Strategic Leadership and Recognition with Diego Silva

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Speaker 1: Welcome to the Quick Take Podcast, the show where you

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get targeted advice and coaching for executives by

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executives.

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I'm Susie Tominchuk.

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Speaker 2: And I'm James Capps.

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Give us 15 minutes and we'll give you three secrets to

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address the complex topic of issues that are challenging

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executives like you today.

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Speaker 1: All right.

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So I'm super excited.

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Today we have Diego and we told you a little bit about him.

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James, why don't you just kick us off?

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Speaker 2: We're super excited to have a new program here which

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is really straight talk from the top, and so we're bringing

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in some amazing guests like Diego to talk about the things

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that they really want their staff to hear.

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And so, diego, we were chatting earlier about the work that

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he's done and the exciting things he's doing at Gates.

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So, diego, why don't you tell us a little bit about your firm

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and the role you play there?

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Speaker 3: Sure, so I'm Diego Silva, chief Information Officer

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at Gates Corporation.

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Gates is a very iconic company here in Colorado.

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It's been here for more than 100 years, started here, it's

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now in more than 30 countries.

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So we manufacture products for fluid power and power

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transmission.

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So we're talking about bales and hoses, but they go into

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multiple products, from a Peloton thread mill to a 3D

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printer.

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You will see our products everywhere.

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So, personally, a little bit about myself.

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I've been in this industry for quite some time.

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On IT.

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I started when I was 18 years old, building internet startups

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in my home country, uruguay.

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I came to the US, did an MBA and then I went to Europe.

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I did the Europe for 10 years.

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I came back to the US seven years ago and I had the

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opportunity to join Gates three years ago.

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So I've been in Colorado for the last three years.

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Speaker 2: That's so great because both Susie and I

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everybody knows we're townies, we've been here multiple

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generations and that Gates facility downtown has been there

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for a million years and it's just so great that that company

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continues to be a key part of our fabric of Denver and it's so

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cool that it's still doing some unique and progressive stuff.

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I've been to Diego's office.

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The entire powertrain for the Tesla is in there, the stuff

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that it does for Peloton, like you mentioned, the chainless

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bike chains for lack of a better term very cool technology.

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I've looked at that for my own bike.

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So cool stuff.

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You know, it's super exciting to see that company like that grow

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and you know, diego, you're a great leader at that company.

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You've been received numerous awards over the years and you

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continue to be a great leader, so we're excited to have you

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here today to talk about some of the tricks of your trade.

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So, with that, really, what I'm going to do is I'm going to let

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you, you know, identify.

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You know some of you have some ideas on thoughts, on the things

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that you want your people to hear.

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So why don't I let you, uh, jump in and give us the first

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nugget of of of Diego wisdom?

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Speaker 3: I mean the topic today we're we're covering is

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about building basic class organizations, and one of the

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things that, for me, I've gained has been incredible in the last

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two years is we've been driving a transformation.

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Uh, we won six awards in the last 18 months and a lot of

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people think maybe it's about me , but it's not about me, it's

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about the team that's driving this.

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So some of the things that I wanted to share with everybody,

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some of the tips or things to think about is the first one is

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about everybody has a superpower .

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Our job as leaders is to identify this power in each

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individual to put together the right cocktail mix.

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Sometimes I come across people that have great talents but they

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are assigned to the wrong area or they're in the wrong project.

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Making those corrections make a significant difference in the

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effectiveness of the team.

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This is a little bit also like a soccer team you want to have

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the right player in the right place.

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Usually don't put the goalkeeper.

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You don't ask the goalkeeper to go score I mean he can do that

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but you want to make sure you build that effectiveness in the

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team.

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Speaker 1: Yeah, you know what's so interesting about that too.

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I think it's such a good point.

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What leaders often forget is that those people don't always

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know their own superpowers, and so being that outside person to

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help bring that out and show them, to give them that

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confidence to use that, it takes space and time to allow

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yourself to understand that so that you can articulate it to

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them or just let them shine.

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Speaker 2: Yeah, I love that.

