Focus on the Long Game
In the latest installment of our Lieutenant series, I speak with Dara Altman, the Chief Administrative Officer and Executive Vice President at Sirius XM Radio. Regular readers of this blog know that many of my guests hail from the technology industry, which is where I spend most of my time. Dara adds some diversity to our lineup, which is apropos given she doubles as Sirius XM’s Chief Diversity Officer.
Dara has had a fascinating journey within the entertainment and media industry, from a tough lead negotiator at HBO to her current role as an empathetic people leader at a multi-billion dollar, publicly-traded company. Dara holds herself and her teams to an incredibly high standard and isn’t afraid to speak her mind. In this interview, Dara talks about her transition from law to HR, how she successfully navigated the infamous 18-month long Sirius and XM merger, and why it pays to get personal with your team.
Can you describe your current role?
I’m the Chief Administrative Officer and Executive Vice President at Sirius XM Radio, where I’m responsible for people development, facilities, real estate and security. I’m also the internal champion for our diversity efforts. This role was a big change for me because I'm not a CHRO by DNA. I started out as a lawyer and business person, but when Sirius and XM merged, there were a few gentlemen who already had my job. I was offered a position as the head of HR, so I grabbed it. I'm glad I did because I think it's an excellent way to finish out my career.
You can have great IP and you can have great processes, but if you don't have happy and motivated people, you're not going to have a good company.
What do you love most about what you do?
I'm an avid HGTV watcher, so I’ll be a little flip and say I love decorating the offices.... but kidding aside, what gives me the greatest satisfaction is when people say, “I really needed help and I didn't know what to do, and you and your team got me through it.”
I live for those moments. Many leaders say that their employees are their greatest asset -- some believe it and some don't. Some believe they themselves are the company's greatest asset. But after working at companies that ranged from 65 people to one with close to 6,000 full-time employees, I wholeheartedly believe it is the people who make you successful. You can have great IP and you can have great processes, but if you don't have happy and motivated people, you're not going to have a good company.
What’s been the toughest part of your role?
I think the toughest part is dealing with people on a very personal level. Part of HR's job is to make people who aren't working out in their role understand why and recognize that it's not somebody else's fault. A lot of situations we mediate are sad because many people don't really acknowledge or see what they bring to the table. The trick is to balance being humane with doing the right thing for the company.
The trick is to balance being humane with doing the right thing for the company.
It's also difficult to prioritize business needs while trying to move the company forward on important topics like diversity. My hiring managers are always coming to me and saying, “I have somebody and they’re ready to go. The business is suffering and we need to make this hire fast.”
This is always a tricky situation to navigate because the pipeline typically has more white men in it than underrepresented individuals. We have an important goal of hiring more women and people of color so that more voices can be heard, so we encourage managers to slow down and take more time to find a range of qualified candidates. But there’s also a lot of pressure to generate results, so my team has to focus on finding balance.
What kind of advice can you offer to young leaders who are trying to do the right thing by prioritizing diversity?
Promoting diversity and inclusivity is not a project -- it’s a long game. This is a journey with no end because people have to do better and they have to stay doing better. I think our attention span for diversity is similar to how we pay attention to gas prices. When gas hits $5, everybody says, “Oh, I don't want an SUV. I need a little car. We all need small cars.” Then when prices go down to $3.50, you start seeing fewer small cars on the road. Our memory tends to be short.
Promoting diversity and inclusivity is not a project -- it’s a long game.
With Black Lives Matter and George Floyd’s murder, diversity is now on everybody's mind. It's certainly the right thing to be talking about and some companies will back it up with efforts, but those efforts are very difficult. It’s hard to achieve progress in a short time span. So what a lot of companies are doing right now is just stealing great Black talent. They're searching on LinkedIn and if you appear to be Black, you're getting a cold call for double your salary. That works for some, but that's not a long-term strategy.
I think the better solution is to pipeline junior people who may not immediately have the exact skill set you're looking for, but the potential to make it happen. This takes time, but if you make the right partnerships with the right schools, and you can get the best talent coming out of these schools, then you can create your own talent. It’s all about hiring the right people.
I think the better solution is to pipeline junior people who may not immediately have the exact skill set you're looking for, but the potential to make it happen.
Beyond talent pipelining, providing mentorship is also important because a lot of people aren’t taught how to navigate the professional world. These are the things that aren’t taught in school. Once someone is hired, give them a mentor and a buddy. A buddy should be somebody who can guide them through your company’s specific culture and politics, not just their career.
You also need minority representation at the top to help envision what’s possible for those toward the bottom. But it's hard to bring in great talent at the top. This is why you really need resilience when it comes to diversity because some hiring strategies won’t work, and then you’ll need to start again. If you're going to win, you can't give up.
This is why you really need resilience when it comes to diversity because some hiring strategies won’t work, and then you’ll need to start again.
What are some things you are most proud of from your career?
One that comes to mind is being part of the group that pulled off the merger between XM and Sirius. This isn’t a secret, but there were also some powerful constituencies who did not want the merger to happen. It was also an extraordinarily prolonged merger process. We were at the FCC for approval for more than 18 months, which was unheard of. I'm proud of the work we did to get the merger to happen. It took a lot of effort, patience, legal skill and lobbying, but the combined company was the right thing for both businesses.
