Inspired Execution

Narrator: Inspired Execution, hosted by Datastax Chairman and CEO Chet Kapoor, follows the journeys of leaders from the world's largest enterprises and fastest-growing startups.

Chet Kapoor: Hello. I’m Chet Kapoor and you’re listening to the Season 3 Recap of the Inspired Execution Podcast. This season, I’ve had the privilege of speaking with phenomenal leaders from some of the world’s most recognized brands, like Google, Adobe, Asana, and many more. They shared the experiences that have shaped them, their proudest & hardest moments, and the lessons they’ve learned along the way. Each episode had a theme based on what we at DataStax call Inspired Leadership. These are a set of principles that I’ve developed over the last 20+ years and are deeply personal. I loved hearing everyone’s unique perspective, advice, and I took notes during each conversation. I wanted to take the time to share highlights from each episode. Let’s dive right in!

Chet: We kicked things off with Alex of Asana. His leadership principle was “innovate and simplify everything.” Alex shared how he uses human-centered design as a product methodology. Not only does this create empathy for customer problems, but it also helps with simplicity. Alex also touched on the importance of repetition. It may seem boring to communicate the same things again and again, but this is crucial for helping people understand how their work is connected to the larger mission.

Alex Hood: Simplification and clarification is really, really helpful. Making sure that that stuff is written down. People can look at the artifact. Teams that haven't started yet or those who are onboarding a lot of folks can point back to these key decisions that were made.... That is part of leadership. Repeating yourself, clarifying, and simplifying so that over and over again, folks know how what they are doing relates to the broader goal.

Chet: Persistent’s Founder Anand and CEO Sandeep talked about the importance of being data-driven. It starts by creating a data culture. You can’t buy this, you have to build it. Decision-making – at all levels – should be data-driven. And Anand brought up an excellent point: To get the most value out of your data, you have to ask the question “What do I want to do next?”

Chet: I loved how Abhay from Adobe talked about his career journey and being an owner. He described his career as a zig-zag and reminded us that no one’s path is a straight line. There are twists & turns, and we fumble through some of our decisions. But building relationships along the way is most important. And ultimately being an owner of the mission you’re a part of will be the key to your success.

Abhay Parasnis: Beyond just the commercial aspects of success, both at a company and individual level, the underlying mission of what you're trying to do. I certainly find it if you can personally connect... and if you can get a group of people really connected on the underlying mission of what you are trying to do. Obviously, you still want to be highly successful as a business. We are ultimately a for-profit company. We like to be successful on those metrics. But actually what attracted me to Adobe was I was a lifelong user of Lightroom. And so for me, actually, the biggest reason to join was, "Hey, I got to go work with people who actually create these tools that I use as a user and have so much fun and passion in using."

Chet: Aashima from Google Cloud talked about the importance of obsessing over customers. When Aashima first started in healthcare, she wasn’t very comfortable speaking directly to customers. But she practiced A TON. This totally transformed the way she leads teams and builds products. In her words: “You have to see the world through the eyes of your customers to truly understand the business problems they are facing and how you can help them.”

Chet: When it comes to thoughtful execution with speed, Jim Baum is world-class. He started his first business in high school, with a residential tree company called Mr. Tree. Very early on, he understood the importance of execution and why it’s key to success. Jim noted that people often confuse activity with execution. If the impact of the activities aren’t measurable, you won’t get the results needed to be a winning company or leader.

Jim Baum: If you measure activity, you get activity. And if you measure outputs and outcomes, you get execution. So I do think one of the things that people are not as disciplined enough about as they could be, and probably should be, is this discipline associated with execution, and being able to execute within a framework.

Chet: Dilip from US Bank talked about operating at all levels. When you’re leading a small startup, it’s easy to stay connected to the details. But as you scale, things become more complex. It’s all about providing context and auditing frequently. Dilip advice to coaches is simple: your job is to bring great people together, set them on a path, and stay out of the way while they execute.

Chet: Alana from Orion Pictures discussed authentic storytelling and how to create diverse and inclusive environments. This starts with active listening and vulnerability. You have to let go of your ego and allow others to voice their perspectives. Here are her tips for helping people feel heard and empowering team members to speak up.

Alana Mayo: I have to actively work to actively listen. One of the things that I try to do in meetings…all of the kind of tricks that you're given, right? Like, don't speak first, however much you want to be the first person to say something in the room. Allow three other people to say something first. Or just note if you were talking more than the other people in the meeting. In fact, I say this a lot to my team. It is your job. It's a requisite that you speak up. It goes back to just trying to create a culture where there's really good communication and where everybody feels comfortable enough to have that level of vulnerability.

Chet: Season 3 of IEP was special in many ways - it was short but thoughtful and personal. I’ve learned so much and am constantly inspired by these phenomenal leaders. We hope you listen to every episode, again and again. Our goal is to provide you with tips and tricks to create your own personal playbook for success. We asked all of our guests the advice they’d give to a younger version of themselves. Two themes emerged. One - Bet on yourself. Have confidence in your abilities. Don’t be afraid to take risks. And just go for it. Two - Focus on enjoying the journey. Things will happen - good and bad. Know that change is inevitable. And remember: you won’t remember your bank balance. But you will always remember the people you were in battle with. Thank you for tuning in, and as always, please send any feedback or thoughts to inspiredexecution@datastax.com. We’ll see you for the next season of the Inspired Execution Podcast.

Narrator: Thank you so much for tuning in to today's episode of the Inspired Execution podcast. Don't forget to subscribe, rate, and review the show and drop us any questions or feedback at inspiredexecution@datastax.com.