Losing reveals what doesn't matter.
Speaker AWhether we're looking at the wrong metric or a wrong hire, losing shines that light on those cracks.
Speaker AIn order to get to this level of clarity, number one is, okay, this.
Speaker BIs what I need to do to be successful.
Speaker BRishi Rana, CEO over at Ciara.
Speaker BA tech veteran who led global product over at Microsoft and once shared the stage even with Bill Gates.
Speaker BAnd in this conversation today, he reveals the exact mindset that every ambitious leader needs to hear.
Speaker BHow did you rewire your team to speak CEO?
Speaker AWe own the outcome.
Speaker AYou have to look at the bigger goal, think proactively how to deliver that business impact.
Speaker BThat's how you speak CEO.
Speaker BYou really encouraged everyone to ditch talking about features and start talking about enterprise clients.
Speaker AThis was last year.
Speaker AIn a year, we did 64 new logos.
Speaker AYes.
Speaker BOkay.
Speaker AGetting to that stage of success, I've learned a lot from what does not work in order to be successful.
Speaker BYou tripled revenue by breaking the rules.
Speaker BHow did you do it?
Speaker BWelcome back to Lead the Team.
Speaker BI'm your host, Ben Fanning.
Speaker BAnd this conversation that you're going to hear is meant to challenge, inspire and ripple out.
Speaker BIt's not just a podcast.
Speaker BIt's a positive movement to build better leaders.
Speaker BAnd you can help by taking just 10 seconds to rate and follow on Apple, Spotify and YouTube and drop a quick review over on Apple.
Speaker BThis helps more bold leaders discover the show and keeps the mission alive.
Speaker BEnjoy.
Speaker BHey there and welcome back to Lead the Team.
Speaker BRishi Rana isn't a household name yet, but he should be.
Speaker BHe's the CEO over at Ciara.
Speaker BA tech veteran who led global product over at Microsoft and once shared the stage even with Bill Gates.
Speaker BYes, that Bill Gates.
Speaker BBut what makes him truly different?
Speaker BWell, he's the kind of leader who turns chaos into clarity, scaling revenue 3x and EBITDA from 1% to 40%.
Speaker BAnd in this conversation today, he reveals the exact mindset, strategies and risk that every ambitious leader needs to hear before their big next test.
Speaker BRishi, welcome to lead the team, sir.
Speaker AThank you, Ben.
Speaker AThank you for the intro.
Speaker BSo how can sports build a CEO?
Speaker AA great question, Ben.
Speaker ALook, I was an avid.
Speaker AStill am an avid fan of sports, all types of sports.
Speaker AGrowing up.
Speaker AI grew up, I did my high school in India before I came over to the US And I think went to Texas A and M actually.
Speaker ABut growing up, I was an avid runner and an avid cricket player.
Speaker AIn fact, my coach at that time used to tell me that, hey, today I'm playing for the state That I was in.
Speaker AI would play for India tomorrow if I continue with my passion, with my rigor that I need to now.
Speaker ASo I was either running or playing and I was serious about it.
Speaker AI wanted to at a high schooler, it was just not a hobby.
Speaker AIt was like I wanted to be the top runner.
Speaker ARunning long distances, sprinting.
Speaker AI ran actually with fire.
Speaker AAthletics, I mean that you're talking about gave me that, I reflect back on it as discipline.
Speaker ACricket was giving me the identity.
Speaker AIt was the sport that I loved the most.
Speaker ANow from there obviously I arrived, I arrived in Aggieland in Texas A and M. And there's a lot of experience that I had to let go of sports to a little bit, to that extent.
Speaker ANow what it taught me was certainly resilience.
Speaker AIt taught me how to build humility and self awareness.
Speaker AFailures in games, failures when I was not able to win certain races as well taught me to shut up and learn.
Speaker AAnd that made me stronger.
Speaker ASo that's one I think I talked about resilience.
Speaker AI think, you know, when.
Speaker BHow did losing make you a better CEO?
Speaker BBecause the perception of a lot of CEOs is we win today, we win tomorrow, and we win, win, win, win, win.
Speaker BBut you're, you're, you're reflecting on some of the losses and what it taught you on the way.
Speaker BHow did it make you a better CEO?
Speaker AYeah, no, great, great question.
