Ron Shamah of Rightpoint On Five Things You Need To Be A Highly Effective Leader During Uncertain & Turbulent Times
The company vision should be unwavering, but you need to be really agile on your path to get there. We’re always trying new things but they always ladder back to the vision, which doesn’t change. Also, it’s important to show a plan against the vision. I think too often even really talented leaders can get soft on how they’re actually going to realize their vision. What’s the business plan to make it happen? What’s methodology? You have to show the details. A good leader puts in the hard work, shows the plan, and is accountable every step of the way. Answer every question about it. You can’t outsource or delegate that accountability.
As part of our series about the “Five Things You Need To Be A Highly Effective Leader During Turbulent Times”, we had the pleasure of interviewing Ron Shamah.
Mr. Shamah’s career spans more than 25 years, with experience in agency and consultancy leadership. Before taking the CEO role at Rightpoint, Mr. Shamah held SVP positions at Citi and SapientNitro. He served as CEO of SapientRazorfish and later as EVP of Publicis Sapient. Mr. Shamah credits his upbringing on Staten Island, New York, with his tenacity and perseverance in the face of challenges that include leading an 800-person organization and living with multiple sclerosis. He earned his MBA in marketing from The Peter J. Tobin College of Business at St. John’s University and recently joined the Fast Company Executive Board.
Thank you so much for your time! I know that you are a very busy person. Our readers would love to “get to know you” a bit better. Can you tell us a bit about your ‘backstory’ and how you got started?
I was born and raised in — and am speaking to you from — Staten Island, NY. Growing up in Staten Island you definitely needed to demonstrate some grit and hustle to thrive. Early on I wasn’t running with the best crowd and I realized at an early age that wasn’t going to be a great path. I asked my parents for private high school, which they were not able to provide. So I put myself through private Catholic high school.
Those self-reliant values carried over into my career, and I had a lot of confidence in myself. That got rocked in 2005 when I was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis. That shattered me and my family and put me in a dark place for a while. Now, though, I think I’m a much better person because of learning vulnerability from that experience. Vulnerability was a very difficult thing for me to learn. I was always of the belief that I was invincible, and if I didn’t feel invincible for a second, I was going to fake it until I felt invincible again. I think that was a dated view of leadership and I’ve had to humanize myself by understanding strength through vulnerability.
It has been said that our mistakes can be our greatest teachers. Can you share a story about the funniest mistake you made when you were first starting? Can you tell us what lesson you learned from that?
Early in my career, I ran the northeast region for a consulting company and it was the number one growth region for that entire organization. We had an opportunity to win a very large telecommunications agency-of-record deal. In a forum with all of the sales leaders of the telecom company, the CEO asked me if I thought I’d win the deal. I don’t know why I did this, but I said, “I’ll guarantee I’ll win.” This was a mic drop moment, me calling my shot in front of around 100 people. And I lost.
That was a lot of humble pie, to lose after such a public statement. And then the egg on the face came when the sales manager made me present to everybody why I lost. I actually appreciated it, because I learned that I could have demonstrated confidence without guaranteeing victory–a little humility–and that would have made the path a lot easier.
None of us are able to achieve success without some help along the way. Is there a particular person who you are grateful towards who helped get you to where you are? Can you share a story?
I’ve learned different things from different folks. For starters, there was somebody in my life who was a sales animal. He was just the most tenacious person I’ve ever met. I think I learned that attribute in a big way from him, and I loved it. Another mentor who is a client now, taught me the value of EQ over IQ. I became a big student of that, and I found that some things came naturally in the emotional intelligence arena.
I also had a mentor who helped me as I moved out of my sales background into leadership. I was a very prideful individual contributor, but as you become a leader, you have to recognize that it doesn’t matter how good you are as an individual contributor, because ultimately you’re still an FTE of one. The job of a leader is to try to make everybody around them 10 to 15% better at what they do. The impact of that goes beyond one FTE. For example, if you can help 800 employees perform 10% better, that’s like an 80-person impact.
Extensive research suggests that “purpose-driven businesses” are more successful in many areas. When your organization started, what was its vision, what was its purpose?
I approach my job for Rightpoint from a refounder’s mentality — I did not found Rightpoint. Rightpoint was acquired by Genpact — and Genpact’s purpose is the relentless pursuit of a world that works better for people. Rightpoint focuses on improving the Total Experience with customers, employees, and products. So, I saw an opportunity for Rightpoint to interlock with Genpact and leverage their resources and relationships, because our purpose perfectly ties into Genpact’s purpose.
Thank you for all that. Let’s now turn to the main focus of our discussion. Can you share with our readers a story from your own experience about how you lead your team during uncertain or difficult times?
Over my career I’ve had several opportunities to lead through difficult times. It’s a hard thing to do and it starts with blatant and almost uncomfortable honesty, making sure there’s an understanding of the state of the business. I’ve learned that just because you say something doesn’t mean it was heard.
In my career, in all hands meetings, I’ve said in plain English “we’re not performing; this isn’t good; we need a corrective action plan.” But people hear what they want to hear and they don’t want to sit in discomfort, so you have to be super explicit. That can include tactics such as putting a slide up showing the downward slope or trend of a business and saying, “I’m going to leave this up here until you tell me it hurts, until we go around the room and you tell me you recognize it.” It’s a little bit academic. It’s a little bit uncomfortable. But it’s important to have that incredible transparency, followed by that confirmation that your people recognize the pain and subscribe to the plan to fix it.
