicked my ass up and down the flight paths we were on as we navigated cracking open the US market for an early stage Israeli startup. Incredibly tough boss, incredibly fair boss, and especially demanding as he he knew I could be pushed, hard. Beyond all of this, I witnessed what it meant to lead as a human being with integrity and authenticity. Many life lessons here from this time not only from John, also from other executives. The leadership team here was on many days, compelling and invigorating.
- My leadership at EMC and VCE. I joined EMC in 2008 based upon some strong recommendations from a couple of women that were kicking down doors at EMC that I had worked with previously at Starwood. I was told on the way in that the ‘cream rises to the top here’ by my hiring manager (Mark) as he encouraged me into unique assignments that I did not have the tenure or ‘right’ to be assigned to. He took me up on my ask to put me into tough situations. He was right about getting a chance to succeed at least from what I have seen over the years. I was sponsored at varying times by senior executives (Jon, Kathy, Mike) into new roles that were seemingly major stretches. All were especially demanding advocates for me personally and professionally. Beyond these executive sponsors, a senior leader – deliberately not of title, but of stature – Bob – took me under his wing and provided a substantial amount of coaching as I contemplated the trajectory of various moves that were made along the way. Some very hard days found me calling him up to get some guidance, and when he left EMC a few years ago – it was a turning point for me in some ways.
- I also managed to secure two incredible bosses at VCE (Bob) and at EMC (Kevin) that pushed me harder in my career than at any other point up until my current set of assignments at Virtustream. I’ll characterize all of my main mentors at EMC/VCE prior to my current assignments at Virtustream (pre June 2016) as people of integrity, grit, willingness to take a risk, and the attitude of winning. One other thing that characterize each of them is that they all asked, no they demanded, the seemingly impossible of me and of my teams. There are so many other relationships that were developed during this time that were also mentoring relationships and coaching relationships – many cases friendships.
There are a number of mentors I have left off, many of which were colleagues that provided me peer level or executive level guidance. Many of which I’m still connected to today, and likely to give me a punch for not examining the non-boss mentorship I’ve received. I’ve likely missed a boss or two along the way – this post is intended to offer some useful guidance, and it is likely incomplete…
So what’s the point to this walk down memory lane?
Well, I had originally intended to share some time I have spent in the past week with two key mentors, but I stopped short of that post. As I began writing that article, it dawned on me that I have been really blessed along the way with so many people that enlisted in my mission at the time.
So what did these leaders infuse into my makeup along the way?
- Willingness to Invest – These leaders and my mentors all invested into me as a person. They sought to cultivate something in me. They invested time in some cases. They invested coaching. They invested brutal honesty. They pissed me off and they were willing to invest the sometimes juvenile backlash that would hurt the output coming from me. They taught me something. They gave a damn in me as a person. This compelled me to do my damnedest for them and for the team.
- Real Humans, Being – These mentors in every single case – were firstly human with me. They offered up their challenges. I can remember a number of these folks sharing with me what they were up against. Sometimes it was to bounce ideas, other times it was to offer an explanation (which looking back was not warranted), and all cases it was not to dump their accountabilities down to me as the employee/mentee. They were totally okay being flawed, and readily admitted that they were doing their best to help me/the teams out. This level of transparency remains inspiring.
- Integrity – All of my mentors displayed an incredibly immutable integrity. I am wired to be attracted to this characteristic, and this is likely the reason why I chose to work with these folks.
- Risk – All of the mentors that I have had in my career have displayed a willingness to take a risk on me. In looking back, it was a calculated risk on their part given their discernment of my makeup, and the reciprocal effect it has when I know that someone has put their rep on the line on my behalf.
These are all characteristics that I aspire to unleash in all of my interactions – not limited to my working hours. Certainly for those on my current team, I aspire to invest into you, being real with you, leading with integrity – even if it may hurt, and definitely being open to taking risks to further things for your development.
As I have kicked off the 84 days of bare knuckles, I have been blessed to have a couple mentors reach out. The unexpected benefits of this 84 day journey have already begun to materialize in refreshed connections.
The journey continues.