The New Portrait Of Leadership: Chris Nagle & Eric Maurer Of Alexander Group On Which Legacy Ideas About Leadership Need To Be Discarded, And Which New Approaches To Leadership Should Be Embraced

An Interview with Karen Mangia

Empathetic: You not only need to know where people are coming from, but you also have to try to understand their points of view. Put yourself in their shoes to see how the decisions you make might impact them, either positively or adversely.

We are living in the Renaissance of Work. Just like great artists know that an empty canvas can become anything, great leaders know that an entire organization — and the people inside it — can become anything, too. Master Artists and Mastering the Art of Leadership draw from the same source: creation. In this series, we’ll meet masters who are creating the future of work and painting a portrait of lasting leadership. As part of this series, we had the pleasure of interviewing Chris Nagle & Eric Maurer.

Chris Nagle is a principal in Alexander Group’s Atlanta office, with 20+ years of experience consulting to Global 2000 companies. He works on a variety of issues with clients in the areas of sales strategy, sales operations, performance management, and sales compensation. Prior to joining Alexander Group, Chris worked in finance at Sterling Winthrop, in sales at Merck Pharmaceuticals, and product management at Glaxo Pharmaceuticals.

Eric Maurer is a principal in Alexander Group’s Chicago office. He has 20+ years of consulting experience and has worked with clients in numerous industries including media, financial services, manufacturing, high technology, CPG, and medical. He has led the design, development, and delivery of multi-channel, cross-functional solutions to clients, bringing together strategy, business process design, organizational design, and change management. Prior to joining the Alexander Group, Eric managed an independent retail operation where he was responsible for all purchasing, merchandising and staffing decisions.

Thank you for joining us. Our readers would enjoy discovering something interesting about you. What are you in the middle of right now that you’re excited about personally or professionally?

Chris Nagle: We are currently embracing a new set of leaders at Alexander Group, providing them with the latitude and ownership to help shape the company for the future. This ranges from the management of our talent to exploring new service offerings. While our core values remain intact, it’s an exciting time to see new ideas and leadership styles emerge across the organization.

Eric Maurer: As Chris mentioned, we’re not only helping to usher in a new generation of leaders at Alexander Group, but we’re also focused on expanding service offerings to better position clients to capture revenue growth opportunities. This includes expanding further into marketing and downstream into implementation and execution work — all to provide organizations with the crucial insights they need to hit growth targets.

We all get by with a little help from our friends. Who is the leader that has influenced you the most, and how?

CN: That would definitely be Gary Tubridy, one of the founders of Alexander Group. He’s both entrepreneurial and strategic, and he holds people accountable while truly caring about the individuals working within the organization. He leads by example and understands that “all ships rise with the tide,” meaning that while individual contributions are necessary, we ultimately win as a team and lose as a team.

EM: In full agreement with Chris. Gary was instrumental in developing a clear vision and culture for professional services, and it’s his vision that we continue to execute against today. He’s exceptionally loyal to the organization and the people in it, enacting a “people come first” mentality at all times. He also recognizes that close alignment of the overall leadership team drives better outcomes for employees and clients, and, as a result, Alexander Group as an organization.

Sometimes our biggest mistakes lead to our biggest discoveries. What’s the biggest mistake you’ve made as a leader, and what did you discover as a result?

CN: One of the biggest mistakes I’ve caught myself making is not soliciting input from a broad group of leaders — even those I knew I would disagree with. When it comes to effective communication and understanding, you need to put yourself in the shoes of each individual to acknowledge their motivation for their own point of view. If you have a clear perspective on what’s driving their opinion, it gives you a better platform to adjust your discussion with that individual and, in some cases, adjust your original point of view as well. Once you start to broaden your perspective, you’ll quickly realize that most leadership decisions aren’t so black and white.

EM: As an organization, we’ve learned that our best people are typically grown internally versus externally. In the past, we’ve made the mistake of not betting on our own people, underestimating the importance of culture and fit and how that aligns with producing quality results for our clients. It all comes down to helping dedicated people grow in the organization as opposed to searching for outside talent that may even not align with the business.

How has your definition of leadership changed or evolved over time? What does it mean to be a leader now?

