"Challenges Series" Introduction:
Those of our readers who have been reading Boss News for a number of years may be aware that our Business Leader Interview series has been running for over a decade now. These interviews have always been well received by our readers and have stimulated significant comment in our wider travels and meetings throughout the Information Management sector.
Our aim in publishing such interviews has always been to inform about the depth and diversity of the information Management sector as well as ensuring an overview of latest technology innovations. To this end, we have continued to select a wide variety of senior executives from an equally broad selection of sub-niches. This approach has generated a steady and rich stream of information about how business is conducted and innovation fostered across the plethora of segments that form the Information Management/ECM sector.
Building on this success, we have now decided to create an additional interview series - the “Challenges series” - which will approach the subject matter from a slightly different perspective, addressing the subject of the “challenges” encountered, tackled and overcome by a selection of the very top executives in the Information Management niche. The topic is deliberately broad, encompassing both personal and/or business challenges and, we feel, will make for illuminating reading, focusing, as it will, on how the individual executive has confronted and conquered their specific challenges, harnessing their own skillset towards a positive outcome.
Our very first interview in the “Challenges series” is with Mark J Barrenechea, CEO & CTO at OpenText. We are delighted that Boss News is the first publication Mark has allowed to share his story.
BN: Can you start by telling us a bit about yourself and your background?
MB: I was raised in a family of six. My parents sacrificed everything they had for the children. Their devotion to education, individual freedom and hard work has always been an inspiration to me. My grandfather was a farmer and he too, played a significant role in my life. Learning, farming, nature and sports were very formative experiences in my teenage years.
BN: What were the most significant events for you as a child / teenager that you feel have had a lasting effect on you?
MB: It is hard to pick a single event. I would point more to my influences above. With that said, I remember very clearly when I was playing high-school baseball as a short-stop in my senior year. I always wanted to pitch and convinced my coach to allow me to do so, and he gave me a chance. I was awful, but for some reason, I could throw a mean unpredictable curve ball. Half way into the third inning, the coach came out to the mound, and said to me, “Mark, you are the leader of this team. They love you. They are all watching you. And you are only missing one thing to be a major league pitcher, and that is, the ability to throw a strike. So, throw a strike.” He gave me back the ball, and I proceeded to whack the batter on the head with my curve ball. Coach came back out, and yanked me. And the team gave me a standing ovation. I was a short-stop, not a pitcher. Having a coach who could guide you to see your strength and weakness was invaluable.
BN: As a younger person, did you have specific goals in mind or did your journey simply shape those goals? Was it always your intention to become an industry leader?
MB: I learned 360 BAL / CICS and C as my first languages and remember those 2am / 3am coding sessions with my headphones on, changing the world via code. Career paths are very different for each person. I have led my life wanting to make a difference and shaping my world instead of being shaped by others. I am a computer programmer turned CEO. Mission and purpose and outcomes (and release dates) drove me more than specific career goals.
BN: What would you say are your personal characteristics that have most benefited you throughout your career and life to-date?
MB: Characteristics and attributes are certainly interesting topics as a part of the definition of leadership. Not sure what others would say, but I would quote Thomas Edison: “Opportunity is missed by most people because it is dressed in overalls and looks like hard work”. And this has always resonated with me. The characteristics of fact-based, well-reasoned, smart-work, strong work-ethic, building the cathedral brick by brick, building teams smarter than me, continue to guide me today.
BN: What was your greatest failure and what did you learn from it?
MB: We can learn more from failure than successes, depending on the failure. When you are to fail, fail early, and fast and at low cost. You can read all the leadership books you want - and I have read them all - but there is no substituting experience, judgment and your own point of view. Through the years, I have come to understand Drucker’s “Culture eats strategy for breakfast”. Perhaps this is the maturing of going from smart to wise.
BN: Can you tell us about your proudest achievement?
