“What most leaders seem to have in common is this: they all optimize for learning, they optimize for experience, and they optimize for working with people who could always teach them something new.”
– Portia Mount, Kick Some Glass: 10 Ways Women Succeed at Work on Their Own Terms
I recently had the opportunity to interview Portia R. Mount, vice-president and global leader of strategic marketing at Ingersoll Rand, a global technology and manufacturing company. Portia’s views on leadership have been informed not only by her own career trajectory, but also by her previous role as global marketing leader and member of the Center for Creative Leadership’s executive team. Portia’s book, “Kick Some Glass,” provides fresh and practical insights and recommendations for owning and building your personal leadership brand.
Portia, you certainly have succeeded at work in your own terms, which happens to be part of the subtitle of your book,”Kick Some Glass.” What are some of the most important leadership lessons you’ve learned?
I would start by underscoring the importance of personal values and working to define those values that are driving you at this point in time. An understanding of how your personal values fits (or doesn’t) with company culture is a good starting point for understanding your leadership challenges and opportunities. I didn’t appreciate early on in my career how clarity around values can have an impact on how and where you lead but I certainly recognize that now. Second — and these are insights I’ve gained from writing my book — those who lead successfully have done three things pretty consistently: optimize their career for experience — meaning they are always seeking new experiences and new ways to grow professionally; optimize for learning — they seek places that encourage constant learning; and optimize for working with people who can teach them something they don’t know.
You’ve spent a number of years working for the premiere leadership development organization, the Center for Creative Leadership. How do the most successful leaders communicate? Have you noticed any similarities in the way the most successful executives communicate?
The most successful leaders communicate their values authentically and in so doing build their own and their organization’s brand. They value transparency and frequent communications — not just when something good or bad happens that impacts their enterprise. Frequent and authentic communication fosters commitment from the teams these leaders are privileged to serve. The best leaders understand that communicating effectively provides cultural cohesion — it’s the glue that binds leaders and teams. Second, authentic communications is critical. While external consultants are useful in providing an outside-in perspective, executives who know who they are, what they stand for, and how they would like to be perceived do best — especially when they are open to constructive feedback. Good authentic communicators can make the difference between inspired and motivated teams and those that are not. These days people don’t want leaders who sit on a mountain top and preach — they want to experience a different kind of leader who is much more connected to and can speak to the challenges of the team and the organization with empathy and authenticity.
What pitfalls should leaders try to avoid as they work to develop their own personal style and personal brand?
My perspective here comes from my role as both marketer and communicator. One of the biggest pitfalls is letting someone else dictate who you want to be. What I mean by that is — not everyone is a Silicon Valley hipster CEO. Often times, we look to model ourselves after someone who is nothing at all like who we really are. The word authenticity is way overused but it is absolutely on point here: trying to be someone you are not is a big leadership pitfall. Second, allowing outside forces to tell you who you are — your leadership style, brand and voice. At then end of the day, executives need to have a clear sense of who they are. Third, executives need to be less intimidated by social media. More senior executives should engage in social media. Obviously, when you are working for a public company in a highly regulated industry, you need to exercise caution when engaging. That said, at a time when the best companies are engaged in a war for talent, social media platforms can be used judiciously by senior executives who can help humanize the company to talented candidates.
You are currently vice-president and global leader of strategic marketing at Ingersoll Rand, a global technology and manufacturing company. Can you share some of the challenges you face in building Ingersoll Rand’s global brand? For instance, you are now communication across cultures and business functions — what does it take to succeed in your role?
I am heading up a marketing function at a company that is truly engineering-led — this is a big challenge. The role of marketing has historically been somewhat downplayed, and this is somewhat understandable. After all, it is the quality of our products that keeps our customers happy. But as marketers, we know it’s a bit more complicated than that. Good products are a necessary but insufficient factor in the company’s continued growth and evolution. So, challenge number one for me is communicating the value of the marketing function in an engineering-led business. We’re doing that — slowly but surely. The second huge challenge I face is really about changing culture — working to move away from not only a product-focused company but also one that is customer-obsessed. This is a huge change in mindset but one that I think is critical: what do our customers think, what problems are they dealing with, and how can we position Ingersoll Rand to more effectively speak to and address their needs. My third challenge is simply building a marketing function that supports this new way of thinking. This is difficult but also incredibly rewarding because there is a real change management component to the work that I do — and I love it!
Chapter 9 of your book, focuses on taking charge of your personal brand. What are some practical steps executives at all levels can take to build their personal brand?
Executives who are interested in building their own personal brand must think about both an individual/internal component to the work as well as an external and more visible one. They should first ask themselves: “What do I stand for?” “When I leave the room, what do I want people to say about me?” One of my favorite books — and I always recommend it when I coach other leaders — is Sylvia Ann Hewlett’s Executive Presence: The Missing Link Between Merit and Success. I love it because in addition to containing lots of useful data, it summarizes the key factors that drive a successful personal brand. What you wear and how you sound is important but the more important piece is about how you show up in a room. Are you meek and timid? Confident? And how do others relate to you. Are you warm and inviting? Cold and aloof? I also recommend that leaders google themselves to see how they are being talked about in social media. The most successful leaders should work to cultivate an online persona. They should all make sure that their linkedin site is up to date. I also think it’s always good every now and then to get feedback from experts on how you are being perceived, and what areas need further work. And the data shows that how you show up physically is relevant. The clothes you wear, and even your personal appearance, are factors that contribute to the perception of leadership.
Are there any current CEOs who strike you as being particularly successful in building their brands? Why do they stand out?
There are many interesting CEOs but the era of the rock star CEO seems to have gone away. I have deep admiration for Ingersoll Rand’s CEO Michael Lamach. And I’ll tell you why: he exudes integrity and trust. Around the company he is simply known as Mike. After you meet him, he’ll always remember your name. He’s approachable and friendly. And during town hall meetings he is transparent and shares the good as well as the bad and takes accountability for addressing difficult situations. I just think that in this day and age when everyone is struggling with who or what to trust, it is refreshing and reassuring to have such an authentic and good communicator as our CEO. He makes me feel especially proud to work for Ingersoll Brand.
Finally, what was the most surprising finding from your work on Kick Some Glass?
None of the leaders we spoke to had a specific plan to rise to the top of their field. None of them had a goal to be CEO, or Chairman of the Americas. However, what they did have in common was this: they all optimized for learning, they optimized for experience, and they optimized for working with people who could always teach them something new. This is the key lesson for me: it’s ok to have a leadership goal but if you optimize your work experience in the ways I described earlier, you’ll eventually reach your goal.