CN: I used to think of leadership as something I had to own by myself, and that I had to be 100% responsible for making things happen. In other words, it had to be my way, or it just wasn’t right. But it’s hard to scale the business with this style of leadership — let alone sleep at night. Through my leadership journey, I’ve learned that you must create space and opportunities for others. In doing so, you’ll help to create the next generation of leaders, and they’ll be able to bring new ideas and styles of their own to the table. Our job as an organization is to ensure these new ideas align with our overall mission and core values.

EM: When you first become a leader, your initial thought is that you’ll just step up and tell people what to do, making them follow you naturally. But as you evolve, you’ll learn that leadership is a two-way street, so you have to really listen to your people to understand what they’re seeing and how they’re feeling to make good decisions and lead effectively. To get the results you’re aiming for, you need to be consistently attentive to your people and truly understand them, as well as place your biases to the side and put things in context based on your own experiences.

Success is as often as much about what we stop as what we start. What is one legacy leadership behavior you stopped because you discovered it was no longer valuable or relevant?

CN: I realized I had to stop trying to please everyone, even though my personal nature is to please everyone. I’ve learned over the last several years (and certainly through the COVID-19 pandemic) that some decisions may not please everyone, but if those decisions are made with the intent of the “greater good,” you must charge forward with confidence. And you can’t take it personally when people are upset with your decisions, even when you know you made them with the best intent for the overall organization.

EM: Along the lines of Chris’ response, I learned I had to stop trying to be involved in every single thing happening in the organization. You don’t have the time for everything that’s going on, and you certainly won’t be able to put the appropriate effort into everything either, so you need to let go, trust your people, and trust yourself that you’re implementing the right vision for the business. It may feel like you need to dive into the details of everything, but it’s imperative to let other people step in, as well as accept any mistakes they may make along the way. You may even find they can do some things better than you can, which I’ve definitely found to be true with my own people.

What is one lasting leadership behavior you started or are cultivating because you believe it is valuable or relevant?

CN: I’m really focused on creating space and leadership responsibilities for individuals within the organization. Activities may be as strategic as starting a new service offering to something as simple as determining the restaurant for an office function, creating a wide variety of opportunities for people to step up and grow into their own. This is critical in a professional services environment, where I’ve found that all our team members want to contribute meaningfully to the growth of the firm (with growth being defined as not only revenue, but also enhancing and expanding the culture of the organization). The individual benefits from this approach, as well as the business and our clients.

EM: To add on to Chris’ response, we’re also very cognizant of the fact that our people are just that — people. Every employee has their own life outside of work, and it’s important to consider that in all conversations and decisions. Life happens, people grow, and their situations change. Even when you feel yourself getting caught up in organizational priorities, interacting with your people as humans first and foremost goes a long way in cultivating trust and respect among everyone, leading to better business outcomes.

What advice would you offer to other leaders who are stuck in past playbooks and patterns and may be having a hard time letting go of what made them successful in the past?

CN: The biggest thing would be to always solicit input from your team members. Ask them to be candid with you and don’t be afraid to hear what you can change and/or improve. An open, honest line of communication that goes both ways will benefit everyone and shed light upon new, innovative ideas to help push the business forward.

EM: I’m always looking for the next new thing because I find it to be more fun than remaining stagnant. If you find yourself in a comfortable spot, you need to push yourself to be uncomfortable — you must challenge yourself to honestly evaluate how you’re serving clients and understand where you can improve. At Alexander Group, we’re always looking at what customers will need next, which is imperative to ensuring that we’re on the right path internally. Additionally, you need to look at all sides of the questions that are brought to you. You can’t make sound decisions based on a single factor; you have to think about the holistic impact of those decisions on both the individual level and the organizational level to fully understand how things may play out as a result.

Many of our readers can relate to the challenge of leading people for the first time. What advice would you offer to new and emerging leaders?

CN: First and foremost, emerging leaders must be able to listen to and consider the ideas and opinions of others around them, as well as surround themselves with a diverse group of individuals with different points of view. This will help to ensure things don’t become stale, allowing the business to better serve their customers today and far into the future. Leaders must also have humility in all situations and know that they don’t — and won’t — have all the answers to everything. This means they also need to cultivate an environment where people aren’t afraid to be frank with them, including treating their people with the same respect they hope to gain as they embark on their leadership journey.