MB: The proudest achievement is OpenText and EIM. We are a firm trusted and respected by the world’s largest companies, we operate in 40 countries and we have shaped our own future with a new enterprise platform called Enterprise Information Management. And I am surrounded with the industry’s smartest people, challenging the status quo and advancing our customers and business everyday.
BN: What have been the major challenges in both your business and personal life?
MB: On the business side, we have a lot of creative people, and we have a lot of great ideas. Prioritizing and translating those great ideas into great products and services is insanely hard. On the personal side, the greatest challenge was battling a very difficult Leukaemia and kicking it to the curb - And I look back on that personal journey as perhaps the greatest year of my life.
BN: You have had a well-documented battle with Leukaemia; what helped you most throughout this ordeal? Looking back on your period of illness what lessons did it teach you about the human spirit?
MB: Very early in my battle with Leukaemia, I came to the reality that this fight would free me. Either I would die, and be free, or, I would fight and win, and be free, to bring my life and journey to an unconquerable level. I would watch my video “On Living”, for the fullest answer ;)
BN: Do you find that your positive mind-set is reflected in the people who work alongside you? And, if so, what do you perceive to be the knock on benefits of this?
MB: Being positive is important no doubt; no one wants to be led by pouty potters. Positive attitudes yield other positive attitudes. With that said, I think it is more important to be thoughtful, fact-based, well-reasoned, methodical and consistent in your approach to leadership and management. And, the approach and tone of the CEO and leadership permeate an organization. It is human nature.
BN: We know you worked throughout your illness, setting up an office in your hospital room; has your subsequent recovery and return to work precipitated any major changes in the way you view your life/work balance?
MB: Chairs have four legs (I would rather not say stool). Those four legs need to work in unison: Work, Family, Body, Mind (intellect, spiritual, etc). I have a renewed appreciation of Body.
BN: What plans do you have for the future and have these changed since your illness?
MB: I think there are a variety of responses based on the individual. For me, my plans have not changed, but rather, there is a greater appreciation of making every day count, and ensuring you bring your best self to the most impactful issues of the day.
BN: You have said that you had some wonderful care throughout your treatment but also that you witnessed the “ugly underbelly of medicine”. We know it is your intention to write a book on the subject of Healthcare; what focus will that book have?
MB: I plan on completing and publishing a book this year on my journey. It will focus on Leadership, forged through fire. And one of my greatest lessons learned from this journey, is leadership is incomplete without understanding how to lead with the heart. And my AML experience taught me this.
BN: What are your business growth initiatives for OpenText over the next 12 to 18 months?
MB: It is all about Release 16, the world’s first Digital Platform
BN: What do you think is your greatest strength?
MB: I have never considered myself the smartest person in the room, but I do consider myself the best student.
BN: What has been your biggest management challenge whilst with OpenText and what decisions did you make / actions did you take to overcome this problem or issue?
MB: I think it starts with strategy and culture, and then connecting strategy to execution and assembling a team that can deliver to the company’s fullest potential. I am very pleased with how EIM has developed into our Strategy, The OpenText Way culture, and our leadership and wider teams at OpenText, and now the delivery of Release 16.
BN: What do you see have been the biggest changes and challenges impacting the ECM and broader Information Management sector in the last 2-3 years and how is Open Text addressing them?
MB: Big Question, and perhaps another interview ;) I think the largest challenges are creating a singular EIM platform for all information to help enable companies to digitize. And, as more machines come online, machine to machine communication (some call this the Internet of Things).
BN: If a young business person were to ask your advice and you only had a few minutes to give them your best tip, what would it be?
MB: I look for a variety of factors in high potential people. A Passionate Curiosity, a Simple mind set in solving problems - That is, can you reduce a complex situation into the one action that has the highest impact, a sense of confidence and team smarts, and some one who gets stuff done. Careers are not ladders. That implies there is one path and you have to knock others off in order to advance. Rather, careers are like obstacle courses, that implies there are a variety of paths and endurance is a must.
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