Mike Campbell of Fusion Risk Management: 5 Things I Wish Someone Told Me Before I Became A CEO

Be paranoid. Make no mistake, there is always someone out to get you and your company. Anybody who is successful will attract others who are just as smart and believe they can do what you do better. Stay on your toes.

As part of our interview series called “5 Things I Wish Someone Told Me Before I Became A Founder”, I had the pleasure of interviewing Michael Campbell.

Michael Campbell brings more than 35 years of software development and technology experience to Fusion. His exceptional executive management background includes several executive leadership roles and board membership positions, as he spent the beginning of his professional career co-founding and developing several successful start-ups. With a unique global perspective and strategic insights, Michael’s vision is to lead the company for growth and scale.

Previously, Michael had extraordinary success as an entrepreneur, founding Campbell Software in 1989, the company being recognized twice by Inc. Magazine for company growth. He led the organization through its acquisition by SAP in 1999. He then assumed senior and executive roles within SAP through to 2001. He has served as Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer at FICO and CEO at International Decision Systems.

Thank you so much for joining us in this interview series. Before we dive into our discussion, our readers would love to “get to know you” a bit better. Can you share with us the backstory about what brought you to your specific career path?

Strangely enough, I began my longstanding software career in aerospace. I studied aeronautical and astronautical engineering at Purdue. As my graduation date creeped closer, I realized I might end up designing lug-nuts for landing gear, which did not excite me (to say the least). In my spare time, I worked with an entrepreneurial team selling puzzles by building them an order entry system on early microcomputers. As graduation day came nearer, I realized that the high-level mathematics I was using and my work with microcomputers could be combined to solve serious business problems — which did excite me. So, I finished my degree while taking business courses and graduated with an aerospace engineering degree and immediately started a business helping businesses solve thorny problems. I’ve been in enterprise software ever since.

Can you share the most interesting story that happened to you since you started your career?

Since the start of my career, I’ve been a serial entrepreneur, with the occasional big company stint. I’ve built companies from the ground up and lead much larger, established organizations. One of my most interesting adventures was founding a company called Campbell Software, which was later acquired by SAP. After the acquisition, I began running SAP’s HR business, even though I knew nothing about HR or payroll. It was then I learned the importance of setting a clear set of objectives, over communicating, and not being afraid of applying your skills to try new things. My quick learning on the job worked out well, and I went on to run five different business units and professional services for SAP in the Americas. Moral of the story: flexibility, curiosity and agility are key.

Can you please give us your favorite “Life Lesson Quote”? Do you have a story about how that was relevant in your life?

Unlike wine, bad news never gets better with time. I always tell my team, ‘bring me your bad news first.’ In any business, it’s easy to become intoxicated by only hearing what you want to hear. But only focusing on the good will mean that when something goes bad, you miss the early indications and the problem festers. The pain of bad news will greatly outweigh the joy of good news if you don’t address problems head on and fix them immediately.

Is there a particular book that made a significant impact on your leadership style? Can you share a story or an example of that?

Kevin Maney, who previously served as the technology writer for WSJ for many years, co-wrote a book called Play Bigger: How Pirates, Dreamers, and Innovators Create and Dominate Markets about category killers and domination. His thesis is that success is not about building an incrementally better product than the competition, you need to redefine the category — which is exactly what Fusion has done. We approach risk management the opposite way everyone else in this space looks at it. For years, industry peers scoffed at our disruptive methodology. Now, especially with the effects of the pandemic, everyone recognizes that our approach is the only one that truly works. That’s why we’re the leader in our field.

What do you think makes your company stand out? Can you share a story?

Fusion stands out by looking at how your business works and more importantly, how it can break. By carefully examining all potential threats and ways the organization can break, our customers are able to handily meet and manage any disruption. This past year taught us that crises are not isolated incidents but can overlap and cascade. Sometimes incidents are transient, and sometimes they last and last. In order to survive, and ultimately to thrive, organizations must look at risk as part of the way you run your business — day in and day out. You need the ability to respond effectively in real time. Those organizations that use this approach to managing risk emerged successfully from the past year and solidified their strength among competitors.

The road to success is hard and requires tremendous dedication. This question is obviously a big one, but what advice would you give to a young person who aspires to follow in your footsteps and emulate your success?

You have to adopt the mindset that failure is simply not an option. Once you fully embrace that failure is not on the menu, you have the power to break down barriers and pivot when the data says you’re heading down the wrong path. You must also identify the largest and gravest threats, along with your biggest and most promising opportunities and ruthlessly prioritize those above all else.

Often leaders are asked to share the best advice they received. But let’s reverse the question. Can you share a story about advice you’ve received that you now wish you never followed?

I’ve learned that at very large companies, many senior leaders spend the majority of their time on politics. That makes it very challenging to actually accomplish worthwhile things. I found that focus to be incredibly unproductive, then and now. You must be aware of the politics and not be oblivious to the inevitably human aspects of the job around you. But if you clearly define ambitious goals, you can accomplish amazing things while others are focused on the theater.

You are a successful business leader. Which three character traits do you think were most instrumental to your success? Can you please share a story or example for each?

