This week, we had the pleasure of interviewing Luke Ferrel, Senior Director of Customer Success at Outreach. Outreach is a sales engagement platform that helps market-facing teams efficiently scale and predictably close more pipeline. Prior to Outreach, Luke was Head of Customer Success at Qualtrics, a leading experience management software company. He also spent over six years serving in the United States Air Force. He has over eight years of professional experience in operations and customer success. We spoke to Luke about leadership, his management style, and the ways that he stays organized as a business leader.

You’ve held leadership roles at both large companies and startups. What were the biggest differences between the two experiences and did you have any trouble adjusting to a startup environment?

The level of certainty needed for decisions. I come from a data background, so I would love to have a tight 95% confidence interval around every decision. In mature companies, you can get that confidence interval nice and tight, and then move. In a startup, you have to be satisfied and move with much less data certainty but equal conviction. Initially, the speed of startup work did present problems. I thought you had to move fast and make snap decisions. In the end, I learned it is very much like playing basketball - your form should be the same if you're taking a shot from 10 ft or 30 ft. The process is the same in a large company or startup, what varies is the certainty. In a large mature company, you almost exclusively shoot short to mid-range jumpers, while in startups you are constantly pulling up from behind the arc.

How would you describe your management style?

Focus on making people in your organization successful above all else.
Make your organization a wave that will push people forward more than anywhere else.

Company success is great, but I don't know if that provides meaning to everyone. By making the company's success tied to people's success, I feel good about what I do and get real meaning.

The life of a business leader is often busy and chaotic. What are some of the ways that you stay organized and on top of your work on a weekly basis?

on staying organized
Decide your "one big thing" every week. Decide what, if you accomplish, will make you feel like you had a great week. Little things will pop up that take your time. By pre-determining the one thing that you have to get done, you force meaningful progress into your week.

The other thing that most people do, but I need to mention is - let your leadership team help you. You can't take problems on by yourself. In your 1:1s, share what you are struggling with. You shouldn't rob your subordinates of the opportunity to spread their wings and help you.

What parts of your job do you get the most energy from and what parts are the most challenging?

Developing people's careers is a favorite. A close second is building processes that are sustainable. The two often go hand in hand as I get to help people build processes. Those processes help the business and push forward others’ careers and provide them with future opportunities. The most challenging part is keeping a strategic view while managing tactical issues. A good leader should have a vision and be working for results 6-12 months from now. At the same time, results today matter. Keeping and sharing that balance can be difficult.