Before You Take Your Next Step David Rhoden

Transforming Organizational Culture - Ivy Kusinga, SVP and Chief Culture Officer, Chubb Ltd.

Today we welcome the very inspiring and interesting Michael Merchant. Michael shares with us his experiences from working at IBM to starting his own consulting company and his lessons learned during the process including some very interesting projects and personal development. We also discuss his non profit work, people analytics, some tips on networking and engagement, his strategic approach to taking a career leap, finding great partnerships and the biggest lessons learned as an entrepreneur. 
 
Takeaways:
[1:22] We welcome our guest today, Michael Merchant. We met in Chicago at the Enterprise Innovation Conference, and he stood out to me when he was asking some very insightful questions to the panelists. 
[2:55] Michael started his career as a software engineer at IBM, then joined their consulting firm where he found himself interested and committed in people analytics. He was so inspired to work in this field full time that he left to find his own clients. 
[5:08] Michael has been very active in non profits since college, and even just started his own non profit. They just hired their first employee in January. 
[5:48] People analytics covers everything involved in understanding, measuring, tracking and analyzing how employees work in an organization. This provides information on how a business can empower employees and improve the bottom line. 
[7:51] Working at IBM was very beneficial for Michael. He participated in their leadership development programs, took advantage of his proximity to senior leaders and made the most of working amongst 400,000 employees who each have their own expertise. 
[13:12] For those in the early stages of their career, don’t be shy to ask a potential mentor for 15 minutes of their time. Most people will open up their door for you to engage with them. Make sure your questions are organized and thoughtful so you don’t waste their time. 
[20:14] Michael two interesting models of career development: The T Model and the Hourglass model. Knowing what form his career move to consulting would take helped shape his vision and entry point to exploring uncharted opportunities. 
[38:14] Michael earned enough from his coding projects that he was able to send himself to India, and work there where he also did non profit work. 
[46:14] Recognizing and appreciating the amount of pressure that is felt when you are the one solely responsible for meeting your financial needs is only something that can be understood when one goes through it personally. 
[57:26] There were some issues and fear for Michael to work and push through when he started his non profit work. He encourages people to start small and at home, making their community a better place is a small but impactful start. 
 

Before You Take Your Next Step is a fresh conversation on personal and professional development. We are excited to be your place to get practical advice from a diverse group of leaders who are each in different stages of their career journey. Our guest today is Susan Gunn, an exceptional organizational leader with over 25 years of experience, and someone I have the pleasure of working with and learning from. Susan shares the strategic decisions she made in her career, advice for overcoming a career plateau, embracing your swagger, eases our networking jitters and the importance of a mentor. She is a true and genuine leader in all senses of the word, and manages with the intention of being authentic and helpful. 
 
Takeaways:
[0:52] This podcast is for anyone interested in leadership at any stage of their career. Leadership is a topic we never get tired of talking about, and there is always room for improvement. 
[1:52] We welcome our guest Susan Gunn. She originally thought she may be a doctor, but then got an internship at Seagram’s and found she loved working in HR. 
[5:49] She started working Canada and after several moves in the United States, spent some time working in England. After that, she was relocated to New York and then Philadelphia where she lives currently. 
[13:36] Even at a senior level, Susan still needed some feedback and support with her next career move. The feedback from the coach and the results from her assessment tests helped her get a fresh vision on the next steps within her personal and professional development. 
[22:42] Susan found working with the Amazon Leadership Principles a great inspiration for her already detail oriented and customer service based leadership style. 
[27:16] We talk about how leadership has evolved, and the important skills of open mindedness, accepting feedback and a commitment to diversity is of utmost importance in the culture today. 
[32:25] In her leadership role Susan seeks to deliver to the overall strategy of the company yet also focus on the bottom line. 
[35:45] Susan breaks down the difference between Executive leadership and Junior leadership. Executives focus more on the big picture and solutions to activate strategies, where junior and mid- level leadership plays more into tactical moves and execution. 
[36:28] Some of Susan’s advice on moving up to the executive world: network within the company, make sure your work is relevant to the company and ask for feedback on how you can broaden your development.
[41:13] It’s never too late to build a network.  Be sure you are sincere and authentic, not over commitment and always follow through with your word. 
 
Mentioned in This Episode:
Amazon Leadership Principles
Wall Street Journal
BYTYNS Blog 
 
Quotes:
“I was very lucky to work for great leaders who saw my potential and tapped me on the shoulder to do bigger roles before I was even ready for them.”  “I really believe that good work begets great opportunities.”  “My goal is to delight our customers, whomever they are. My managerial style is detail oriented but not micromanaging.”  “Don’t be afraid to ask for help, but also don’t be afraid to give.”