Transformation a Journey of Leadership and Purpose

A masterclass on transformation, leadership, and rejecting the ‘lifer’ life

Joining a new company is hard enough. 

Joining a new company to transform and lead it? Well, that’s madness. 

But people need a touch of madness to do incredible things. 

And if it’s incredible things you’re after, Susan Bowman ticks the box.

The newly appointed Managing Director of ERSL, Susan’s career has spanned diverse cities and sectors. From a genomics startup in San Francisco, the early days of internet banking with Wells Fargo, and plenty of years at Dell here in Dublin. 

Susan made strategic moves from startups to major companies – and back again. As a result, her perspective on leading transformation is well-rounded and refreshing. It was a pleasure to hear her story first-hand in a recent episode of Dublin Tech Talks. 

In honour of Susan’s dynamic approach, I’m mixing up the newsletter format this month. I’ll share Susan’s learnings and the research that backs her strategies. Today, we’re putting a scientific spin on leadership in tech. 

You’re gonna love it. Let’s crack on. 

Hit refresh

When Susan joined ERSL, she understood there was a delicate balance to strike. 

The inspiration for Susan’s approach came from Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella’s book, ‘Hit Refresh’. 

Susan had to hit refresh, without making her team feel like they were part of a different company. She had to be assertive in driving change, but not too quickly. 

Quick wins

If your goal is to drive change, you need to build trust. Fast. 

For this, Susan’s strategy was simple: find quick wins. Start executing on parts of the strategy that would have an immediate return on investment. Those results could be used to prove her acumen and bring others on board. 

What Susan is embodying is Transformational Leadership. This leadership style has been gaining popularity over the past few years and focuses on inspiring and motivating individual members of a team to initiate change together. 

Research shows that transformational leadership has a significant positive impact on trust, and subsequently, fuels organisational change efforts. Those quick wins soon turn into major wins. 

Build together 

In recent years, leadership has shifted. The transformational leadership outlined above is just one example. 

While some companies hang onto the top-down leadership style of the past, more progressive players are scrapping the ‘us versus them’ mentality. About time. 

After the refresh and quick wins, Susan focused on building collectively. 

Participative leadership drives employee engagement. Being involved in the decision-making process appeals directly to our basic human needs. We’re recognised, valued, and feel a sense of belonging by taking a collective decision. 

Susan noticed a shift after executing the quick wins. People started to come together. Now, her team were bringing strategic ideas to the table. Instead of directing the next moves as an individual, Susan called on the collective. They answered. 

The problem with being a lifer

One of the most interesting parts of my conversation with Susan was when she spoke about her other potential future. 

Having spent time in major companies, Susan knew she could get too comfortable. Becoming a lifer is rarely the intention, but often the outcome when you find a great company and role. 

There are lots of reasons to stick around for decades if you’re being treated well. Good culture, great colleagues, and a steadily increasing paycheck aren’t things you should turn your snout up at. 

But job mobility is good for our careers. I don’t have to tell you that. Moving around forces us to challenge ourselves. To develop new skills. 

When we switch jobs, our life satisfaction increases. But here’s where it gets interesting. Job hopping puts us on a high at first. Sort of like the honeymoon phase of a relationship, but for work. And then over time, that satisfaction decreases back to where it started. Until the next job hop. 

Unless there’s another solution. Call it a cop-out, but I think the answer is purpose. If you can find purpose in what you do, the honeymoon phase ain’t just a phase. It’s a lifelong journey. 

Susan, like so many others who go on to start and lead tech companies, was looking for something else. The opportunity to own something, prove she could do it, and take responsibility for growing something exceptional. You could call that purpose. 

Based on our episode for Dublin Tech Talks, I think she’s onto something.

#leadership #purpose #jobmobility #quickwins #collective #techleadership #DublinTechTalks