PLD class: PLD 18
Current Employer: HatchWorks
Position: Founder & General Manager
Location: Atlanta, Georgia, USA
Social Media accounts:
Bio:
Brandon is a business executive, technology entrepreneur, and community philanthropist who helps transform organizations to be successful in today’s digital world. He is the Founder and General Manager of HatchWorks Technologies, a digital consultancy that helps companies around the globe develop new emerging technologies, innovative products, and customer experiences to grow their business. He has more than 16 years of executive leadership experience in digital media, notably at Cricket Wireless and AT&T where his teams launched more than 100 products during his tenure.
An Atlanta, Georgia native and alumnus of the University of Georgia and Harvard Business School, Powell was recently honored as one of the Atlanta Business Chronicle’s 2016 40 Under 40. Brandon sits on the board of Bright Futures Atlanta, which provides kids in the inner city a nurturing school environment, afternoon school programming, and summer camp. He is passionate about STEM education as a means to better equip young people for professional jobs and to bring an end to the poverty cycle.
1. How has the PLD Program changed you — personally and/or professionally?
The program overall inspired me to think more broadly and fostered a desire to make a greater impact outside of just the community in which I live and work.
The HBS PLD Program was transformative for me both personally and professionally. It opened the door to a diverse group of accomplished leaders from all over the world, all with completely different backgrounds and experiences. The program challenged me to live outside of my comfort zone and to do things that I do not typically do, like meeting 180 new people all at once. The program overall inspired me to think more broadly and fostered a desire to make a greater impact outside of just the community in which I live and work.
Professionally, the program expanded my perspective about business and exposed me to a multitude of different industries, most of which I have never had the opportunity to work in. I spent my entire career working in communications and technology; attending a program where only a few others had a similar background allowed me to learn about other mainstream industries outside of my own purview that drive the global economy. Our growth within the program is also accelerated by the brilliant professors in the classroom who facilitate a deep understanding of the business cases. As a student, you have confidence that you are learning from true thought leaders in the business world.
2. What are your chief takeaways from the program?
I have a couple of key takeaways from the program, the first being that you can find inspiration to accomplish feats you never thought possible when you are immersed with successful, like-minded, driven leaders from all over the world. My personal journey, was to dig deep and find the courage and motivation to start a new business, which I did at the beginning of this year. I attribute part of that accomplishment to the people I met in my PLD program. The second takeaway is that there is great power in the network of people you meet through the program. One of the first three clients for my new business was someone from my living group whose influence and partnership I am incredibly thankful for and whom I never would have met without PLD.
There is great power in the network of people you meet through PLD.
3. How do you exert your leadership in the role you have today?
As Founder and General Manager for HatchWorks, I have to wear a lot of leadership hats from driving sales to making sure all the work we do for our clients is top notch. I invest a lot of my time into growing my people as leaders so they can take on more and more responsibility. This investment also yields a greater level of delegation from my plate, so I can focus on new parts of the business. My leadership style is to enable my team for success and give them the room they need to grow, and sometimes that means learning from failure. I also work to create a clear vision and purpose for the company so everyone is inspired and engaged each day when they come to work.
4. What motivates you most as a leader?
I am driven by creating great value and results for my clients as well as my team. With clients, there is nothing more rewarding than a ‘thank you’ for how we helped transform the building blocks of their business. For my people, I am motivated to create the best place to work by pushing an innovative environment and a contribution model that they want to be a part of and feel successful in.
5. Think of a person who has had a tremendous impact on you as a leader — maybe someone who was a mentor to you. Why and how did this person impact your life?
Multiple people have really impacted who I am as a leader over the years. I believe you can take something away from every single leader that you interact with. Sometimes you learn great traits to adopt and sometimes you learn what not to do, but nevertheless there are always lessons to learn. One person who had a more memorable impact than others was a former boss a couple years ago. I learned so many things from her around developing a long-term vision simultaneous to being able to execute in the short term. Her style was such that everyone loved working with her, but at the same time she was always able to push through her agenda to get what she needed done. She was able to influence her peers and senior leaders with transparent communication and her practice of socializing decision points and reaching decisive action with colleagues created a deep respect throughout our organization. She inspired me to be a more collaborative leader who gains champions within the work group instead of viewing dissent as an obstacle to work around.
I believe you can take something away from every single leader that you interact with. Sometimes you learn great traits to adopt and sometimes you learn what not to do, but nevertheless there are always lessons to learn.
6. What is one characteristic that you believe every leader should possess?
Integrity is foundational in building a leader’s reputation and stability for the long term.
Many come to mind but I think one of the top important characteristics is integrity. As a leader, your clients and employees are looking to you to guide them in terms of how business is performed. If you do not exercise integrity in all areas, eventually you will fail because something will inevitably expose your flaw and jeopardize everything that you have worked so hard to build. I believe integrity is foundational in building a leader’s reputation and stability for the long term.
7. What is the best piece of advice you have been given, and why?
Only you can control your own happiness.
If you find yourself in a situation with a job or in life where you feel stuck, bored, or unhappy, then be the change you want to see. Do not just passively wait for something to happen. I have seen friends and colleagues many times stay in situations and complain about how unhappy they are, but ultimately, they have the power to change that.
8. What is one thing we’d never have guessed about you, even after reading your LinkedIn or Facebook profile?
That I enjoy taking risks and seek adventure. Activities like surfing, skiing, and wakeboarding are exciting for me.
9. What is it the PLD community can do for you or help you with, in terms of your challenges, goals or needs?
The PLD community provides a support network across the globe with members from every line of business and experience, and it is ever-expanding. The greatest help to me will be to leverage the expansive talent within the community to seek advice and coaching as I scale HatchWorks. Of course, I will also seek to help fellow PLD members’ organizations should they need help with my expertise in technology, design thinking, and product innovation.
10. What is it you can give or how can you contribute to the PLD community?
I have a background in marketing and technology so I would love to help the community by participating on a future PLD Summit planning community. I am also passionate about education as a way to end the cycles of poverty we have in most cities. I would like to team up with other PLD members to start a STEM initiative in low-income areas. I believe that a focus on developing technical skills within impoverished communities will impart a lasting impact by elevating families to a more secure income level.
This interview was originally published on pldx.org.