But the thing I’m most proud of is how we handled the employees through this process. My board at XM said, “Don't lose anybody because this deal may not get approved.” And everybody at XM knew that Sirius was taking over because the head of Sirius had already been announced as the new CEO of the merged company. I'm proud to say we were successful because we took care of people in a way that got them to stay.
So many M&A transactions fail. I’m sure there were bumps in the road, but why did this one succeed and what can other leaders learn in this area?
Mergers are always hard, but this one was emotionally hard. For the longest time, Sirius and XM had gone head-to-head in nearly every deal. Naturally, our competition was intense. With the merger, all of a sudden we had to like each other and learn how to win together.
When I look at failed mergers, I think more pre-integration work could have solved a lot of major challenges.
What helped make us successful is that we were identical businesses. Down to the line item, we had the same goals, the same metrics -- literally everything. So when we came together, we knew exactly what we needed to do to succeed. We were able to concentrate our efforts on the inevitable reduction in force that comes with most mergers, starting with the people who did not want to merge. Not everyone in that camp had to go, of course, but there were some who were quite vocal in their opposition and that’s not a successful way to march into the future together.
The people who were successful were the people who treated our merger as a business competition and not a personal competition. They were able to refocus their work on making Sirius XM the winner, not just XM or just Sirius. If they were going to internally stamp their feet and only believe in their own technology, people, and brand, then it wasn’t going to work out. The corporate mind has to be the collective goal.
When I look at failed mergers, I think more pre-integration work could have solved a lot of major challenges. For example, it’s important to dedicate significant lead time for team leaders to get to know each other so it's not a surprise on the day of the close. This is the strongest way to start new relationships and create mutual trust. It’s all about meaningful communication.
What are you proud of in your current role?
I think how we handled the pandemic. I don't want to be a cliche in saying that the circumstances of the pandemic are unprecedented, but it’s true, and HR has been at the forefront trying to make it work. When I hear from team members that they think the company has held their hand and gotten them through it, that’s a moment I really feel proud.
One of the biggest things that helped was transparency and communication, even when we had nothing to say. Like every company, we were very much pressured to make decisions. How are we going to go back to the office? Are we going to stay remote forever? We refused to make decisions for things we weren't sure of yet. Not knowing what’s going to happen creates anxiety, but providing misleading answers is worse.
If you expect your people to work hard, you have to work hard. If you want them to treat others with respect, you have to treat them with respect. When you make a mistake, you have to apologize. You have to model what you want to see.
What is your leadership style?
I’m totally transparent and hands-on; you know exactly what you're getting with me. I consider my team as my family. They know I'm not just sitting at my desk with a big cigar, telling them what to do. I'm working side-by-side with them. I have their backs and they know it -- I'm like a mama bear and I will protect them.
That doesn't mean everybody does everything right all the time, but they know I will back them up which alleviates the pressure to be perfect. It creates an environment to try your hardest. I also try hard to lead by example. If you expect your people to work hard, you have to work hard. If you want them to treat others with respect, you have to treat them with respect. When you make a mistake, you have to apologize. You have to model what you want to see.
Is there any advice you could give to younger leaders who may have been taught it’s risky to get too close to the people they manage?
I admit it’s a fine line to walk. Especially if you start out with somebody as a peer and end up being their boss. I often tell people it's best to be yourself at work, but you shouldn't tell people things or ask people to tell you things that couldn't be said on a loudspeaker.
I often tell people it's best to be yourself at work, but you shouldn't tell people things or ask people to tell you things that couldn't be said on a loudspeaker.
That goes a little bit against what I just said about a family, but the goal is to have good, healthy interactions on a personal level with the people you work with. If your people don't think you, as their boss, care about them personally, then I don't think they’re going to give you their best work or loyalty.
Younger managers should be curious, but with healthy boundaries. Be conscientious of cues. For example, if you ask a personal question to show that you care, like, “Did you have a good weekend?” and that person doesn't want to share, then take note and respect their boundaries. You also shouldn’t give them information about yourself that puts them in an uncomfortable position.
Younger managers should be curious, but with healthy boundaries.
Do you ever aspire to be a CEO?
Not anymore, but I certainly did.
When I started at XM I had a lot of things reporting to me -- the legal department, public policy, business development, business affairs, HR, facilities, security, real estate, what seemed like the whole back office. I was basically being groomed. Then with the merger, it became clear that it was never going to happen.
That’s when I realized that was a good thing because I didn’t want to be the face of a big company. I really like being behind the scenes. I truly relish trying to channel exactly what makes my CEO successful and try to help make that happen. I realized that's where I'm happiest.
Had the merger not materialized, do you think you would have become CEO or COO and been unhappy?
The weird thing about me is that I actually like everything I do. So if I had been COO, I probably would have loved it. Each thing has its own completely different set of challenges. I say very often that I don't do panels because I don't want to be the face. But then I get on a panel and I have a great time. I’ve been very luck and I'm very happy with where I've been and landed.
In a sentence, what do you want your professional legacy to be 20 years from now?
It's the same as my personal one -- she took care of her people.
Photo by Asher Lennon
