Execs share insights at TechWire Live

Leadership Triangles Jesica Averhart, Best NCs CEO and president Brenda Berg and Pendos founder Eric Boduch at WRAL TechWire Live on Wednesday night.

How to be a good leader post Amazon, Apple rejections?

by Chantal Allam

A bit of southern charm and perseverance.

Thats what its going to take to get over the hump and push through after the double-whammy rejection of Amazon and Apple, says Pendos cofounder Eric Boduch.

Theres a little bit of that trough of disillusionment right now with Raleigh. But the assets are still here, he told a sellout crowd gathered in WRAL-TVs Studio A on Wednesday night for WRAL TechWire Live. Its still a great place to build and grow a company. The challenge is just persevering and not giving up.

Boduch was speaking as part of a new quarterly event sponsored by Wells Fargo and with support from several TechWire partners that aims to coalesce industry experts around a central topic facing the region. Wednesdays discussion centered on leadership, and how local businesses and leaders can strengthen the Triangles position as a great place to live and work.

WRALs Strategy and Business Development manager James Amato making introductions at WRAL TechWire Live on Wednesday night.

Boduch, who co-founded the fast-growing software startup with Todd Olson in 2013 right here in the Triangle, said he remains committed to the region and so should other companies.

We dont need to be in San Francisco, and weve always thought that way. Were super stoked to be headquartered here and growing the company in Raleigh, he said.

Here are some other highlights:

LEAD WITH EDUCATION With Leadership Triangles Jesica Averhart serving as moderator, Boduch shared the stage with Best NCs CEO and president Brenda Berg.

As head of the non-profit coalition of business leaders committed to improving the states education system, Berg stressed the importance of leading through education.

We have some of the lowest social mobility in the country right here in the Triangle area and Charlotte, she said. Were playing a whole new ball game, and were not playing our entire team.

Leadership Triangles Jesica Averhart, Best NCs CEO and president Brenda Berg and Pendos founder Eric Boduch.

Among the more sobering statistics: Three out of ten of our 15 year olds cant do basic math. Which means you cant pay your taxes, cant read the newspaper, she said. We also paid our principals the lowest in the entire country until two years ago.

The solution? Treat a school like a corporation, not a factory, and stop assigning beginner teachers to the most difficult class.

Would you do that in any of your businesses? No. It just doesnt make any sense, she said. But how do we really focus on leadership? Applying basic business, whats kind of 1980s organizational structure of businesses to education, and being intentional about it.

MAINTAINING CULTURE Boduch emphasized the importance of maintaining a companys culture for future success.

Until youre really through some of the high growth areas, you dont understand how important it is, he said. There was one point Pendo went from four people to 30 in 45 days, which is kind of crazy if you thinking about it. Then you have all these people joining, and youre like, okay, how do we make sure we instill the way of doing things that Pendo has?

The answer: establishing a strong vision from the get-go.

Were really big into improving societys experience with software. They understand that from the beginning. We also instilled our core values really early on.

STAY ENGAGED Being a good leader is also about staying engaged, said Gary Greene, founder of recruiting firm Greene Resources, who appeared on a second panel moderated by Wake Technical Community Colleges Katie Gailes.

On this night, he certainly led by example.

He kept the audience amused by reciting a self-written poem and disclosing personal insights about his co-panelist, WRAL Digital Solutions Chris Weatherly, that he mined from the internet.

He and his wife got married in 2015. They have one of the best group wedding photos you will ever see, Greene said to a roar of laughter.

There are so many ways that you can use technology to better your relationships with others, he added. Because of the immediacy and access to it, they expect the same from you. Its so critical to our success in any position that we may have.

Wake Technical Community Colleges Katie Gailes, Greene Resources Gary Greene and WRAL Digital Solutions Chris Weatherly.

IS ANYBODY FOLLOWING YOU? Weatherly joined the conversation by asking the simple question: Is anybody following you?

Historically, leaders were the keepers of information, he said. They were the only ones that saw the big picture. If a challenge came up that involved multiple teams, it was difficult for the teams to come together and solve it, because nobody had all the information.

Thats got to change, he said.

You need to empower bottom-up decision making and solutions, instead of top to bottom. Youve got to be able to have people with a shared understanding of the problem empowered to make the best decisions for the company.

THE POWER OF VISUAL THINKING Mike Muddy Schlegel, founder of Whiteboard Academy, spent the entire session creating a visual account of the panel discussions.

Armed with a black Sharpie marker and huge white canvas, he illustrated the speakers points as a strategy to maximize audience engagement .

Mike Muddy Schlegel, founder of Whiteboard Academy, illustrating the discussion in real time.

This is a powerful business tool for strategic planning, visual thinking and problem solving, said Schlegel, who founded the business as a side gig three years ago, and is now traveling around the country full t

LINK:	http://www.capitolbroadcasting.com/2019/03/12/execs-share-insights-at-...
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