Women Of The C-Suite: Jackie Yeaney Of Tableau On The Five Things You Need To Succeed As A Senior Executive C-Suite

Working harder than everyone else is not a virtue you should keep. I used to believe I wasn’t all that smart, so my way around that was to work harder than everyone else. I woke up at BCG when I realized I could not outwork my colleagues and I had a family of four to balance. I ended up turning into one of the more efficient consultants and created a better home life.

As a part of our interview series called “Women Of The C-Suite” , we had the pleasure of interviewing Jackie Yeaney.

Jackie Yeaney is the Chief Marketing Officer at Tableau and is responsible for empowering and educating more people about the power of seeing and understanding their data. She brings more than 20 years of experience as a marketing thought leader navigating the intersection of brand, customer experience, and data analytics. Jackie started her career as an officer in the US Air Force, and then spent several years as a management consultant at the Boston Consulting Group. Since then, she has made a marked impact at reputable brands like Delta Air Lines and Red Hat.

Thank you so much for joining us in this interview series! Before we dig in, our readers would like to get to know you a bit more. Can you tell us a bit about your “backstory”? What led you to this particular career path?

I started my career as an engineer and an officer in the US Air Force where I oversaw an intelligence system during Operation Desert Storm. After business school at MIT, I was a management consultant for six years at the Boston Consulting Group (BCG). I joined Delta Air Lines to help stabilize and then revitalize the airline after 9/11. That was my first marketing leadership role where I fell in love with the intersection of customer, brand, and analytics. I’ve been leading marketing and strategy teams ever since. Over the past several years, I have centered on being a Chief Marketing Officer (CMO) at enterprise software companies like Red Hat and Ellucian.

I had long been a fan of Tableau, so didn’t hesitate to take that call when it came in. I’m a big believer in Tableau’s mission of democratizing access to data and analytics and am in awe of its usability and passionate user community.

Can you share the most interesting story that happened to you since you began leading your company?

I joined Tableau right as the Salesforce acquisition was closing. I’ve had many experiences over my career, but I had never gone through the harmonization and integration of being acquired. My charter was to solidify our growth trajectory, speed up our journey to enterprise and nurture our brand and community — all while successfully joining forces with Salesforce.

Early on, I made sure we had alignment that Tableau was THE analytics brand for Salesforce and have been taking a phased approach to aligning our marketing efforts with Salesforce. In essence, we have two go-to-market motions — one as Tableau standalone, and one as Tableau as a part of the Salesforce product & software suite (Customer 360). It’s been a learning experience to get that balance just right.

Can you share a story about the funniest mistake you made when you were first starting? Can you tell us what lesson you learned from that?

I was told by more than one person that people in Seattle don’t use umbrellas because it drizzles, not pours. If you walk around with an umbrella, people know you aren’t local. I took that advice to heart and then one evening I had to walk from the Tableau office to a brewery where I was hosting an employee appreciation event. With my luck, it was absolutely pouring. I had no umbrella, no hood, and no boots. I arrived drenched and cold, and several teammates asked where my umbrella was. Lesson? Be careful about taking local advice too literally.

None of us are able to achieve success without some help along the way. Is there a particular person who you are grateful towards who helped get you to where you are? Can you share a story about that?

I have six wonderful mentors and sponsors who have lifted me up throughout my life journey -a Colonel in the US Air Force, the CFO and CMO of Delta Air Lines, a managing partner at BCG, the CEO of Red Hat, and the Executive Director of non-profit, Open Hand. I owe much of my success to them.

But the true cornerstone of my life has been my husband, Eric. He has been my ultimate supporter, often putting my dreams ahead of his own. For example, when I was at BCG, they asked if I would participate in their international exchange program. It was an honor to be asked, but I didn’t give it much thought as it simply didn’t seem plausible. We had two small children and Eric worked for the US Air Force at the time. Eric’s reaction was the absolute opposite: the kids were young enough they could move easily, he could come back to his job, and an international opportunity like that was something we just should NOT pass up. Because of his support, we ended up having one of the most impactful years of our lives in Zurich, Switzerland.

In my work, I often talk about how to release and relieve stress. As a busy leader, what do you do to prepare your mind and body before a stressful or high stakes meeting, talk, or decision? Can you share a story or some examples?

I find that being as prepared as humanly possible keeps my nerves in check. I like to have several rounds of thinking and drafts for high stakes meetings and public speeches. I also like to feel done at least 24 hours, and ideally 48 hours ahead of time. That gives me time to ruminate my script or storyline in my mind over the course of the day.

Immediately before a big talk, I remind myself of my favorite Maya Angelou quote — “people don’t remember what you said or what you did, they remember how you made them feel.” That helps me focus on engaging with my audience.

As you know, the United States is currently facing a very important self-reckoning about race, diversity, equality and inclusion. This may be obvious to you, but it will be helpful to spell this out. Can you articulate to our readers a few reasons why it is so important for a business or organization to have a diverse executive team?