Speaker AAnd I think, look, I, if I look at that, losing reveals what doesn't matter, right?
Speaker AI think the noise fades and you see what drives that impact.
Speaker ASo how do you translate that to a business world is whether we're looking at the wrong metric, a broken process or a wrong hire that you have made.
Speaker ALoss creates clarity.
Speaker AWinning can hide the cracks within.
Speaker ALike if the company growing, my numbers are being met, I'm in front of the board and we're doing high fives.
Speaker AIt's all good.
Speaker ABut then underneath the covers there are always cracks and that clarity is not clear.
Speaker ALosing makes that clarity clear.
Speaker ALosing shines that light on those cracks and makes it where we need to fix things in order to get stronger.
Speaker BYou know, I think that's really, really valuable for CEOs to be thinking about.
Speaker BHow do you communicate that, keep that front and center to your teams when like your teams are winning, they are winning a lot in your, in your previous businesses too.
Speaker BHow do you help them maintain that clarity and hunger of like that losing can give, give you, but while you're still winning?
Speaker AYeah, no, see, I think a couple of things, right?
Speaker AIt makes Makes me.
Speaker AAnd I've learned that over a period of time, obviously with losing both in sports and in.
Speaker AOn the business side.
Speaker ALook, I think what, what, what the scraped knees and elbows have taught me is more than what the wedding has taught me.
Speaker AAnd standing up on the podium and, and receiving those accolades and in sports or in the business arena as well.
Speaker AAnd the empathy part of it is if you have lost, you understand when others do.
Speaker AThe empathy makes me a better coach and not just a boss.
Speaker ASo because in the long runs, it's the team that thrives and cricket coming back to it as a team sport, it's very important to feel supported and not judged.
Speaker AI still remember, you know, I was, was, I was in middle school and, and getting into high school at that cusp.
Speaker AAnd I was drafted into the high school team where there were seniors and obviously people much stronger than I was in throwing the ball and, and, and hitting from the bat as well.
Speaker ABut I was drafted and I did not perform while I was pitching in, in one of the games.
Speaker AAnd one of the seniors who was the captain of the team at that time continue to invest in me in the next game and said, I'm going to again open the pitching.
Speaker AAnd, and it's a surprise to me that why would you pick on me?
Speaker AAnd that's when I felt supported and not judged.
Speaker ABecause one game, if I did bad, it does not mean I have to repeat it.
Speaker ABut if he would not have supported me, you know what, it would have been a different decision in my life.
Speaker AMaybe I would have thought that, hey, you know what, I'm not made for this game or otherwise obviously felt supported.
Speaker ASo, so that empathy that comes in, that coach mentality that comes in and I give kudos to, you know, that leader who was there in the high school team.
Speaker BYeah.
Speaker BSo having a few losses really can be the thing.
Speaker BI like that positive perspective.
Speaker BLike if you haven't had any losses, how can you truly empathize with someone who's having a loss?
Speaker BAnd really, other than just trying to be a good person, you can only be in your shoes.
Speaker BAnd I love the fact that even though you had a bad game pitching, you're, you know, you're, you're older, you know, coach or your older member of the team supported you to get right back up there and give it another shot versus sitting you for so many games.
Speaker BAnd then you would have might have felt demoralized or that wouldn't have helped your growth and ultimately probably not the team longer.
Speaker BOne of the things that, that, that came up for me is how much success you've had in the U.S. but you're from India, you grew up in a different culture.
Speaker BDifferent.
Speaker BI mean, it's different.
Speaker BRight.
Speaker BAnd you, you know, you come over here and then next thing you know you're sharing a stage with Bill Gates.
Speaker BSo what was that journey like?
Speaker BAnd what h. How did you.
Speaker BOr what were some of the keys for you in terms of your adaptability, learning on the fly to be able to achieve that success in a different culture?
Speaker AYeah, look, I think my first six months in Texas A and M was very tough.
Speaker AI can say that.
Speaker AWhen I landed up here from doing my high school in India and coming over here for that education that I was dreaming about.
Speaker AAnd look, I'd come to the US as, as a tourist with my parents and family a couple of times.
Speaker ARight.
Speaker AYou know, being a tourist, you think you know about the country until you end up living in the country.
Speaker BRight.
