B2B Leadership Podcast

If you are a leader and you are the center of your team, you’re doing it wrong. Many leaders think that this is the right place to be, after all I am the “leader” right? The simple answer is no. If it’s your team, your ideas, your direction, it’s a “you” show. In this episode, best-selling author and leadership coach Nils Vinje speaks with Jerome Placido , Sr. Director of Engineering at Coursedog...

If you have a surface-level relationship with your employees, you’re going to get a low level of engagement. If you have a relationship built on top of a strong foundation of mutual respect and trust, you’re going to get a drastically different level of engagement. The best part is that as a leader, it’s your choice. Nobody is going to tell you what to do, you have to decide which type of relation...

Shoeb Mogal , Director of Engineering at NewStore, Inc , has been on a fascinating ride from co-founder to engineer to Director of Engineering. In his first round as a leader, he wasn’t successful even though he had the full support of his peers. He made a decision to become great at leadership and set a course based on continuous improvement. He invested in himself and the rest is history. Podcas...

If you are not continuously improving and expanding your leadership skillset, you introduce risk… As a leader, it’s easy to feel accustomed to what happens day-to-day. On one side there is benefit to following a routine… On the other side, you will introduce risk. Sean Fleming was at this exact point when he joined as VP of Customer Engagement at Zendrive . What did Sean do? He joined the first gr...

Getting promoted to a Director level position in a B2B Business requires the element of building trust. But, it’s not just about building trust with your team, or your direct manager… It’s also about building trust cross-functionally. In this episode of the B2B Leadership podcast, Yaswanth Reddy , Senior Director of Customer Success at Bidgely , and best-selling author and leadership coach Nils Vi...

Being a Director in a B2B business is no easy task… In a startup, you are responsible for everything in your department… Strategy, execution, personnel, project and client management, etc. In a larger organization, you are primarily responsible for the performance of your team as the organization has systems, teams, and people in place to take care of everything else… In both situations, it’s on y...

In this episode, best-selling author and leadership coach Nils Vinje speaks with Tony Fisher, VP and Senior Director of Customer Success, and SaaS Director at Centercode. Podcast highlights: 0:25 - Tony's background - Tony explains his role at Centercode. 2:24 - Platform and process combination - Tony explains a concept not seen often in the CS world. 6:00 - First leadership position - Tony's lead...

“Stop negotiating against yourself.” This is the advice that Nicole Baxby, VP of Global Customer Success at Featurespace, shared with me when I asked how to handle looking at a role that you aren’t 100% qualified for. The context of this question was regarding the women that Nicole mentors but I think this statement applies to every leader… Stop negotiating against yourself. Instead, focus on what...

In your role as a leader, at whatever level you are at today, acquiring the skills to add more value is your responsibility. Cort Irish, VP of Marketing & Communications at Claritas, and I talked about this and how important it is to take control. The best part is there are opportunities all around you both inside and outside of your organization. The takeaway here is that it is your responsib...

In this episode, best-selling author and leadership coach Nils Vinje speaks with Colleen Barraclough, Vice President of Operations - North American at DaXtra Technologies. Podcast highlights: 0:21 - Colleen's background - Colleen explains her role at DaXtra Technologies. 1:13 - VP of Operations - What does this title involve? 2:14 - First leadership position - DaXtra Technologies is Colleen's firs...

It’s conceptually simple to say “yes” to opportunities but it’s not necessarily easy. For David Tishgart, VP of Marketing at data.world, saying “yes” has led to opportunities he never could have imagined. Each yes required a leap of faith but it has served him well. Find out the power of saying yes and taking more risks as a leader in this episode of the B2B Leadership Podcast. Podcast highlights:...

When I first met Christine Lavery, I knew she was driven and I was immediately impressed. Over the next year and a half, we partnered together to build her CS organization and her leadership skills. The culmination of everything was an increase of 8 points in GRR and a significant promotion from Director to VP. As a leadership coach, the clients that engage, take action, and get results are what y...

Jackie Ferguson is one of those people that you hope to meet during your career. She is deeply passionate about her work, making a difference, helping leaders and companies create a more inclusive environment, and so much more… In this episode of the B2B Leadership podcast, Jackie and I dug into how inclusive language plays a critical role in leadership. I took away some incredible insights and I...