Research and data have proven time and time again that the best ideas and innovations come from diverse teams that can tackle issues from different lenses. We’re working hard to build a workplace that resembles the society we live in. Here at Tableau, we’ve set some clear goals:

• 50% of our U.S. workforce made up of underrepresented groups by 2023
• Double the U.S. representation of Black leaders (VP+) and increase our representation of underrepresented minority (Black, Indigenous, Latinx, and Multiracial) leaders by 50% by 2023
• 50% increase in our U.S. representation of underrepresented minority (Black, Indigenous, Latinx, and Multiracial) employees by 2023

As a business leader, can you please share a few steps we must take to truly create an inclusive, representative, and equitable society? Kindly share a story or example for each.

Equality is a core value at Salesforce and Tableau. We believe that businesses can be powerful platforms for social change and that it is our responsibility to further Equality for All. Creating a culture of Equality isn’t just the right thing to do, it’s also the smart thing. It empowers us to innovate and build deeper connections with our customers and our community.

Some steps that we are taking to create a more inclusive, equitable organization include:

• Leading with Data: We consistently use data to track our progress with Gender and Race dashboards for headcount, hiring, attrition, and promotions.
• Adopting Inclusive Practices: We empower our employees with trainings and resources on inclusive business practices across hiring, leadership, marketing, and promotions. This year, we launched an all-manager training that includes bias awareness and a new process to help ensure our promotions process is fair, consistent, and accessible to all.
• Investing in the Community: Our communities thrive when they have equal access to basic necessities for life: stable housing, food security and mental health and wellbeing support. We recognize the urgent responsibility to invest time, funding, and resources in our communities and are going to continue doing so.

We’re encouraged by the progress we’re seeing, but there’s still so much more work to be done to build a more equal workplace and world for all.

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 CEO or executive does. But in just a few words can you explain what an executive does that is different from the responsibilities of the other leaders?

If you think about many of the functions across an organization — sales, finance, operations, IT, HR, etc., they are focused primarily on the short-term growth and success of the company. In contrast, I believe the CMO has not only the responsibility to drive near term growth, but also to be the guardian of the long-term health of the business — through the brand, through the customer’s experience, through core competitive differentiation, and through market understanding and awareness. I also believe it is the CMO’s role to be the voice and advocate for the customer across the organization. I often imagine myself as the actual customer in many of the critical conversations I have across teams.

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

Years ago, I thought marketing was mostly ‘fluff’ as I walked into my first marketing leadership role. Of course, I’ve come to have a very different point of view. Being a CMO means being far more data-driven than most people realize. You must obsess about understanding your market, your customers, and the journeys they are on. It no longer works to scream from the rooftops and hope you are heard. You have to meet people where they are, allowing them to pull vs you pushing. You need to focus on creating trust by genuinely being relevant and helpful to them. Focusing on demand generation is the wrong centering point.

Another myth I wish I could dispel: As a CMO, you don’t actually own your brand. Your brand is held in the hearts and minds of your customers. It has been shaped by hundreds, if not thousands of interactions they’ve had with you over time. And while it takes lots of tiny positive interactions to build up a brand, far fewer negative ones can bring that all crumbling down. A CMO should view themselves as a guardian and nurturer of their brand.

In your opinion, what are the biggest challenges faced by women executives that aren’t typically faced by their male counterparts?

Some of the biggest challenges that I believe women executives face is unconscious bias, building credibility and getting their voices heard. I am of small stature and a relatively friendly lady who doesn’t immediately come across as a powerful leader. But I know different. The good news is that I don’t let it bother me any longer. I have tips & tricks I use to be heard, and I’ve learned to be persistent, almost never giving anything only one try. I’ve internalized that even though it might take someone a few minutes, days, or months to ‘hear me,’ I always believe I can get there.

It has also always bothered me that people tend to pay far too much attention to what women executives look like — our outfits, our hair, our makeup. Years ago, I was dismayed to realize that I had to ‘look the part.’ Prior to that, I believed the criticality of my thinking and my work ethic would be enough, but it was not. I found it unfair but came to terms with it. Today, I focus on doing just enough to make my appearance not part of the conversation and I advise other up and coming women leaders to do the same.

What is the most striking difference between your actual job and how you thought the job would be?

I joined Tableau and Salesforce a few months before the pandemic. Of course, I had no idea that I would be trying to lead hundreds of marketers globally from a Zoom screen. These past 18 months have been the hardest leadership journey of my career. Much of my job became centered on nurturing connections, building resilience, empathy, flexibility, and mental health. I’ve learned far more on these topics than I could ever imagine. We’ve created new rhythms of how we interact and together are designing our new future ways of working so that everyone can not only survive but thrive.

Is everyone cut out to be an executive? In your opinion, which specific traits increase the likelihood that a person will be a successful executive and what type of person should avoid aspiring to be an executive? Can you explain what you mean?

I strongly believe that we all should define ‘success’ in our own terms and being an executive is not something everyone should aspire to. I think aspiring for the title itself is not necessarily healthy. I never said my goal was to be a CMO. Focus instead on what you want to learn and what kind of impact you want to have. And remember there are thousands of ways to feel fulfilled and provide a positive impact on this world.