Speaker BYeah.
Speaker BAnd your success is dependent upon, hey, we're not having a great trip.
Speaker BI'm here to be a successful leader.
Speaker BI got to figure this out.
Speaker AYeah.
Speaker AAnd that I think, look, I think coming again on that, arriving at Aggieland, I learned quickly how to adapt, how to adapt even to the basics of English.
Speaker AI was, I was brought up in an English speaking school, so English was not, as it is a second language, but it was not foreign language to me from that angle.
Speaker ASo.
Speaker ABut then there are nuances of, of the way English is spoken certainly in America versus how it was from what I was taught in, in India was very different.
Speaker ASo I was quickly able to adapt, ask questions like asking questions as a, as a parameter sometimes in the Indian culture, asking question questions is not considered good.
Speaker AIt's considered at times disrespectful if you're asking it to your elders.
Speaker ASo how do you, how do you, how do you get to that?
Speaker AI think adapting myself towards it, asking those questions, building those bridges.
Speaker AEvery time I was taught that or learned that, it gave me that, that humility.
Speaker ABut it also gave me the resilience, also the relationships that I built after that first tough six months.
Speaker AI still remember calling my parents and saying, I said maybe I made a wrong decision coming to, coming to, you know, Texas A and M and.
Speaker ABut it shaped me for what my leadership style is today as well, I feel because it is from, from that learning part of it, Learn it all, not know it all.
Speaker AAlways had playing hard, playing fair as my key sort of mindset from a sports perspective, but making sure that I, I Take this, right?
Speaker AI, I give it all I have and, and not just give up midway through because I've had some tough losses, et cetera.
Speaker BAnd what was it like being on stage with Bill?
Speaker AI was, I mean, it was, it was daunting, let me say that.
Speaker BBill Gates.
Speaker BDaunting, surely not.
Speaker AWell, yeah, and it was, we were launching our Office Developer Edition long time ago and, and I was the product manager, program manager who was demoing that portion of it.
Speaker ASo it was.
Speaker ABut you know what?
Speaker AThe moment I got that chance, I never said no.
Speaker AI said to my, my, my, my executive at that time that I'm going to do it and I'm going to give it my best shot.
Speaker AI prepared for three months.
Speaker AI, I'd done maniacal focus towards precisely each and every aspect of it.
Speaker ABut then it was a product that I had worked on for over a year and a half, created that product.
Speaker AA lot of it was, was my brainchild.
Speaker ASo demoing it to the crowd, obviously, along with Bill on the side, was, while daunting was, was exhilarating as well.
Speaker AHumongous learning experience, humongous on types of areas.
Speaker AHow succinct one needs to be, how should I say, macro level one needs to be.
Speaker ABut at the same time having the details, should there be questions from the crowd, making sure that you're answering to those as well.
Speaker BSo would you qualify your time on stage with Bill Gates as a success?
Speaker AShort, Yes, I, I, if I reflect back upon it, I say I could have done better, much more.
Speaker AYou know, I think I've spent a lot of years since then and I wish I knew what I knew then is all I can say.
Speaker BAnd that's why you're here today.
Speaker BI'll lead the team to share your message with those, with the younger generation.
Speaker BYeah, yeah, they're a big moment because you're going to be sharing your message today with people that'll be on stage doing the demos for your team.
Speaker BRishi.
Speaker BThey're like, okay, this is what I need to do to be successful on stage with Rishi now.
Speaker AYep.
Speaker AYeah.
Speaker AWell, say, look, I think the first, first thing that I do, there are three principles that I work within my personal line and my professional life.
Speaker ARight.
Speaker AI think even those three pillars that ground me as well and that makes the basic fundamentals of my, again, professional personal life.
Speaker AThat's transparency, honesty and accountability.
Speaker AI mean, those are my pillars.
Speaker AWithin those three pillars, I want to make sure that there is trust that is going to be built between the teams.
Speaker AThat is, it is Accelerating the decision making.
Speaker AAnd number three, making sure that accountability is driven.
Speaker AAnd then operational excellence comes in.
Speaker AAccountability.
Speaker AI drive it with my kids as well.
Speaker AHey, if there is a task that needs to be done or there are chores in the household that needs to be performed, there is accountability.
Speaker AYou're accountable for it.