In this episode of the B2B Leadership podcast, best-selling author and leadership coach Nils Vinje speaks with Jennie MacDougall, Director of Engineering at Reprise. Podcast highlights: 0:25 - Jennie's background - Jennie explains her role at Reprise. 2:57 - First leadership position - Jennie explains her first position as a "wild ride." 5:09 - Incredibly fast growth stage - How did Jennie navigat...

In this episode of the B2B Leadership podcast, best-selling author and leadership coach Nils Vinje speaks with Ryan Browne, Vice President of Customer Success at Kenect. Podcast highlights: 0:25 - Ryan's background - Ryan explains his role at Kenect. 3:03 - Tech and SaaS in Utah - How has technology evolved over the years in Utah? 4:40 - First leadership position - Ryan's opportunity began when hi...

In this episode of the B2B Leadership podcast, best-selling author and leadership coach Nils Vinje speaks with Kathy Sucich, Vice President of Marketing at Dimensional Insight. Podcast highlights: 0:25 - Kathy's background - Kathy explains her role at Dimensional Insight. 2:54 - First leadership position - Kathy has a long career in the communications industry. 4:44 - The broadcast journalism worl...

In this episode of the B2B Leadership podcast, best-selling author and leadership coach Nils Vinje speaks with Craig Blum, Vice President of Customer Success at Midaxo. Podcast highlights: 0:26 - Craig's background - Craig explains his role at Midaxo. 2:46 - Merging of companies and ideas - What did Craig gain from the company merger that he wishes he had access to before? 5:29 - First leadership...

In this episode of the B2B Leadership podcast, best-selling author and leadership coach Nils Vinje speaks with Siobhan Alexander, Director of Customer Success at Catalyst Software. Podcast highlights: 0:25 - Siobhan's background - Siobhan explains her role at Catalyst Software. 1:34 - Leadership pressure - How does Siobhan think about leadership, from not only a content perspective but a practice...

You will never have as great of a potential impact on someone else’s life as you will when you are a people leader. The reason for this is that as a people leader, you have the ability to positively OR negatively influence the lives of the people that work for you. The key thing is that it is a choice. In this episode of the B2B Leadership podcast, best-selling author and leadership coach Nils Vin...

Growing your leadership skills is not something you do in a vacuum… If you’re pushing yourself to become a better leader, you will run into questions that you can not answer… Acknowledging that you don’t know how to handle a situation is a real gift because it forces you to ask questions and find someone who has been through the challenge you are facing… In this episode of the B2B Leadership Podca...

“What if I changed how I ran my 1:1s…” “What if I changed how I coached my team…” “What if I changed how I dealt with imposter syndrome…” “What if…” These are two of the most powerful words in leadership… My guest this week lives by the philosophy that everything can be tested if we ask the question “what if…” Listen in to my inspiring conversation with David 'DJ' Oragui, Director of Strategic Pro...

Being a great leader is not just about having great ideas or having a title, it’s about providing the space for the right ideas to emerge and come to life. This involves giving your team and people from different parts of the organization the opportunity to share their ideas. In this episode of the B2B Leadership podcast, best-selling author and leadership coach Nils Vinje speaks with Rupal Nishar...

In this episode of the B2B Leadership podcast, best-selling author and leadership coach Nils Vinje breaks down the most important lessons he learned in overcoming imposter syndrome as a B2B leader. When you learn how to overcome imposter syndrome every time it comes up, you’ll never let it stop you again. Podcast highlights: 0:24 - Defining imposter syndrome - Nils provides a simple definition and...

Good and bad examples of leadership are around us all the time… But, how often do you step back and recognize them for being examples? Sometimes we get so caught up in the moment of what’s going on in our day-to-day lives that we simply do what we see… In this episode of the B2B Leadership Podcast, best-selling author and leadership coach Nils Vinje sits down with Bill Staikos to find out his sour...

In this episode of the B2B Leadership podcast, best-selling author and leadership coach Nils Vinje discusses his experience of working with hundreds of B2B leaders and talks about what's working well right now in terms of building a more productive team. All this rolled into 5 simple steps. Podcast highlights: 0:47 - Confusion across the team - Why this advice from Steve Jobs might not work for yo...