At the Intersection of Success and Happiness

If you’ve ever wondered if you can attain real work/life balance while still accomplishing all you set out to do personally and professionally, take a look at our latest Lieutenant Series guest, Catherine (Cat) Lang. Cat is the SVP of global education at ServiceNow and has had an incredible career in learning, leadership development and organizational change. She's redefined what training and learning programs look like in the enterprise, working with the likes of Google, Salesforce, and I'm fortunate to say, Appirio.  

In a year that would've caused most people to take a step back, Cat has pushed forward driving transformation at a hyper growth company while earning her doctorate in education. In this interview she dives into the importance of self awareness and knowing what "scratches your itch", why CEOs need an inner circle and lieutenants need a side gig, and her pursuit to give leaders a new perspective of what “good” looks like (spoiler: we think she already has).

Can you tell us a little bit about your current role at ServiceNow?

My main area of expertise is in learning and organizational change, and more specifically, how technology companies can develop businesses around those capabilities. At ServiceNow I'm focused on making sure we're building the right level of capability, at the right capacity, within our broader ecosystem. This includes customer training, our change management and adoption practice, partner enablement, and driving innovation development within our customer base. My job is to make sure we're not only meeting our quantifiable adoption goals and thinking about partner capacity, but also playing an evangelist role for the company. How we are building loyalty, motivation and an upswell around ServiceNow in the people who use our solutions every day. 

How would you describe the attributes of great lieutenants?

I think the best lieutenants have this perfect balance between being able to build and being able to run. They support the vision of their leader because they can help fit the pieces together, but they can also execute on it. Quite frankly, I think it's quite a rare combination, and not a lot of people can do that comfortably and confidently. People typically lean one way or another, whether they dream big or approach things from an operational standpoint. A great lieutenant can do both.

I think the best lieutenants have this perfect balance between being able to build and being able to run....Quite frankly, I think it's quite a rare combination.

You also can't have a problem speaking truth to power. It's valued, and I think it's one of the things that has helped me in my career. I work hard to understand when to accelerate and when to pull back. Having the ability to see what the moving parts are, and to have the agility and flexibility to know when and where to push and when to come back, is a very useful trait in a lieutenant.

You can't have a problem speaking truth to power. 

Finally, it's important to hire well. I'm constantly building people who are not just valuable for my organization, but who bring something to the company and who can evolve over time. You need lieutenants who can see the long game in team dynamics, skills and leadership that will be needed, and when to hire for experience and when to hire for potential. 

You need lieutenants who can see the long game.

As an expert in this area, what do you look for when building and developing your own team?

I do look for that mix of build and run. When bringing someone into a new role, I look for the skills needed for the role, but also what’s the itch that the role is going to scratch for somebody. From a development standpoint, I believe in putting people into roles that help them discover what they want to do. There are so many transferable skills that you can get within a training or learning & development department that you can then take into other parts of the organization. I also look for self awareness, and for opportunities for people to become more self aware about what it is they really like to do. 

I'm very big on asking people what success looks like to them because I think it leads to value-based motivation, which is important. If you have someone describe what happiness means to them, it gets you to the root of what’s going to ultimately push them. 

If you have someone describe what happiness means to them, it gets you to the root of what’s going to ultimately push them.

For instance, you can get a lot of information if somebody says to you, “I'm super motivated by making sure my family is secure in 10 years.” This gives insight to a long term compensation aspect of their motivations versus someone who might say success means having a global perspective, in which case you could interpret that as someone who wants broader-based international experience. Tap into someone’s aptitude and you’ll find that’s what makes them happy.  

You call it self awareness but I call it coach-ability. Do you think you can teach coach-ability at a senior level? 

If you can get to self awareness, you become eminently coachable. I think about Brene Brown's talk on vulnerability, or the idea of bringing your authentic self. Ultimately it comes down to whether or not someone can look at themselves critically. If you can do that, and get past the ego and past the fear and ambition, then yes, you can get there. It takes time. You have to be committed to it because you have to finesse one’s responsibility back on the individual, rather than simply saying “be self aware.”

If you can get to self awareness, you become eminently coachable. Ultimately it comes down to whether or not someone can look at themselves critically. 

Are there any tools that you regularly use to help coach people?

I'm a big fan of situational leadership, and understanding that it's not about the person. It's about the task and how you are coaching through that. It can be annoying, but I also like the “Five Whys” because if you have somebody who's proposing something, and you just keep asking them why they're doing it, it will ultimately help them shape the narrative and shape their vision. It’s interesting because I think some of these tools are often only considered to be used on junior level staff, when in reality they can be just as, if not more, effective for senior level people. 