Speaker AYou can do it.
Speaker AGreat.
Speaker AYou cannot do it.
Speaker AYou raise your hand and you say, no, I need help.
Speaker BYou gotta love it.
Speaker BIt can't be just, hey, this is what I do at work.
Speaker BThis is what I do in my personal life.
Speaker BThere's a heck of a lot easier if there's congruency and alignment between that.
Speaker BSo I like that.
Speaker BShout out to Rishi's family.
Speaker BSo let's talk about how did you rewire your team to speak?
Speaker BCEO, I know this is something that you've been working on with your company in the past and even today, and it's achieved a lot of success.
Speaker BSo let's deliver on that for the listeners.
Speaker AYeah, look, I think a couple of things I firmly believe in.
Speaker AWe have to learn it all and not know it all, certainly professions.
Speaker AOne is healthcare.
Speaker ADoctors have huge respect.
Speaker AMy daughter is becoming a doctor.
Speaker ASo hence, I think, huge respect.
Speaker AYou have to learn it all the time.
Speaker AAnd certainly in this day and age with, with all the changes that we are seeing with generative AI, the LLMs, the large learning models that are coming in, disrupting how things are, everybody has to learn it all and not know it all.
Speaker ASo there is never an end to learning.
Speaker AI did not know this 25 years ago when I was in Texas A and M. I thought I'd get a degree and my learning would be over and I don't have to study that hard.
Speaker ABut no, it was just beginning.
Speaker AIt was just the beginning of it.
Speaker ASo.
Speaker ASo continuously learn, asking thoughtful questions again and staying flexible.
Speaker ASo that's number one.
Speaker ANumber two, good or bad, we own the outcome, not just in entirety.
Speaker AWhen people come and explain problems, I often remind them, are you defining a problem or are you defining a solution?
Speaker AOr are you doing both?
Speaker ASo you have to look at the bigger goal.
Speaker AThink proactively how to deliver that business impact.
Speaker AIf an executive, my board member, or an investor is asking from me a certain specific tactical item, I have to take a step back and say, what is the outcome?
Speaker AWhat is the intent behind it?
Speaker AWhat are they trying to drive?
Speaker BAre you looking to increase sales, grow your brand and share your leadership message?
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Speaker BThat's BenLeads.com schedule.
Speaker BThat'S how you speak CEO.
Speaker BYou get.
Speaker BIt's so easy in tech, especially to get mired down in these dang details, the minute things.
Speaker BWell, what's your timeline?
Speaker BWhat's this?
Speaker BWhat is it?
Speaker BAnd you're like, no, no, what, what are we doing?
Speaker BLike, what's the bigger impact?
Speaker BWhat's the bigger vision?
Speaker BWhat's.
Speaker BWhy does it matter?
Speaker BAnd if you, if you show up in a CEO's office or you show up in your office or Bill Gates office and you're in the details, they've lost you in five minutes.
Speaker AYes.
Speaker BIt sounds like you've really.
Speaker BSo what happened when you, like, what I understand is you really encouraged everyone to ditch talking about features and start talking about enterprise clients and the impact to them.
Speaker BYou picked up like 64 + Enterprise clients at a company.
Speaker AYes, yes.
Speaker ASo that's with my current stint at Ciara.
Speaker AI think this was last year in 2024.
Speaker BIn a year.
Speaker AIn a year we did 64 new logos.
Speaker AYes.
Speaker BOkay.
Speaker BSo it was the language, it was the thinking that changed that.
Speaker BChanging the company thinking.
Speaker AYeah.
Speaker ASee, I think, let me put it this way, right.
Speaker AI think getting to that stage of success, I've learned a lot from what does not work in order to be successful.
Speaker ASo there has been a lot of again, going back to the bruised elbows and knees in order to get to this level of clarity.
Speaker ABut with that, I think number one is how do you make sure that you're providing the value, value in the eyes of the customer, number one.
Speaker ANumber two, then communicating with clarity and intention behind it.
Speaker ASo again, just going back to it, I think if I may take a step back and look at multiple other companies as well, that I was part of resurrecting, making that difference within CRR today, I was able to get that clarity provided from the value creation perspective.
Speaker AWhat is the value in the eyes of the customer and why are we doing what we are doing?
Speaker BYep.
