In this episode of Enterprise Sales Development podcast, we speak with John Girard, CEO of CIENCE. John does a deep dive into principles and the psychology behind being the CEO. He shares how he has helped to create founding principles and core beliefs at the companies he’s worked for. He also talks about how he balances the many hats he has to wear as CEO and his guiding hand philosophies for running an organization of this size. Listen as he discusses why he thinks sales can be an enormous service to the world.
WHAT YOU’LL LEARN
The CIENCE way: how it helps them decide which clients to work with, how it became part of the corporate path and how it came together
The evolution of the sales space and the rise of sales specialization
John’s most hard learned lessons and how they informed what he does at this stage
How John balances the many roles he plays at CIENCE while maintaining his core principles
How sales can be an enormous service to the world
His guiding hand philosophies for running an organization of this size
The meaningful and standout trends John has seen in the SDR world and how has it changed
QUOTES
“Even if you never do anything in sales for the rest of your career, a year or two years at CIENCE, doing this kind of work, will change the outcome and the trajectory of your life.” -John Girard [14:34]
“Conventually, we’ve been told to work on your weaknesses, to level yourself up in the areas where you’re not good. I think that’s terrible advice, and there’s a lot of evidence now that that’s not the way to do things at all. That the way to do things is actually work on and amplify your strengths and become world class in just one thing or a couple of things that aren’t often put together and then let other people help you fill the gaps on the weakness side.” -John Girard [19:02]
“Uncertainty. It’s part of everything. It’s not just a business reality. It’s a reality of being a human, and I think having, there’s that word resilience again, developing resilience and developing some approaches that help to navigate uncertainty, especially when it manifests, has been really, really helpful as a leader.” -John Girard [24:52]
“I think embracing that, going into these kinds of conversations with actually a belief that I’m probably at least a little bit wrong about this is pretty handy. It’s good for going to conversations with one’s spouse as well, I would say.” -John Girard [30:55]
“The only way to approach anything at scale is through principles.” -John Girard [35:36]
TIMESTAMPS
[00:00] Intro
[00:30] Meet John Girard
[02:04] His experience leading up to CEO
[05:30] The CIENCE Way
[10:49] A steady diet of failure
[15:39] Sales specialization
[21:59] John’s most hard learned lessons
[27:39] The many hats
[32:14] Sales can be an enormous service to the world
[34:37] Guiding hand philosophies for running an organization
[38:49] The SDR world
[43:46] Where CIENCE goes in the future
[49:53] How to contact John
RESOURCES
Principles: Life & Work by Ray Dalio
Predictable Revenue: Turn Your Business Into a Sales Machine with the $100 Million Best Practices of Salesforce.com by Aaron Ross and Marylou Tyler
Zero to One: Notes on Startups, or How to Build the Future by Peter Thiel with Blake Masters
CONNECT
John Girard on LinkedIn
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Enterprise Sales Development with John Girard | Enterprise Sales Development (CIENCE) podcast - Listen or read transcript on Metacast
