GOT WHAT IT TAKES?

DO YOU HAVE WHAT IT TAKES?

“Hang In

There, Baby”

DO YOU HAVE WHAT IT TAKES?

(BAD) LEADERSHIP TRAITS

PERFECTIONISM

While there are clearly

situations where being perfect

is critical, in most situations

encouraging people to be

thoughtful, yet take chances

and achieve success—or at

worst, “fail fast”—is a far better

approach.

— Mike Crest, CEO, Arcserve

GOD AND SUPERMAN

If you've got to be the smartest

guy in the room, odds are

you're not willing to teach

others—or worse, you're not

willing to learn from others.

— Rob Consoli, Chief Revenue

Officer, Liasion

STRATEGERY

Strategic planning is based

on traditional concepts of

planning, decision-making

and problem solving. But in

large companies leaders

often spend too much time

planning and not enough time

taking action!

— Traci Pallas, VP Channel

Sales, illusive networks

PENTON, INFORMA & ME

WHAT’S YOUR CHANNEL QUOTIENT (CQ)?

How does one dress for

the cover of CQ

magazine?

NINE CLASS ATTRIBUTES OF A

WORD-CLASS CHANNEL CHIEF

ORGANIZATIONAL INFLUENCE

Being a channel chief requires more than just getting along with others; it

sometimes requires compelling them to work on your behalf. This includes

powerful leaders within an organization that have different if not

competing agendas.

ORGANIZATIONAL INFLUENCE

1. Do you play well with others?

2. Can you work across cross-functional lines and motivate others that do not report to you?

3. Can you secure promises including funding, commitment and talent to work on your behalf throughout your own organization?

BUSINESS ACUMEN

1. A data-driven mindset and the ability to think broadly and clearly at scale.

2. An understanding not only of sales models, but also marketing, customer experiences, social media, partner satisfaction and macro economics.

3. An understanding of the dynamics of partner recruitment, recognition and reward.

4. An ability to master more than your employer’s economics; you also have to immerse yourself in your partners’ finances no matter their size, focus or territory.

DECISIVE LEADERSHIP

From time to time, the job requires you to change the rules

of engagement, reduce the awards you provide to your most

deserving allies and even alienate the affections of your

own peers inside your company.

TECHNOLOGICAL SAVVY

If you cannot discern the difference between sustaining innovations and

disruptive ones or articulate a plan for digitization or artificial intelligence, you’re

going to lag behind other channel chiefs in the industry. At a certain level within an

organization, every executive is a technologist, channel chiefs included.

PERSONAL INTEGRITY

Partnering is personal—so much so that you better have the ability to speak truthfully when you have good and bad news to share. Managing partners often means meeting them at their offices, listening to their concerns and embracing their ambitions. Bear in mind some of these partners will represent your competitors. Others, meanwhile, will waver in their commitments or execution. And some just won’t buy what you are selling.

INFECTIOUS OPTIMISM

Though it’s hard to define, infectious enthusiasm is unmistakably obvious when you see it. It’s the ability to pull partners to places where they wouldn’t otherwise go. It’s the confidence to take on larger competitors, the instinct to learn on the fly and the cunning to change course quickly.

ADD IT ALL UP

Those who have prevailed as a

channel chief and later moved

on often say it’s the best job

they have ever had. If you have

the right Channel Quotient, you

may one day be able to say the

same.

DO YOU HAVE WHAT IT TAKES?

Q&A

CHANNEL 2017

1. Enable the next wave of technology innovation and delivery via new business models that revolve around recurring revenue.

2. Identify, study and engage the channel partners of the future that concentrate their energies around next-generation software vendor ecosystems managed by the likes of Salesforce, Amazon Web Services, Google and others.

3. Prepare a new generation of entrepreneurs and workers for successful careers in technology integration and development through education, outreach and collaboration.