Speaker BWhat is the value?
Speaker BAnd man, just thinking that way changes the actions of an entire company.
Speaker BI try to keep that front and center for my company and this show.
Speaker BWhat is the value to the listeners and what's the value to you as the leader?
Speaker BAnd man, it's really made a big difference.
Speaker BNow another thing that you're known for is when you worked at sum total, that was a big, that was a biggie because you tripled revenue by breaking the rules.
Speaker BHow did you do it?
Speaker AYeah, yeah.
Speaker AI mean it was, it was my first foray into private equity LED company and it was a great learning experience.
Speaker AAgain, it was not about, you know, cutting little costs here and there or tweaking basics of the strategy.
Speaker AIt was high stakes, deliberate set of items from breaking down what was not working.
Speaker ASo the first part was looking at from an overall go to market perspective, how do you overhaul that piece from a delivery perspective?
Speaker AWe were delivering enterprise software in those days for digital transformation on the HR and the workforce management areas.
Speaker ASo we were rethinking as to how that global delivery is going to happen.
Speaker AWe were serving over 70 countries and certainly a lot in North America, which is US and Canada, predominant market capture of 80% but then going to Europe and then the rest of Asia as well.
Speaker BWow.
Speaker ASo making sure that how that operational excellence.
Speaker ASo.
Speaker AAnd it was about changing that culture company and how are we ready to then grab the bull by the horns?
Speaker BWow.
Speaker BWas there one rule you broke or one nuance that the company was like, this is the way we do things here.
Speaker BYeah, you saw that and you're like, boom, we're changing that and we're going to break that rule and saw a different result.
Speaker AYes, yes.
Speaker AI mean, look, I think before I answer that, yes, yes to what you're saying plenty of times and a lot of thoughts go in my head as you ask question.
Speaker ABut there were moments of doubt, I have to say they were pushed back.
Speaker AThey were near, you know, coming to a failure where it was a tipping point that hey, are we going to break over here or not?
Speaker AOr break our backs doing what we are doing, but held on to everything.
Speaker ASo I think one that comes to my mind was that when we were acquiring a company based.
Speaker ASo that was a good asset from a product perspective.
Speaker AAnd it was based out in Southeast Asia.
Speaker AIt was our first acquisition in Southeast Asia and we went through.
Speaker ASee, acquisitions are easy, sometimes mergers are not.
Speaker AAnd that's why I think they say mergers and acquisitions.
Speaker AThey say merger before acquisition, but obviously it's the other way around.
Speaker AAnd it was a very different way.
Speaker AI approached it without seeking, you know, sort of alignment with people and said I'm going to go and do an acquisition merger in a certain different manner.
Speaker AAnd I disrupted it initially.
Speaker AIt was nerve wracking for from both.
Speaker AFrom a process Technology and a people perspective.
Speaker ABut in 30 and 45 days, we saw the light right away at the end of tunnel.
Speaker AAnd why that was the right decision.
Speaker ANow, it was a huge risk, but it created that larger return as well.
Speaker ABecause taking those right risks at the right time with the right team, obviously, and the team backing me up as well towards that execution made the difference.
Speaker BPowerful, powerful example.
Speaker BYou took a risk, you broke some rules or nuances that delivered big results.
Speaker BSo what is your internal guideline or advice for leaders?
Speaker BBecause sometimes it seems like, hey, this needs to be a big consensus decision.
Speaker BI need to go around and ask everybody, even if they report to you.
Speaker BRight.
Speaker BBuilding that consensus and then making the move.
Speaker BAnd sometimes leaders don't have that luxury.
Speaker BOr you still maybe you feel like, hey, this is such the right thing to do, I need to go make this happen and then we're going to.
Speaker BAnd then ask my team later for supporting it.
Speaker BHow do you make that call?
Speaker AYeah, so sometimes you can ask for forgiveness later.
Speaker BYeah.
Speaker BI mean, yeah, like that's the biggie.
Speaker BRight?
Speaker BAnd like you may be torn, like was like, what is the situation?
Speaker BHow do I, how do you make that call?
Speaker BAnd it can be complicated to think about it.
Speaker AYeah, no, you're right, you're right.
Speaker ALook, I think it depends and you don't have to do it all the time.
