From Two Sides of the C-Suite: Why All Executives Face Similar Challenges

Much like a snowflake, no two companies are alike. After all, something has to separate you from your competition — from mission statement, to products and services, to customers, nothing in the marketplace is exactly like the other. 

But regardless of what industry you serve, more than likely you’re dealing with many of the same issues that your peers are. From all sides of the C-Suite, every executive is dealing with similar obstacles. Maybe that’s designing an infrastructure to support remote work, or navigating a treacherous journey to the cloud, or fixing a workplace culture. No matter what the  issue is, there are more similarities than we may think.

On a recent episode of IT Visionaries, special guest host, Neeracha Taychakhoonavudh, the Executive Vice President, Global Customer Success & Strategy at Salesforce, was joined by two industry experts representing very different parts of the marketplace. The result is a conversation which brings together two executives from two different roles for a look at what makes their challenges similar, but different. 

Tony Wells, is the Chief Brand Officer of USAA, and Michael Smith, is the CIO of Estée Lauder, and on this episode, the two discuss why they believe that companies will inevitably embrace a hybrid work environment and how to bring employees back safely. They also touch on how to build a tech-first culture, and the need for IT and other departments to work together.

Main Takeaways

• Deep Thinkers: Non-technology executives need to constantly be thinking about how current or future technology could be a disruptor to their current business model. It’s important for members of the C-suite to understand the challenges they face, but also to work together to attack those challenges. Working with the CIO on a day-to-day basis to help optimize some of the company's responsibilities will pay dividends in the long-run.
• What do you Value?: The younger workforce we see today puts value in things other than just a steady paycheck and benefits. Now it’s incumbent on the employer to provide a state-of-the-art facility that can best set up employees to succeed, but they have to ensure that the value and image of the brand aligns with their workforce.
• Is That a Hybrid?: The future model of work will include both a physical office and provide employees with the ability to work remotely and with distributed teams. If companies are going to retain and recruit talent, that is likely the only model that will draw them in.

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