Focus On Building Relationships: Interview with Bart Fanelli, Founder and CEO of Skillibrium
I recently went one on one with Bart Fanelli, founder and CEO of Skillibrium.
Adam: Thanks again for taking the time to share your advice. First things first, though, I am sure readers would love to learn more about you. How did you get here? What experiences, failures, setbacks, or challenges have been most instrumental to your growth?
Bart: And thank you for the opportunity to share these insights through your platform! I’ve been fortunate enough to serve in multiple roles throughout my career with a focus on successfully building go-to-market (GTM) organizations. I’ve led teams of over 275 employees within companies generating more than $1.5 billion in revenue. My latest and greatest undertaking, Skillibrium, is a platform designed to facilitate growth for GTM organizations at the individual, team, and organizational level.
I remember a specific time back in the early 2000s when I was a young sales rep covering the Southeast region. Our territory had a reputation as a top performer within the company, but in that particular quarter, we didn’t meet quota. However, during the company earnings call, I learned that the company had achieved all its targets and execs were touting the good news. This is when I learned about the practice of broad over-assignment of quota. This experience, combined with what I learned in a subsequent organization as a more rewarding model, led to my pursuit for a better leadership style and a mentality of complete transparency in the workplace. I wanted to confront the hypocrisies in business and those who "make it up as they go" while changing their story to suit their interests.
Adam: In your experience, what are the key steps to growing and scaling your business?
Bart: Integrating GTM and product design teams is crucial for a company's growth and success. In smaller companies, it's easier to establish this integration early, but it becomes more difficult as the company grows. Companies should develop baselines and models to understand their ideal customer profile (ICP) and match their GTM motion and financial models accordingly. In the Software as a Service (SaaS) world, Different measures can be relevant to user experience (UX) and the product organization, such as proof events and technical validation of providing business outcomes. What GTM hears from customers in the field is usually different from what Customer Success teams hear in their role, and cross-collaboration is critical for all of these perspectives to be applied successfully.
Adam: What do you believe are the defining qualities of an effective leader?
Bart: Effective leadership begins with the ability to communicate effectively. It's essential to clearly and concisely convey your message to your team and other stakeholders. Along with that, possessing self-awareness is crucial. A leader needs to understand their strengths and weaknesses and be able to work on improving themselves.
Another essential quality is the ability to focus on relationship-building. Leaders prioritizing building solid relationships with their team members and other stakeholders can create a more positive and productive work environment. Empowering others is also an important quality. A leader who trusts their team and gives them the autonomy to make decisions and take ownership of their work is likely to see positive results.
Lastly, demonstrating authenticity, self-awareness, and humility is critical to gaining the trust and respect of your team. A leader who is genuine, humble, and willing to admit their mistakes is more likely to have a loyal and motivated team than a tyrant.
Adam: How can leaders and aspiring leaders take their leadership skills to the next level?
Bart: As a leader, it's crucial to understand that "leading" and "managing" are very different. While managing is about overseeing the completion of tasks within a specific timeframe, leading goes beyond that by helping employees understand why what they are doing matters and how to improve their skills through regular coaching. A good leader empowers their team members and works towards improving the team and organization, while a manager may focus more on completing tasks and meeting deadlines. It's essential to focus on developing a growth culture by consistently supporting and repeating this pattern of selfless leadership throughout the organization. Doing so leads to better outcomes and a more engaged, motivated team.
Adam: What are your three best tips applicable to entrepreneurs, executives, and civic leaders?
Bart:
Be coachable yourself. A leader must possess the willingness and humility to learn and be coachable to coach others successfully.
Establish clear and consistent baseline competencies for each role to avoid changing expectations for team members. Each position requires specific skills and abilities that should be used to measure and develop team members based on their willingness and skill or abilities competencies.
When hiring, I look for traits such as role specialization or proven experience, transparent and authentic communication with humility, coachability, desire, drive, a positive mindset, and no entitlement. When hiring a GTM professional, I also look for someone who can display professional written communication, execute a documented sales process and playbook, negotiate for mutually beneficial outcomes, and understand analytics to describe daily, weekly, and monthly leading indicators that lead to business outcomes.
Adam: What is your best advice on building, leading, and managing teams?
Bart: Building relationships, trust, and collaboration between departments is a long-term process that requires leadership to advocate for alignment and internal selling rather than dictating. An operating cadence or baseline process where teams work together is essential for success and enjoyable collaboration.
Also, leave behind any hypocrisy or sense that leadership requires “smoke and mirrors.” My leadership mentality of complete transparency in the workplace directly reflects my rebelling against people who acted with hypocrisy over the years. I have zero respect for those who “make it up as they go” while changing their story to suit their interests.
Adam: What are your best tips on the topics of sales, marketing, and branding?
Bart:
Sales: Listen to your customers and focus on building relationships. Understanding their needs and offering tailored solutions that can provide value to them is essential. Also, feel free to ask for warm introductions from happy customers, as they can be a valuable source of new business.
Marketing: Know your ICP and target audience and create content that resonates with them. Whether through social media, email marketing, or other channels, ensure you're delivering a consistent message that speaks to their needs and interests. Also, focus on building a solid brand identity that reflects your company values and sets you apart from competitors.
Branding: Your brand is more than just your logo or visual identity. It's the way customers perceive your company and the emotions they associate with it. To build a strong brand, create a unique and memorable customer experience at every touchpoint. Include everything from your website and social media presence to customer service interactions. Consistency is critical to building a solid and recognizable brand.
Adam: What is the single best piece of advice you have ever received?
Bart: The 'one-of-five' mantra was taught to me by my father, who said that at the end of one's life, one would be lucky to have five people they can count on. The number has increased due to the digital age and networking. It's important to give back and coach others, which I learned from a former coach who believed in a no-entitlement culture. Coaching others and holding them accountable can lead to continuous growth and development, and teamwork is crucial in achieving a greater mission. The push-pull effect is essential in ensuring high performance.
Adam: Is there anything else you would like to share?
Bart: If all else fails, always go back to the basics - kindness and integrity.
I’d love for you to connect with me on LinkedIn. I am pretty active and will post my blogs, thoughts, and updates on that platform. You’ll be the first to learn about the exciting updates to come with the launch of my new company, Skillibrium.
Adam Mendler is an entrepreneur, writer, speaker, educator, and nationally-recognized authority on leadership. Adam is the creator and host of the business and leadership podcast Thirty Minute Mentors, where he goes one on one with America's most successful people - Fortune 500 CEOs, founders of household name companies, Hall of Fame and Olympic gold medal-winning athletes, political and military leaders - for intimate half-hour conversations each week. A top leadership speaker, Adam draws upon his insights building and leading businesses and interviewing hundreds of America's top leaders as a top keynote speaker to businesses, universities, and non-profit organizations. Adam has written extensively on leadership and related topics, having authored over 70 articles published in major media outlets including Forbes, Inc. and HuffPost, and has conducted more than 500 one on one interviews with America’s top leaders through his collective media projects. Adam teaches graduate-level courses on leadership at UCLA and is an advisor to numerous companies and leaders. A Los Angeles native, Adam is a lifelong Angels fan and an avid backgammon player.
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