Speaker ALike disruptions should be, the risk should be taken when the return overweighs the risk that you're taking.
Speaker ANumber one.
Speaker ASo need to take a calculated risk, not just, how should I say, put a blindfold and keep driving through.
Speaker ASo that's not what I would suggest anybody do that.
Speaker AInstead I would go after understanding the situation and keeping it simple, straightforward.
Speaker AMy decision making process that I shared with my team, I shared with everybody, is, is this the right thing to do for the company?
Speaker ASo for CRO that I'm, I am running as a CEO today, this is the right thing to do for CRO.
Speaker AIs this the right thing to do for the team?
Speaker ASo if it is my executive team, is this the right thing for that team?
Speaker AOkay.
Speaker AIs this the right thing for you and is this the right thing for me?
Speaker AIn that priority order, four, if three out of four boxes, check.
Speaker AGo slam dunk.
Speaker AI mean there's, there's nothing for you to be afraid of.
Speaker ATwo out of four, check.
Speaker AOkay.
Speaker AThat's the risk as a calculated risk you're taking.
Speaker AAnd you gotta be then making sure that, hey, you're covering your track, making sure you covered the risks and mitigated that one out of four might not want to go that route.
Speaker ASo it depends on which risks you take, how you take, how do you calculate them, how do you create that clarity and then march through that.
Speaker BYeah, I like that because it can seem to people on the outside, oh, you know, the CEO is just making these big bets and making, you know, and not getting everybody on board.
Speaker BBut if you know your team, you know the organization, and I like this priority order that you said because hey, you're like, I'm doing this like on my, based on my knowledge of the company and what's good for the company and what's based on the good of my team, then.
Speaker BAnd if you know your team, you know your company and you can make these decisions and move a little faster and share with us what was the financial benefit to the company.
Speaker BSince you said you prioritize that, number one, on that specific example.
Speaker AYeah, I mean, see, there are three sort of.
Speaker AI would say that there are three sort of non negotiables that I always keep in mind on the back of my mind.
Speaker AAnd one should always, as a CEO, as an executive of a company, one should always keep that.
Speaker ANumber one is customer value.
Speaker AWe all are working, we are working hard on the product, on the service that we are providing.
Speaker AThe value that I'm providing, what is that value?
Speaker AIt should never be missed, it should never be met.
Speaker AAnd it should be straightforward and simple for anybody to comprehend.
Speaker AAnd as people say, elevator pitch, got to have that value.
Speaker AVery well understood.
Speaker ANumber two is execution, clarity.
Speaker AYou're going to take a risk, you're going to take a path, have a clarity towards what is the timeline, basics of it, who's doing what.
Speaker AIf you have multiple players, I pass the ball to you, you pass the ball back to me.
Speaker AI am not taking a basketball analogy, but my point being is I don't have greasy fingers, hands that I'm not able to catch and I'm ready for it.
Speaker ASo making sure everybody understands that.
Speaker BPrepared to receive the ball.
Speaker AYeah.
Speaker APerpetual.
Speaker AYeah.
Speaker BWhich reminds me of a funny story when I was in high school playing basketball right before he went out, everybody's like a guy was passing around like they were like, it was the winter, people's hands were like, and legs were like chapped from the cold weather.
Speaker BAnd he passed around lotion to like people were like moisturizing their legs and their arms before the game.
Speaker BThat was a terrible idea because the players got out there and the ball was literally flying through our hands.
Speaker BNot in a good way.
Speaker BAnd anyway, to illustrate your point, the team's got to be prepared to receive the ball.
Speaker BDon't moisturize before the game.
Speaker AYeah.
Speaker AAnd having that execution clarity then.
Speaker AAnd what's the game plan?
Speaker ASo who's the coach?
Speaker AWho's going to be telling what to do?
Speaker ANot everybody can be a CEO.
Speaker AAnd I'm not saying from a title, but for that instance for that project that has to be who's calling the shots and you know, you're in your game and that's it.
Speaker AAnd everybody plays their game, put their A game in.
Speaker AYou know, you don't need five Michael Jordans from that angle.
Speaker AYou can have the, the topmost B team players and you can still win a game.
Speaker BAnd that's how you scale revenue 3x and take EBITDA for 1% to 40%.
Speaker BHello.