My engineering mindset. When I’m faced with what seems to be an insurmountable problem, I solve it in parts. I break it down into digestible pieces. As an engineer, no problem is truly unsolvable.

My mathematical background. I see problems differently than most senior leaders

and in turn I see opportunities where others don’t. I run my business by the numbers.

My ability to connect with people. After all, risk is a people business — not just a tech business. We have a team of people who come in every day to make sure that our customers can weather any storm. If I can get them to see our vision, and connect with them on that level, our team will be that much more collaborative, cohesive and innovative.

Ok, thank you for that. Let’s now jump to the primary focus of our interview. Most of our readers — in fact, most people — think they have a pretty good idea of what a c-suite executive does. But in just a few words can you explain what an executive does that is different from the responsibilities of other leaders?

My role is to set the course for the entire organization today, tomorrow and well into the future. I constantly test and critically assess that we are moving in the right direction, ruthlessly prioritize our goals at every level of the organization, and clear the way for every individual and team to do so. As CEO, my job is to enable others to do their jobs effectively.

What are the “myths” that you would like to dispel about being a CEO or executive? Can you explain what you mean?

One myth is that executives should be aloof and separated above the organization. In reality, an executive must be approachable and listen to any one at any level about a problem, issue or opportunity. Otherwise, leaders will be disconnected from how their organization works and what their customers need.

What are the most common leadership mistakes you have seen leaders make when they start leading a new team? What can be done to avoid those errors?

One of the biggest mistakes is to make decisions before you understand your new role. It’s best to get a more comprehensive view of the threats and opportunities to allow you to better decide what to tackle first. Another blunder can be moving too slowly in making difficult decisions about your workforce to ensure you have the appropriate teams in place. When you start leading a team, you must learn as fast as you can, ask every ‘dumb’ question you can think of, and just when you realize you know everything there is to know, recognize you still don’t know everything. Learning and listening at the onset of leading a new team cannot be understated.

In your experience, which aspect of running a company tends to be most underestimated? Can you explain or give an example?

Making hard decisions. Inevitably, you will have to make difficult decisions for the good of the business. But even fairly straightforward decisions can be painful in execution. Particularly with your team.

Ok super. Here is the main question of our interview. What are your “5 Things I Wish Someone Told Me Before I Began Leading From the C-Suite”? Please share a story or an example for each.

Get the bad news first. Any time I start to feel like we are sailing smoothly, I look over my shoulder. Do not be tempted to focus only on how good the numbers look or how smart your team is. Though it’s important to celebrate the wins, the moment you get too comfortable is when you are in danger of being hit with problems you didn’t see coming.

Ruthlessly prioritize your goals. When I start with a new company, I gather everyone in room for a full week. I want to know everything that everyone is doing outside the day job, what they wish they were doing but haven’t started yet, and where they think we can do better. At the end, we may end up with 600 separate things we’re hoping to accomplish. Then I tell them we have to pick three. That crystalizes what ruthless prioritization really means. Earnestly working away at many goals is understandable, but that diffuse focus assures that nothing will truly get accomplished. Everyone must pour their energy into a few critically important goals and get them to completions. And once we successfully accomplish an objective, we make room to accomplish the next most critical goal. This concept of ruthless prioritization empowers your team to move mountains.

Be paranoid. Make no mistake, there is always someone out to get you and your company. Anybody who is successful will attract others who are just as smart and believe they can do what you do better. Stay on your toes.

Devote yourself to customer success. You can’t be in business unless you understand your customers’ pain points, and identify your unique position to deliver solutions to relieve that pain point. Especially in the critical world of risk and resilience, customer success must be at the heart of your work.

No is a valid answer. Once I dealt with a customer who made me repeatedly prove the value of my software and kept cutting down the price in negotiation. I finally decided the deal wasn’t worth it to me, and I said no. And she said, “Oh, thank goodness.” It was that moment I realized many people have the job of continuously asking you until you say no. If you don’t say no, they will keep asking. So, sometimes — no is the appropriate answer.

In your opinion, what are a few ways that executives can help to create a fantastic work culture? Can you share a story or an example?

First of all, you must fundamentally think of your staff as much more than a collection of people doing work. It’s important to encourage your team to genuinely care for each other, support each other and prioritize personal and professional development at the highest level. In addition, always strive to create a challenging environment. Hire innovative people, reward bold ideas and champion hard work. And always put customer success at the forefront. When your team shares the common goal of seeing customers succeed, they will be engaged, enthusiastic and fulfilled.

You are a person of great influence. If you could start a movement that would bring the most amount of good to the most amount of people, what would that be? You never know what your idea can trigger.

I would start a movement to help everyone understand the importance of operational resilience. Organizations face so many challenges and threats every day, and a holistic approach to ensuring you will always be able to deliver on your brand promises is vital to their long-term success. I would encourage all leaders to build a culture of resilience within their organizations, making everyone a stakeholder in the resilience of the business. By empowering everyone to be a risk manager in some capacity and have ownership in the strength of the business, organizations can continue operating through any disruption and keep their customer promises.

How can our readers further follow you online?

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/michael-campbell-09a7b124/

Fusion’s Blog: https://www.fusionrm.com/blog/

Thank you for the time you spent sharing these fantastic insights. We wish you only continued success in your great work!