
Q&A with Daniel Code-McNeil: Ada's Chief Revenue Officer
We sat down with Ada’s first Chief Revenue Officer, Daniel Code-McNeil, to learn more about what makes someone a great leader, and how he incorporates this into his day-to-day work.
In a down economy, merely reacting to the changing landscape of consumer needs is not enough. Brands need to be on the cutting edge of what customers expect: more relevant, timely, and proactive interactions that are always on and always helpful.
But this doesn’t only apply to your customers. Brands today are treading through the murky waters of the great resignation, mass layoffs, and projections of a recession in the making.
It’s during these uncertain times that brands need to start turning their eyes inward and evaluate their ability to attract and retain top talent, ensuring their operations are equipped to provide stand out employee experiences (EX).
Lucky for Ada, we have an expert in creating and sailing high performance teams at the helm of our ship.
Bronwyn Smith, Ada’s SVP of Operations is a data-driven decision maker who started her career in finance and strategy consulting. Here she learned the foundational tools that have helped her to succeed in the tech space — like how to use data to value the size and impact of priorities, how to create mental models and frameworks, and how to use a hypothesis-driven approach to solve complex problems.
Of course, none of this can succeed without a culture that fully embraces the mission of a company, shares their values, and is driven to build better, stronger, and faster. We sat down with Bronwyn to learn more about her professional experiences, and how companies can build better operations and support hyper growth.
My first job in tech was at Airbnb. This is where I began to really understand the power of being a mission-driven company. The power of knowing what you value and getting people together that share those values. The right people, in the right roles, are very powerful.
Influitive was a smaller, earlier stage startup. Here, I learned a lot about creating operating cadences, creating a culture of accountability, goal setting and OKR processes, and getting teams rowing in the same direction.
I moved to Shopify at the start of the pandemic and experienced an enormous wave of growth. This taught me how much of your success is about being in the right market, with the right product, at the right time. My time at Shopify also taught me the value of transparency and creating an environment where people can do their best work — and limiting other distractions that take away from that.
All of these experiences, coupled with companies I have consulted, coached, read about, or talked to, have helped me to form my thoughts on how to create a high performing team, and this is what I hope to bring to Ada as we build out our operations.
I think leaders have many different strengths — and I don’t think there is one way to be a great leader. What stands out to me is that great leaders are uniquely good at ~three things, and they lean into those strengths. They are also hyper aware of their weaknesses and build a team around them to compensate for that.
There are some table stakes qualities that any leader should have: integrity, a positive attitude, the ability to embrace failure, a desire to learn, and empathy. You can’t be a great leader without these qualities, but you can have these traits and not be a great leader.
One of my favorite frameworks for identifying great leaders was Jack Welch’s criteria called “4E’s and a P.” A leader has a lot of personal Energy, they Energize others, they have an Edge (and can make tough calls). They are able to Execute, and they are Passionate. I often use this framework when I’m assessing leaders myself.
A few guiding principles to use:
Whether you are servicing customers or employees, highly personalized journeys are more likely to produce better results. Truly tailoring an employee's journey towards their needs will result in a faster time for them to start creating value for your company — and a higher likelihood of the employee having lasting success.
As you scale, the only way to continue to provide highly personalized journeys is through automating interactions. For example, most companies offer an standard onboarding journey for all employees that looks like this:
Forward brands will have completely personalized onboarding plans, based on the characteristics of an employee, that will enable employees to ramp much faster:
I only read books the old fashion way. I like to hold them physically in my hands. If it's a business book, I like to use a highlighter to note something interesting. I love to go back to them again and again.
Greta Thunberg. I admire her courage, and I think she has done more than anyone else to move the mindset on global change. She is so inspiring and provides me with hope for our future.
Sarah Fox is a scuba-diving, animal-loving journalist turned content marketer. In her career, she’s covered stories on development, written profiles on notable philanthropists, and interviewed celebrities with a passion for giving back. When she’s not producing content for Ada, Sarah’s likely fawning over her dog somewhere in the woods.
We sat down with Ada’s first Chief Revenue Officer, Daniel Code-McNeil, to learn more about what makes someone a great leader, and how he incorporates this into his day-to-day work.
We sat down with Jessica Popp, Ada's CTO, to learn more about her journey to Ada and the ingredients that make someone a great leader.
We sat down with Ada's VP of People, Ruby White, to learn more about the professional experiences that’s shaped her career, and why Ada is a perfect fit.
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