Speaker BNow moving on here, I cannot let this in without asking this question.
Speaker BWhat was the resignation letter that you never sent?
Speaker AYeah, yeah.
Speaker AI mean it was a tough time.
Speaker ASo without naming the company, look, I think I joined the company running that business which was bleeding in margin.
Speaker ACustomers were frustrated, took over the team, technology, operations and the teams were fragile.
Speaker AI obviously joined in.
Speaker ABecause I joined in, I was optimistic.
Speaker AI was like I'm going to solve the problem, I'm going to have a better kite or execution, fix it, all of it.
Speaker ABut within months of looking at it from a people, process, technology, customers, all the angles.
Speaker AThere's so many problems to solve, so many things to prioritize.
Speaker ANot everything can be done in one shot.
Speaker ASo it was overwhelming.
Speaker AIt was overwhelming for me as to whether I've taken on the right role.
Speaker AAnd, and if I remember correctly, it was after contemplation for weeks when I continued to struggle on the prioritization, explaining to the team how you got a call from one of the major customers, a multimillion dollar customer, said they are ready to walk because we have not been able to deliver on time.
Speaker AAnd that's what was the thing in me.
Speaker AI sat in my office late, I contemplated on it, questioned but that I'm the right person for the job, honest, and felt like, you know, I should type up my resignation and I should leave because maybe I'm the one who's coming in the way of the success.
Speaker ASomething within me, as I stared at that, writing my email, I stayed at it before I hit a send button for quite some time, reflected on it, reflected on all my past wins and losses and, and somehow made the decision not to do it and come back the next day with a smarter plan, with a very full thought out clarity on priorities against that grit and resilience coming from my sporting days certainly.
Speaker AAnd, and, and it happened to be the turning point.
Speaker ASo really?
Speaker BAnd what happened?
Speaker BWhat was the ultimate, what was the result of.
Speaker BOf that turn.
Speaker BOf that turning point.
Speaker AYeah.
Speaker AIf I look at it up in the turning point look, I think I started off from a people perspective number first.
Speaker ARight.
Speaker ASo looking at it from the silos angle between the teams and making sure that breaking down those silos and making sure how everybody's going to be successful together.
Speaker BSo better communication and alignment between the different verticals.
Speaker AYeah.
Speaker ASo it's between the different verticals functions making sure that they're prioritization and there is alignment.
Speaker ASo there is clear goals that each one helps out.
Speaker ASo it's not that you can actually have it the other way around.
Speaker ANumber two restructured from a technology perspective overall on the delivery of items.
Speaker ASo in saying that the whole end to end solution because we were looking at it in silos and everybody was doing it but by the time the package solution went to the customer it was broken on fronts.
Speaker ASo what are the things that we need to do ahead in order to get to that end of it?
Speaker ASo shifted that delivery footprint to the customers which built the trust with the customers as well because they started seeing things that coming in and not getting surprised or like the build or the release that we would do.
Speaker AAnd it was not, should I say dead on arrival.
Speaker AIt was something that was working.
Speaker BDid you save that multimillion dollar client that called you to walk very well?
Speaker AYes, I did.
Speaker ANot only that, I'm actually friends with the person who now is a chairperson of multiple of those companies is on the board.
Speaker AHe actually appreciated that so much on all the hard work.
Speaker AI continue to provide him weekly updates.
Speaker AHere's the asset.
Speaker AYou know what?
Speaker AI'm going to be your project manager.
Speaker AI'm going to be whatever you want me, I'll be your jockey.
Speaker AYou tell me if the horse is running fast or not.
Speaker AI will do everything and everything because I'm not taking failure as an or our ability to deliver because we can, we will, we'll fix it.
Speaker AWe'll do it one step at a time, one bite at a time.
Speaker ATalk to various mentors helped me along the way as well.
Speaker AI mean there's so many, so many people who I can thank.
Speaker AOne mentor of mine taught me and asked me the question how do you eat an elephant?
Speaker AAnd obviously I did not know the answer.
Speaker AI'm a vegetarian.
Speaker ASo my point was that I, I can't answer that question.
Speaker ASo his answer was one bite at a time.
Speaker AI'm like, okay, that makes sense to me.
Speaker BI get it.
Speaker BOkay.
Speaker BI have to be a vegetarian.
