And the next chapter begins - phase 2...

As I explained in my first blog entry several months ago, my assignment in Dubai helped me realize I was not ready for retirement and after considerable deliberation I decided to take a role as VP of Strategic Innovation at Campus Management.  I’ve spent the last seven months as the proverbial “jack of all trades” at Campus Management injecting myself wherever we thought I could add value and improve our operations.  I’d categorize my role as an internal management consultant.  I helped my peers across the company scale and improve their functions.  This gave me exposure to many aspects of our business ranging from marketing to sales, implementation to ongoing support, and development to cloud operations. I’ve had the opportunity to interact with individual contributors on the front line up through the Board of Directors. I’ve visited long standing customers and have helped acquire and implement new members of our customer family.  It’s been fascinating to say the least. While I’ll be the first to admit we aren’t perfect, this broad exposure has cemented my initial impression that Campus Management cares about customer success.

I could have comfortably continued in this role for the foreseeable future.  But, last year’s experience in the Middle East reopened my eyes to the exhilaration of taking risks and the feeling of accomplishment associated with stretching oneself beyond one’s comfort zone. It was time to get off the coaching sideline and get fully into the game.

Accordingly, I assumed the role of Vice President, Professional Services on October 8th.  I am responsible for Campus Management’s product implementation, professional services, and managed services engagements in North America. Like most of my career, this move was completely unplanned. An opportunity presented itself when my predecessor, Dr. John Webster who was filling the Professional Services leadership role on an interim basis, decided it was time to return to his passion of teaching & education. (John remains with us as Vice President, Organizational Readiness and will be a key contributor to our success as we scale our business with additional employees and partners.) The idea of being responsible for the individuals and methodologies that enable our customers to obtain the maximum value from our solutions was quite tempting.  I’d argue that no other function has a greater impact on customer success!

However, a move like this required family deliberation. While this was nowhere near as dramatic as my seven month relocation to Dubai, it would require significantly more travel and time commitment than my internal consulting role.  Carol and I discussed it over a weekend and jointly agreed it was a “go”!

I've been on the job for a couple of weeks and I'm thoroughly enjoying it.  The team has welcomed me and I'm inspired by their dedication to their jobs. More impressively, folks are open to change that helps improve their ability to enable customer success. Seasoned veterans are excited to share their knowledge with newer members of the team. New members of the team thirst for knowledge and an opportunity to make an impact. It's an awesome culture to build our future on!

Regular readers may remember my "What is your Why" post.  My new role is yet another example of how your "What" isn't as important when you understand your "Why".  I can't wait to see what the team and I can accomplish working together!