EM: The biggest piece of advice I’d give to new leaders is to not ever take themselves too seriously. Being a true leader comes from those that choose to follow you, not from being given a leadership title. It takes years to earn respect and credibility, and it can all come crashing down quickly, so always remember that your team is what makes you a leader. If you overstep your boundaries or choose the wrong approach, you’ll lose your team, and therefore the “right” to lead. This is a continuous process, so you should always be aiming to earn/maintain your leadership designation among all employees across the business.

Based on your experience or research, what are the top five traits effective leaders exemplify now?

CN: The short answer, which sums up an effective leader for me, is “servant leadership” — put others before yourself and everyone wins. The objective is to create an environment where your team members can strive/grow both professionally and personally, which is especially important in a professional services organization where our most important asset is our people. This personal growth by our team members makes our individuals better and certainly helps to better serve both our firm and our clients.

EM: To break down the “servant leadership” concept Chris mentioned, there are five key traits every “servant leader” must possess:

1. Good Listener: As a leader, you’re going to be taking in a lot of different information from across the business, so you have to know where people are coming from when they relay things to you to ensure you get the full picture and are in tune with what’s going on.
2. Empathetic: You not only need to know where people are coming from, but you also have to try to understand their points of view. Put yourself in their shoes to see how the decisions you make might impact them, either positively or adversely.
3. Decisive: When it comes to making important decisions, you need to be confident and firm in whatever approach you choose. You can’t make rash decisions, but you must make decisions in a timely manner to help move the business forward, even if those decisions are difficult. You also need to be comfortable in making wrong decisions and accept that you’re never going to be 100% right 100% of the time.
4. Consistent/Level-Headed: When you’re a leader, you’re in a position where you’re being watched at all times, and your mood/emotional state can say a lot about what’s going on at a given moment. Your people will notice any extreme emotional reactions, and they’ll even play off of them, so it’s not productive to be anything other than consistent with how you react to situations — whether they be positive or negative.
5. Relatable: Lastly, always remember to be your human self at work, not a corporate robot. Let people see who you really are; they’ll trust and respect you more if they actually know you.

American Basketball Coach John Wooden said, “Make each day your masterpiece.” How do you embody that quote? We welcome a story or example.

CN: One of the reasons why I love consulting is because every day is truly different. Yes, there are certain routines I always do no matter what (e.g., preparing the night before for what’s in store the next day), but I try to keep the mindset that each day will present different scenarios and challenges. In a leadership role, I’m finding that it is best to “respond and not react,” and there isn’t a day where this sentiment isn’t tested. But by no means am I perfect, so I strive for “masterpiece” days where I’m able to flexibly and seamlessly respond in the best ways possible as things inevitably change. Every day I don’t renumerate or second guess myself is what I would consider a “masterpiece.”

EM: The hardest part about being a leader is that you start to drag a bunch of baggage around with you over time. You want to control everything around you based on your past experiences, and you want to be a part of everything that’s going on to prove your expertise and dedication to the firm, but it’s impossible to effectively keep up with all of it. This is why it’s important to come in with the mindset of, “I’ll do the best I can today,” meaning you’re always focused on being your best self and making the best decisions possible day by day. This type of mindset is what can make every day a “masterpiece.”

What is the legacy you aspire to leave as a leader?

CN: The best legacy I could hope to leave is that I helped create another generation of leaders who will continue to support Alexander Group team members in achieving their professional and personal goals. This has been a core mission of the business since its foundation in 1985, and it continues to be nearly 40 years later.

EM: Echoing Chris in that I want to provide lasting opportunities for people to grow their careers and make a real impact with what they’re doing at Alexander Group. I aim to bring more value to peoples’ work — both personally and professionally — by making sure their voices are heard and creating opportunities for them to make a difference in the world. Demonstrating loyalty and doing good by your people will result in the best outcomes for everyone, including the business itself.

How can our readers connect with you to continue the conversation?

Feel free to connect with both Chris and Eric on LinkedIn:

https://www.linkedin.com/in/chris-nagle/

https://www.linkedin.com/in/eric-maurer-59757b2/

Thank you for giving us the opportunity to experience a leadership master at work. We wish you continued success and good health!

About The Interviewer: Karen Mangia is one of the most sought-after keynote speakers in the world, sharing her thought leadership with over 10,000 organizations during the course of her career. As Vice President of Customer and Market Insights at Salesforce, she helps individuals and organizations define, design and deliver the future. Discover her proven strategies to access your own success in her fourth book Success from Anywhere and by connecting with her on LinkedIn and Twitter.