Speaker BI can be a vegetarian and understand that.
Speaker BSo, so, so good.
Speaker BLike there's so many levels to that.
Speaker BNumber one, if you're going to write a big email, especially a resignation letter, sit on it overnight.
Speaker BDon't send it in the.
Speaker BIt might look a little bit better in the morning.
Speaker BAnd I love the fact that you had enough self belief in your team and you were willing to roll your sleeves up to be really like the CEO project manager on that one.
Speaker BTo really take it and drive it, get the alignment and how cool about the human element of you maintained that relationship since then.
Speaker BAnd it's grown into something really cool.
Speaker BRight.
Speaker BWith, with that relationship.
Speaker BAnd you remember the mentorship and the.
Speaker BAnd the advice that other leaders have given you, which ties back to the beginning.
Speaker BRight.
Speaker BOur biggest challenges can be framed for ourselves, our team and our organizations as our best learning experiences if we're willing to really sit on the resignation letter overnight and just get some clarity.
Speaker AYeah.
Speaker AAnd Ben, one other thought that comes to my mind also is I learned it very early in my days at Microsoft.
Speaker AAgain, the story just comes to my mind right now.
Speaker AI learned it from Steve Ballmer.
Speaker ASo we talked Bill Gates, but Steve Ballmer was there.
Speaker AHe was the CEO.
Speaker ABut Bill had stepped down and he was.
Speaker AAnd we were deploying our.
Speaker ANET frameworks across multiple because NET was the bigger thing in those days and doing through HP and few large companies and there was a large bank as well without taking the names as well.
Speaker ABut Steve, being the CEO of this large company, stepped on the calls with this large customer and made sure that we would be successful in deploying that accurately with what the customer needed and how it needs to be done.
Speaker BSend a message.
Speaker AYeah.
Speaker ASince I was taken aback, I mean we didn't have Zoom and these calls.
Speaker AWe used to be on the phones those days and dial in and everybody would dial in into a bridge.
Speaker AAnd we used to talk but.
Speaker AAnd I was running with my team, that thing.
Speaker AAnd I was informed through my executive that Steve is going to join that call that day.
Speaker AAnd he came in, he talked about it, he listened for some time.
Speaker ANot just jump right in, took a step back and said here are the three things that I would want you all to do.
Speaker AThink about it.
Speaker AHere's a way.
Speaker AClarity, direction.
Speaker ASo that those tidbits of understanding that learning that you get from these leaders have sort of encapsulated that, learned it, and now imparting that back to my team as well.
Speaker BNever be too big in the organization to jump on a critical call.
Speaker BI mean, even if you're one of these celebrity CEOs, like, like Bill or Steve, right?
Speaker BNever be too big to go.
Speaker BAnd it sends a message.
Speaker BAnd who knows, that might have been in the back of your mind when you, like in that moment, right for you and your career, you're like, you know what?
Speaker BI'm going to be managing this one personally.
Speaker BAnd it sends a message to the organization, to the customers, and wow, Rishi, this has been such a fun one.
Speaker BYou got a heck of a message and it's some incredible stories.
Speaker BI'll.
Speaker BI'll leave sort of the last question to you.
Speaker BMaybe mention something that we didn't get to, that you want to express or a story you want to tell.
Speaker BJust take anywhere you want to.
Speaker AThe more difficult the problem, the more fruitful results you will get out of it.
Speaker AAnd.
Speaker AAnd the diamonds are always hidden.
Speaker ASo I always tell my team, look for the diamonds, look for where it is, and it will be in the biggest of the problems or the toughest of the problems you would face.
Speaker AAnd I enjoy that problem solving.
Speaker ALove it.
Speaker AEmbrace that problem, because that's where you'll find diamonds.
Speaker BAll right?
Speaker BEmbrace the biggies, the big problems, big challenges.
Speaker BFind the diamonds.
Speaker BRishi, thank you for a funnel.
Speaker BAnd I'll lead the team today, sir.
Speaker AThank you.
Speaker AVan.
Speaker AThank you for the time.
Speaker BWant to boost your productivity and decision making?
Speaker BGet vital insights from each episode delivered directly to your inbox.
Speaker BA great resource whether you've listened to the episode or not.
Speaker BGo to benfanning.com insight.