If you were to coach a CEO on how to get the most out of their lieutenants, what would be two or three things you would tell them?

There’s a lot to be said about creating an "inner circle." I don't mean this in an exclusive way, but in an inclusive sense where your lieutenants are your peers, not your subordinates. By fostering a sense of “we're in this together” among your lieutenants, where the conversation is shared and everyone has an equal voice, you’ll find you get the most out of them. 

By fostering a sense of “we're in this together” among your lieutenants, where the conversation is shared and everyone has an equal voice, you’ll find you get the most out of them.

I believe that a CEO needs to visibly hold the lieutenants accountable for things that matter to the rest of the organization and things that matter to the lieutenant. It's an opportunity to make visible what the work is and why it's important. It's also an opportunity to challenge the lieutenant on what's really important to them, and then hold them accountable for doing that.

I had a CEO very early in my career who did this very well. To the point where I don't even think of him as the CEO. I think about the group of leaders around this company, who were genuine, authentic and fun, yet were still able to hold each other accountable and grow the business. I can still name them all 20 years later because they, collectively, made the business successful. But most of all, I would say to listen, don’t tell. For instance, if you have a problem, listen to what their solution is, challenge the solution, and then hold them accountable for the solution.

Most of all, I would say to listen, don’t tell. 

Is there a reason that you have maintained a lieutenant position throughout your career rather than becoming a CEO?

Personally, I don't have the ambition to be in front, nor do I like to be in the front. The fame and glory of being a CEO doesn't appeal to me. I’m driven by systems. I like long term success and seeing things come to fruition over time, which you get to do in a lieutenant position. 

I like long term success and seeing things come to fruition over time, which you get to do in a lieutenant position.

Let’s talk about success. What are your most significant accomplishments over the last year?

I can point to a few at ServiceNow. The first is helping the company to fundamentally change how it thinks about the training business. In the last 12 months, we made a complete shift from heading down the traditional route of every other technology company, to a completely different business based on loyalty, motivation and engagement.

The second is setting up the next phase of our customer success offering. We've moved the customer success organization from being in-person and services-oriented, to an on-demand, digital, customer-first, global business in a 12-month period. It's pretty incredible given all the change this year.

And on a personal level, I just finished my post-grad work in organizational change and leadership at USC. Having that side gig - whether it's personal or professional - is critical to not letting your lieutenant role be all consuming. I'm proud of the fact that I do things that I say I'm going to do, and that I focus on personal achievements, while I'm doing things that are significant professionally. I'm probably most proud of my ability to manage a work/life balance, more so than the individual accomplishments themselves.

Having that side gig - whether it's personal or professional - is critical to not letting your lieutenant role be all consuming. 

Do you set personal goals? 

No, but I get the importance of that, particularly if you're seeking mastery in something or are early on in your career. I think a bit more organically. I know what my limits are and what’s going to work for me. I think this stems from a certain level of confidence which comes from experience and making lots of decisions over time. So while I don’t necessarily approach it by setting goals, I look at it more like, “that’d be cool, when can I do that?” 

As someone who has pulled off earning a doctorate while at a hyper growth company during a transformation, what are some tips you could give readers on how to successfully obtain such balance?

I think the thing that works for me, which is somewhat counterintuitive, is that I take time off. When I started at ServiceNow, I was doing my post-grad work. I set expectations up front that I would never miss class for work, and I never did. It’s about prioritizing the things that are important to you personally. All the research shows when you do that, you are more productive at work. When I go on vacation, I turn off my computer when I say I’m going to turn it off. Also, I don’t do early morning meetings unless they are with customers. Set those boundaries and stand by them. It’ll be great for you, as well as your team, because then they’ll feel empowered to do the same. 

Set those boundaries and stand by them. It’ll be great for you, as well as your team, because then they feel empowered to do the same. 

Imagine yourself a few years down the road, retired, sitting with a friend talking about your professional legacy. How would you describe it in a sentence?

Can I have two sentences? The first sentence would be that I’ve changed the nature of what the tech industry does in the learning space by doing things that nobody has done. My second sentence is more personal, and it would be that I have given people a new perspective on what good looks like. I break a lot of molds in terms of what a leader should be, or how they should look, or where they should come from, or how they should act, which I think is a good thing.

I have given leaders a new perspective on what good looks like.