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It's so often I mean, as a coach, you know, Susie, you see

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it a lot where people are just not sitting on the right seat of

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the bus or they have some belief that I have to be a

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manager, when at the end of the day, they are a better

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individual contributor.

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And yeah, I think that that's one of the most important roles

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a leader can play is to really help folks find their super

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power.

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Speaker 1: Yeah, I love that.

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And you don't have to be better than them at their superpower.

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I think that's what Diego's point is, too, is, let them be

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them, let them shine.

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What else would you add, diego?

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Speaker 3: Correct.

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I mean, and even on that same line, I mean, this is why

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diversity is so important.

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You want to have that diversity of thought, diversity of skills

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and, as you look at the organization, it's also

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everybody in the organization, from the VP to the intern, that

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you need to bring up to the table to make up that team,

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because everybody's going to bring something different.

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When we think about teams, it's usually a pretty flat

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organization.

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There are no hierarchies.

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So this is why you want to spend as much time with the

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interns, with the middle management, with everybody, and

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make sure the team works together towards that goal.

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Speaker 2: Yeah, really well said, and I think that that's

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one of the things that you know.

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When I've talked to you about what you've done with your teams

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and I've heard you speak, it is your, your uh willingness as an

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individual, as a leader, to go out and meet people where they

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are, help them understand the role they play and help them

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find the right.

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The right role is just uh, it's a testament to the progress you

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guys have made.

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Speaker 1: Diego, what is your tip or what is your trick, Like

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how do you find people's superpowers?

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What are the things that you do that you think people miss out

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on by really exploring that?

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Speaker 3: Well, I think the first thing is you need to

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observe and you need to have a people focus.

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I spend probably 70% of my time on people things versus IT

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things, trying to identify what people is good at, what the

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strengths, what are the weaknesses, where they need some

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help, and then try to make sure that they are assigned to the

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right task and, you know, try to get the I mean getting the team

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together, working together.

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A lot of this is observation, is understanding, is having

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conversations with them, understanding their needs and

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what they want to do, and then making sure that you give them

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an opportunity to shine.

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Speaker 2: Yeah, you know, I often say you know the tech part

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as a technology part, the technology as a technology

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leader.

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The tech part is the easy part.

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Right, it's the people part that's hard, and those of us

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that are that you know I think the people that are successful

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there know that because you know the tech will figure itself out

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.

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It's.

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Getting the people lined up is the second, is the hardest thing

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.

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All right, so let's pivot.

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Diego, hit us with your second nugget.

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Speaker 3: The second one is that the team needs a mountain

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to climb, and we're in Colorado.

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There are lots of mountains.

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So that's a good analogy.

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A strategy, vision, a plan and, ultimately, a challenge are

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critical for the team to take on .

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It's important that they have that sense of purpose, that they

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have that sense of purpose, that they have a goal, they have

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something that they want to go after, and this is usually

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something that they can only achieve as a team.

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They won't be able to do on the round.

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It's something they've not done before.

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On the round, they're going to need to, I mean, take advantage

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of the rest of the team to get there, and that's critical.

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We as leaders need to provide that clarity, help define that

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end state or that mountain that we want to climb.

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We can also bring them into that as part of the process.

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They can help us define that.

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But we need to set a goal that's challenging, that it's

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going to stretch and it's going to challenge them to do things

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that maybe they haven't done before.

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Speaker 2: That's a good one.

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Help me understand.

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So many of us in technology aren't lucky enough to be

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working on the greatest thing in the world.

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You know there's.

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I'm not.

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You know I don't have my AI team and my next generation

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product team.

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You know a lot of folks are doing, you know, technical debt

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resolution, bau, bug fixing.

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How do you find that mountain in a pile of garbage?

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What's your strategy there?

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Mountain in a pile of garbage?

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Speaker 3: What's your strategy there?

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Well, in many cases, when we look at what needs to be done in

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IT, I mean you need to address technical dev.

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There are things you need to do like ERP replacements,

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cybersecurity things, just to keep things going, and then you

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have the AIs.

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You have the more, let's say, shiny tools and cool things that

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you want to do as an organization.

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One of the things that I play with quite often is with the

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time.

