proProcess
Skills and Objectives
I have been fortunate enough to hold senior positions in a variety of industries, including software, professional services, financial services, and higher education. I also founded one company, and helped guide another to a successful exit.
I'm a strong believer in win-win partnerships, and I approach every position or engagement with a determination to make the process valuable, enjoyable, and rewarding for everyone involved.
Startup and Growth Ventures
I've spent most of my career working in startup and growth-stage companies. I founded and led my own startup for over a decade, and spent another decade helping to lead another venture to a successful exit.
I offer software ventures a wealth of experience in every facet of their business, especially: leadership, product management and marketing, partnerships, pricing, pre-sales, culture, and exit planning.
BPM / Digital Process Automation
In the course of building a business process management platform, expanding its market, and communicating and delivering on its value proposition, I became a thought leader in that space. I was pleased to play a key role in landing our product on the Gartner MQ for several consecutive years. I also spoke at a number of conferences, led workshops, and participated on panels. I worked directly with our largest customers on their most complex business challenges, and was the go-to executive for configuring and pricing solutions for those customers.
Product Ownership
In both my own business and at BP Logix I held substantial responsibility for product vision, roadmap, packaging, and pricing. I am also a published author with extensive experience formulating and communicating technical ideas to non-technical audiences, and communicating business ideas to engineers in terms that make sense to them. I have also worked with a number of industry analysts from firms such as Gartner and Forrester as the face and voice of the products I was helping to create.
Software
At heart, I've never stopped feeling like an engineer. I began coding as a young teen—common enough today, but fairly unusual in the 70s! After receiving my computer science degree, I spent five years as a programmer and systems administrator before taking on my first management position. I've managed and worked closely with coders throughout my career, and I consider the time spent with them, tossing around ideas about product development and technology, to be the among the most enjoyable parts of every position in which I've served.
SHORTCUTS
People
Several years back, I published a blog called People-Centered Leadership. The belief that drove me to create that site are the same that helped make me successful as a manager: everything we do is about empowering one another. Of course, as a leader there are goals, KPIs, and plenty of other targets to aim for. But success or failure will be determined by the extent to which one actually cares about their customers, colleagues, and stakeholders—as human beings, not just as providers of labor, revenue, or a paycheck. Empathy, therefore, is the single most important quality any leader can have.