To be a successful executive, you don’t need to be the smartest person in the room. It’s better if you aren’t. You DO have to be humble and know what you don’t know. You need to be willing to hire people smarter than yourself and with skill sets you don’t have. You must have grit. You have to like orchestrating people and dollars towards common goals. You need to be able to set up the context (vision, mission, strategy) and environment for others to be able to do their best work. I think you need to enjoy large, complex environments.

What advice would you give to other leaders to help their team to thrive?

I wish more leaders focused on the ‘WHY’ vs the ‘WHAT’. When you have alignment on your company and team mission and purpose, people will be more engaged and will be able to figure out how to get it done.

Leaders don’t exist to tell teams what to do. They exist to advocate, cut through the noise, and break down barriers, connect the dots, and gain alignment. Don’t stand on top of the mountain and yell for everyone to hurry up and join you. Rather, stand right with them — granted near the front — and say ‘Come on! Let’s figure out how to get up this mountain together.’

How have you used your success to make the world a better place?

This is a never-ending journey of course, but one that I find is accelerating now that I am older and an empty nester. I recently created a new ‘success’ list that focuses far more on impact beyond myself. For example, I recently joined an Impact Circle at Plan International, Inc. to support girl’s safety, education, and empowerment in developing countries. In June, I became a board member at Talkspace to help democratize access to therapy. I support the Foundation Fighting Blindness with fundraisers and direct contributions. I continue to support Open Hand (an Atlanta-based non-profit, that provides over 5,000 meals a day to the chronically ill) as a board advisor and financial contributor.

I am also proud that recently at Tableau, we have committed to training 10 million people in data skills over the next five years. Everyone should have the opportunity to be data literate.

But maybe what I’m most proud of is raising children who are concentrating on making the world a better place. My daughter is in her third year of veterinary school and plans to help enable more sustainable farming practices. My oldest helps people lead healthier lives as a fitness coach. My youngest is getting his undergraduate degree in Earth Science so that he can help combat climate change.

What are your “5 Things I Wish Someone Told Me Before I Started” and why? (Please share a story or example for each.)

1. Working harder than everyone else is not a virtue you should keep. I used to believe I wasn’t all that smart, so my way around that was to work harder than everyone else. I woke up at BCG when I realized I could not outwork my colleagues and I had a family of four to balance. I ended up turning into one of the more efficient consultants and created a better home life.
2. Don’t tell yourself you will be happy ‘some day’ or when something happens in the future. You just don’t know what curve balls will come your way. Be Happy Now — in THIS moment. In 2013, we found out that my husband was going to go blind due to a rare genetic eye gene mutation. It took us some time, but we have learned to appreciate what we have as we have it. We focus on enjoying the here and now.
3. It’s ok — actually paramount — that you have boundaries that you hold dear. Sometimes there are consequences and that’s alright. As my oldest son was playing for the U.S. Youth Soccer team in Boston, my CEO at the time called and demanded I come back to Atlanta. I followed his instructions. I can’t remember why he needed me so badly, but the entire family remembers that I missed that critical moment in our lives. I should have stood my ground, even if that meant getting fired.
4. Careers aren’t ladders, they are roller coasters. In 2016, we realized we weren’t handling our eyesight situation very well. We needed a fundamental life reset. We changed everything about our lives to set up a new normal, including a much smaller job for me. We spent two years crafting our new rhythms and it allowed me to later be able to take on a larger role again at Tableau and Salesforce. Sometimes you need to take a step back to be able to go forward later.
5. Networking and being involved in your community are just as important as your day job. Up until 2003, I was singularly focused on my current role and being a mom. Period. Two of my mentors helped me realize that life should be more than that. Getting involved in a local non-profit (Open Hand) was one of the best things I ever did for myself and my family.

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

I would hope I could inspire people to “be kind and be you.”

Can you please give us your favorite “Life Lesson Quote”? Can you share how that was relevant to you in your life?

I already mentioned my favorite quote by Maya Angelou but another one I live by is: You can have it all — but not at the same time and as a family unit, not an individual. I believe the Yeaneys ‘have it all,’ but there have been deep trade-offs and compromises along the way — sometimes we made decisions for my career (e.g., stay-at-home Dad, Tableau), other times for Eric (life and job reset due to his eyesight disease) and yet other times for the kids (choosing to stay in Atlanta vs taking a job I wanted in another city).

We are very blessed that some very prominent names in Business, VC funding, Sports, and Entertainment read this column. Is there a person in the world, or in the US with whom you would love to have a private breakfast or lunch with, and why? He or she might just see this if we tag them.

I was lucky enough to be able to interview Malala Yousafzai a few years ago at a conference. My short time with her impacted me deeply. She is warm, brave, authentic, and insightful. Somehow, she saw my soul. I felt like I was talking to the world’s next Ghandi. Now that she has recently graduated college, I would love to sit down and chat about what more we can do to support girls’ education around the world. Since I met her, this has become a cause I personally want to put real energy and support into.

Thank you for these fantastic insights. We greatly appreciate the time you spent on this.