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How long is it going to take us to resolve?

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And the sooner we resolve some of the ERPs, the low-hanging

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items that we need to address, the more time we're going to be

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able to spend on the more interesting things that add

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value.

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So, for example, one of the things I challenge my team on is

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to execute projects in a really , really short period of time.

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There are projects that I've done before in previous

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organizations that have taken me maybe two years, that I

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challenged the team and said look, we don't have two years,

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we're going to need to do them in six months, and initially the

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reaction is that this is not possible, of course.

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But then, once they get together and they start thinking

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different, they start changing the way to approach the problem.

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I mean we have demonstrated and they've been incredibly

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successful at getting those things done in incredible I mean

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really really fast breaking of records.

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So the time sometimes is one of those challenges.

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Sometimes it's exploring a new area that we've never been

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before.

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But, yeah, you need to set something that is going to be

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challenging for them, Because once you get to the end and once

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they accomplish that, that sense of accomplishment, that

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celebration that you can do, is going to also motivate them to

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go and they're going to come back and ask what's the next

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mountain now?

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And that's the most exciting part of the journey.

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Speaker 1: You know, you mentioned that they have to do

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it together and I think that when a team has been working

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together for a long time and they've faced that mountain

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before, they kind of understand their roles.

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But how would you give some advice to people that have a

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newer team?

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Or how do you get people to understand to be dependent on

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one another and and how they'll work together, and how do you

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insert yourself along the way to make sure that they're really

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collaborating well?

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Speaker 3: Yeah.

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So the and this actually leads into my third, my third

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recommendation Classic Susie Susie's always good about that,

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she's Sorry, yeah which is don't sit on the sidelines, right,

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you need to empower the team so they can drive, but you also

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need to identify where help is needed, develop the individuals

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and help remove obstacles.

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You are also part of the team.

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I mean, it's not like you and the team.

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You are part of the team.

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You also bring, as a leader, certain strengths and weaknesses

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into the equation and you need to make sure that you help them

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out.

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It's not about hiring people and delegating.

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You need to win the wins and help them out.

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You need to keep in mind your job is to make them successful.

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If you make them successful, then they will make you

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successful, so all the focus needs to be on that.

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Speaker 2: Yeah, I love that and I think you're right.

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Those are two, really you know, complementary things.

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I do want to go back, briefly though, to you know that having

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a mountain to climb I love, where you know you were giving

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folks context.

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You know, yes, we have to do the CRP thing, but it's, it's

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part of a bigger picture, and I like the idea of breaking it up

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into consumable boxes.

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Uh, for um, for you know that that you know little wins on on

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a bigger spectrum.

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Um, I also think that one of the things that that I find

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really interesting is that, um, you know, to your first point,

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which is, you know, sometimes there are people who are really

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interested in fixing bugs, there are people who love cleaning up

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old code.

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I have a team member who we, you know, we have multiple CRM

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systems in place and his goal for the, you know, for the next

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three years is to kill all of them, and that's his.

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And he wants that we have an entire initiative to build a new

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one, but that's not.

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And he wants that we have an entire initiative to build a new

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one, but that's not what he wants.

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He wants to be the person that ends that, and so I think yes,

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having identifying the battles, the mountains to climb, but also

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finding the right people to find the right battles, is

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equally huge.

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Speaker 1: I find that, leaders also, it's so hard not to show

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all the parts, like James you just said, kind of show them the

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pieces or the you know the milestones.

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Maybe it's hard to think about how do you give them the goal,

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give them some parameters and then back out but no one to go

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in and it's an art more than a science.

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So do you guys see it that way, from two people that are very

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technical?

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Speaker 3: Is that a challenge?

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Yeah, I mean and and and look, um, we also um, we will not

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always be successful, right?

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So you need to set these mountains, you need to start

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climbing, You're going to, you're going to start going,

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you're going to learn new things through the process, you're

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going to adjust and then you're going to try again.

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So it's a continuous process and you learn through the

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process also.

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But, yeah, I mean giving people , you know, small, you cut the

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problem into different pieces and then in pieces that they can

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, they can resolve, and then, once you put it together, I mean

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you get there.