Did you ever consider giving up? Where did you get the motivation to continue through your challenges? What sustains your drive?
Never once in my entire life have I ever thought of giving up on anything. I’m still a work in progress on the vulnerability front. Old habits die hard for an undersized kid from Staten Island.
I’m an author and I believe that books have the power to change lives. Do you have a book in your life that impacted you and inspired you to be an effective leader? Can you share a story?
Outliers, by Malcolm Gladwell, had a pretty big impact on me, because I don’t know if I’ve ever read a book and then had so much subsequent conversation. I got to know Malcolm a little bit through client events in the past. He’s brilliant, but what was amazing to me about his book is that I’ve seen such unbelievably different takeaways from it. Some people took away the idea that you just have to put 10,000 hours into something and things will work out. Other people took away the role of privilege, for example that Bill Gates never could have put in his 10,000 hours if he didn’t have access to the computer lab.
What I took from Outliers is that you have to be determined and willing to put in all the hard work. But it does need to be accompanied by opportunity. You can be super smart and you can never give up but you need some fortune on your side. I hate the word luck, by the way. To me that’s hitting the lottery. I’ve put myself in a position to be fortunate, and I appreciate my privilege and my good fortune, but I don’t think anything that’s happened to me personally has just been luck.
What would you say is the most critical role of a leader during challenging times?
In leading Rightpoint, I’ve been entrusted with the professional growth and development of 800 people. That is an intimidating task and I take the responsibility very seriously. So, my role is to put this company in a place where people can achieve their own professional growth and development and have their time at Rightpoint be a catalyst in their career and maybe even in their life.
When the future seems so uncertain, what is the best way to boost morale? What can a leader do to inspire, motivate and engage their team?
The company vision should be unwavering, but you need to be really agile on your path to get there. We’re always trying new things but they always ladder back to the vision, which doesn’t change. Also, it’s important to show a plan against the vision. I think too often even really talented leaders can get soft on how they’re actually going to realize their vision. What’s the business plan to make it happen? What’s methodology? You have to show the details. A good leader puts in the hard work, shows the plan, and is accountable every step of the way. Answer every question about it. You can’t outsource or delegate that accountability.
What is the best way to communicate difficult news to one’s team and customers?
Clear, direct and honest transparency.
How can a leader make plans when the future is so unpredictable?
You create vision, stick to it, and remain agile in your path and execution.
It’s like embracing the old adage — the definition of insanity is trying the same thing over and over again but expecting a different result. You can stay unwavering in your vision and still be agile and experimental in the way you go about achieving it.
Is there a “number one principle” that can help guide a company through the ups and downs of turbulent times?
I’ve always admired and tried to emulate the learning mindset. I think that’s related to the agility frame and also to enjoying the journey, even when it’s difficult and character building. Of course, it’s great to be able to stand on top of the mountain and celebrate, but you can only appreciate the tallest mountain top when you’ve been in the lowest valley. Certainly one is more enjoyable than the other, but with the learning mindset you can come out the valley better for the experience, and you can ensure the organization gets better through what you’ve learned.
Can you share 3 or 4 of the most common mistakes you have seen other businesses make during difficult times? What should one keep in mind to avoid that?
I think reliance on history is a big trap. Every prospectus tells you that past performance is not an indicator of future results, and what it took to get you here may not be what it takes to get from today to the future.
The casting of human talent is a big variable. It’s human nature to want to surround ourselves with like- minded thinkers. It’s easier, it’s more comfortable. But leadership is not about the easy path, it’s about an obsession for casting people for the right role for that moment of the journey.
Slotting people into unchanging roles is an issue too. You need to understand that people evolve and grow over time. Maybe someone gets typecast in sales roles for their skills, but they might also be right for a different role at a specific time. I think people have a lot more to offer when given the chance. Give people the benefit of the doubt.
Here is the primary question of our discussion. Based on your experience and success, what are the five most important things a business leader should do to lead effectively during uncertain and turbulent times? Please share a story or an example for each.
Culture is foundational. I have a very strong view that if you start with your goal being financial success, you will not achieve it. But if you start by creating the right culture, that will ultimately create financial success.
Next is communities. That culture breeds communities that demonstrate caring for one another. Those communities could be geographies, industry verticals, subteams, or something else. They’re derivatives of the culture.
That leads to people. Within those communities, people that really care about each other produce great work.
Finally, work. In the professional services business, it’s all about the work that we produce for clients. That is our real measure of success.
And fifth, there’s also the need for tenacity, grit, hustle, agility, and a learning mindset. But I think the key is the cultural standpoint.
Can you please give us your favorite “Life Lesson Quote”? Can you share how that was relevant to you in your life?
I saw this quote by Rosalyn Carter, “A leader takes people where they want to go, but a great leader takes people where they don’t necessarily want to go but ought to be.”
I can’t pretend that it’s something I’ve lived my life by, but it strikes me that it has incredible recency to the transformation we’re making at Rightpoint. Maybe it’s not the easiest path, but there’s a vision of where we need to be, and people want a leader who has a plan.
How can our readers further follow your work?
LinkedIn is where I’m posting my thoughts, and readers are welcome to reach out to me there.
Thank you so much for sharing these important insights. We wish you continued success and good health!
Ron Shamah of Rightpoint On Five Things You Need To Be A Highly Effective Leader During Uncertain &… was originally published in Authority Magazine on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.