People Strategy: Hiring, Firing, and Leadership with Dennis Lyandres - The Transaction - Ep # 19

This episode brings on Dennis Lyandres as the guest. He is currently an advisor at ICONIQ Capital and has many years of sales, marketing, and strategy experience. Along with Craig and Matt, Dennis discusses effective leadership techniques and the importance of relentless learning in the sales and marketing world. He emphasizes the importance of hiring curious, humble, and growth-oriented individuals. The conversation covers critical aspects of scaling a business, such as proactive hiring and firing practices, leadership development, and leveraging unique people strategies. They stress the need for purposeful learning and personalized development plans to foster great leaders and retain high-performing teams. This episode is chalked full of insight from Dennis, listen to hear more!

Takeaways:

• When hiring, focus on vetting candidates for qualities such as curiosity, humility, and a growth mindset. These attributes can significantly impact their success and the culture of the organization.
• Effective firing is crucial. While hiring is about adding value, firing ensures that non-performing or culture-misaligned individuals do not hinder organizational progress. Handle firings with dignity and as potential growth opportunities for those individuals.
• Encourage a culture of continuous learning and development. This contributes to better leadership and organizational adaptability.
• Building and maintaining trust within the team is essential. Transparency in operations, especially involving key metrics and strategic goals, can significantly enhance trust and performance.
• Ensure that sales leaders and managers are adept at the core competencies and are continuously certified in areas like product knowledge and pitching.
• The B2B sales and marketing world evolves rapidly. Leaders need to stay updated and adapt quickly to avoid obsolescence.

Chapters:

• 00:00 Dennis's Story: From Cloudera to Procore
• 02:34 Welcoming Dennis Lyandres
• 03:16 The Rapid Evolution of B2B Sales and Marketing
• 05:59 The Importance of People Strategy in Business
• 10:20 Hiring and Firing: Key Leadership Insights
• 16:09 Curiosity and Learning in Sales
• 19:23 The Role of Leadership in Organizational Success
• 27:33 The Excitement of Hiring vs. The Dread of Firing
• 29:30 The Importance of Effective Firing
• 32:01 Learning and Development in Leadership
• 36:30 Transparency and Leadership Development
• 40:53 Tailoring Enablement Programs for Leaders
• 47:44 Developing Marketing Leaders
• 51:19 Conclusion and Final Thoughts

Quote of the Show:

• “I'm willing to bet that leadership is the most important thing to winning, that training and development are super important.” - Dennis Lyandres

Sponsor:

• The Transaction is sponsored and produced by Ringmaster, on a mission to create connections through Branded podcasts. Learn more at https://ringmaster.com/

Connect with Dennis:

• Dennis’ LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/dlyandres/ 
• Website: https://www.iconiqcapital.com/ 

Shoutouts:

• Cloudera https://www.cloudera.com/ 
• Lars Nilsson https://www.linkedin.com/in/lanilsson/ 
• Procore https://www.procore.com/ 
• SalesLoft https://www.salesloft.com/ 
• Robert Koehler https://www.linkedin.com/in/rkoehler/ 
• Carol Dweck https://profiles.stanford.edu/carol-dweck 

Follow the Show:

• Craig’s LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/craigrosenberg/ 
• Matt’s LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/matt-amundson-91657236/ 
• The Transaction on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/the-transaction/ 
• The Transaction Website: https://thetransactionpod.com/ 
• Substack: https://thetransaction.substack.com/