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I mean, one of the things that I also always, um, also play with

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is I don't necessarily tell everybody, I mean, what the big

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full picture is gonna be, um, and then you know we get moving

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in that direction and then, by by the time, they realize

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suddenly, oh my gosh, we're already there and we're already

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done all this.

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And this is, I mean, another little bit of a different

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strategy.

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Sometimes, when you go and you tell people about, yeah, we're

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going to climb the Everest and we can hardly walk, I mean they

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cannot imagine, they cannot see how that's going to happen.

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So this is where you need to take them through a journey.

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And then suddenly you, they realize you're already halfway

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through the mountain.

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And then it's like, well, you know, it's just a little bit

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more and we'll get there.

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So there are some, some techniques to get there.

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Speaker 2: You know I love the way you put that and and you

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know when you, I always joked that.

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You know when you, I always joked that you know there are

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some technical people on my team that don't want the big picture

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.

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They want to know what they have to do on Thursday, right,

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and that's what they want to focus on.

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Don't bother them with the budget, don't bother them with

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the next generation product.

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They want to be right here.

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But then there are also technical people who want to

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know where we're going to be in 20 years, and that, I think,

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goes back to the superpower identification.

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You have to know your people know what their drivers are and,

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as as senior leaders, obviously you can't do that at an

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individual level.

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We don't have that scale.

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But you know, I think that's the challenge of of a large, of

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a large team.

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Speaker 1: When you're done, how do you celebrate and how do you

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look back and how do you really benefit from the process for

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the team?

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What do you do?

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What are your best practices?

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Speaker 3: So every project, as soon as we finish, we celebrate.

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It can be something as simple as a dinner to something a

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little bit more creative and different, dinner to something a

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little bit more creative and different to.

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For example, one of the things that we we started in.

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We're doing at gates in it is we have these recognition coins,

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challenge coins, so as a project is finished, everybody

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gets a coin, and our it community and also the business

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are now collecting these coins.

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So now there is there is this a little bit of a competition

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about who has more coins, which makes it really exciting.

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But also, you know, as a team, we get together.

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We've done it in the past big celebrations for the big

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projects.

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We go out and you know, we book a venue and we really, really

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celebrate because this is important.

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I mean, people don't do this every day and that is great for

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the team.

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It helps on the connection also , the building of the

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relationships, and then it creates also excitement for

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what's coming next and that generates more demand, more

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investment, more.

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So it becomes a flywheel right.

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Once you start moving, it feeds on itself and it takes you to

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the next challenge.

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Speaker 2: You know a lot of our listeners are thinking about

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how do they implement that, and you know the idea that coins is

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so great and what a culture driver.

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But one of the things I think we haven't touched on here is I

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mean, you have a very international footprint.

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You know this isn't you know a Delaware, denver office

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situation.

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How do you scale that and how do you create that kind of

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cohesion with?

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You know offices in so many locations with so many different

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.

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You know different, not only different cultures, but also

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different, very different products at each location.

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So it is so diverse that it's not even like everybody's doing

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IT.

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We're doing different things in different cities.

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Can you talk a little bit about that?

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Speaker 3: Yeah, so when we look at the IT organization, we

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think about the global IT organization.

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We try to make sure people feel that they're part of, I mean,

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the bigger IT, not just the local site IT or the local

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region.

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It is the bigger IT and everybody's part of the same

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global organization.

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We drive standards.

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We try to make sure everybody is on the same page on what

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we're trying to do as an organization.

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I have a town hall.

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Actually this week was the quarterly town hall, actually

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this week was the quarterly downfall.

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And then I mean, going back to the piece of the recognitions,

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one of the things that I do is I have an award, an annual CIO

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award.

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So all the projects that we deliver in the year we have,

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each team member in IT can nominate a peer because this

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person has done something incredible through the year or a

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project, and then they nominate themselves.

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It comes to my leadership team to pick the top three and then

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it comes to me to make the final determination.

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And that's a global right, it's a global recognition that we do

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, and you know I mean this.

00:19:56
Last year we had somebody from Brazil that won the CEO award,

00:20:00
so he was here this week picking up the award.

00:20:02
Everybody was cheering and you know seeing him.

00:20:06
I mean, he did a fantastic job and that's what helps build this

00:20:11
global community.

00:20:11
Everybody feels that they are part of one global team, whether

00:20:15
you're in Brazil, whether you're in Thailand, in Australia

00:20:18
, we make sure you're connected and we work as one.

00:20:23
Speaker 2: That's great.

00:20:24
Thank you for that.

00:20:25
You have a different point of view than some of our listeners,

00:20:28
so I wanted to highlight that.

00:20:29
All right, I'm going to try to bring it home here.

00:20:30
Let's see if I can summarize the three bullets that Diego had

00:20:35
.

00:20:35
So the first one, which I love everyone has a superpower.

00:20:37
A superpower you know take the time to learn the floor.

00:20:40
What people are great at, make sure they're, they're being able

00:20:43
to focus on that and and they can be more successful, to give

00:20:47
the team a mountain to climb.

00:20:48
Having people understand both the smaller and the bigger

00:20:52
picture helps them understand their position in the in the

00:20:55
project, and also gives them a sense of accomplishment when

00:20:59
they do succeed.

00:21:00
And then the third one which I love is don't sit on the

00:21:03
sidelines.

00:21:03
You, as a leader, you have to get involved at some level.

00:21:06
You can't be sitting in the corner office and yelling edicts

00:21:10
out across the floor, but you also can't be holding hands.

00:21:14
So find the balance.

00:21:15
How did I do there, diego?

00:21:17
Was that a good summary?

00:21:18
Awesome, great job.

00:21:22
Speaker 1: What a great example of intentional leadership, diego

00:21:24
.

00:21:24
Wow, you gave so many great keys and tips, and thank you so

00:21:29
much for sharing your story here .

00:21:30
I think our listeners will be really glad to have some things

00:21:35
to really think about and follow in your footsteps.

00:21:38
So thanks for that.

00:21:39
Speaker 3: Thanks for you, sus footsteps.

00:21:40
So thanks for that, thanks for you, susie, and thanks James.

00:21:42
I appreciate it.

00:21:42
Thanks for the invitation.

00:21:45
Speaker 2: It was a lot of fun.

00:21:46
Thank you, hey, susie.

00:21:54
I've been wondering what's the one phrase or word or thing that

00:21:55
you do that will instantly make your daughters roll their eyes.

00:21:58
Speaker 1: Well, one thing is they've always well now they

00:22:02
know, because they're in their 20s, they realize that I have

00:22:06
zero medical abilities Like I'm the mom whenever they weren't

00:22:11
feeling well.

00:22:12
Have you had?

00:22:12
Did you drink water?

00:22:14
Take an Advil and call my friend, that's a nurse.

00:22:18
Were the three things I would so whenever they're still

00:22:22
feeling they know better.

00:22:24
Like they just go right to my friend now normally, especially

00:22:28
if it's and sometimes she'll text me and go hey, just so you

00:22:31
know when your kids aren't feeling very well this is what I

00:22:34
told them.

00:22:35
Like I'm like really bad about it.

00:22:36
So whenever I say you know when they were not feeling well, my

00:22:40
automatic hey, have you drank enough water today?

00:22:43
And they're just like oh my gosh mom especially now.

00:22:47
They're just kind of like mom, I'm bleeding.

00:22:49
Speaker 2: My bone is sticking out.

00:22:51
Speaker 1: Did you drink enough water today, exactly?

00:22:54
Speaker 2: Exactly.

00:22:54
That's me Way to know that I love it.

00:22:57
I love it.

00:22:59
Speaker 1: Thanks for listening to this week's episode of Quick

00:23:02
Take, where we talk about the questions that are on the mind

00:23:05
of executives everywhere.

00:23:06
Connect with us and share what's on your mind.

00:23:09
Speaker 2: You can find us on LinkedIn, youtube or whatever

00:23:11
nerdy place on the internet.

00:23:13
You find your podcasts.

00:23:14
Our links to the show are in the show notes.

00:23:17
We appreciate you.