Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Lyndsay Dowd. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.
Lyndsay, we’re thrilled to have you sharing your thoughts and lessons with our community. So, for folks who are at a stage in their life or career where they are trying to be more resilient, can you share where you get your resilience from?
Resilience serves itself up when you least expect it and when you most need it. And in this case, I developed resilience when thrown a massive curveball in my career.
I had a 25 year decorated history in Corporate America and 23 of those years were spent in Sales and Leadership at IBM. I was managing large sales teams and was well respected as a heart centered leader who brought out the best in my teams. I was proud of my teams’ performance and I referred to them as a group of mavericks and hustlers. My team continuously reinvented themselves and providing them the autonomy to think outside the box allowed us to outperform the other teams around us. I was at the peak of my career with IBM but was ready for a change.
I was sought out by another company who asked me to come lead a sales team for them. I knew it would be a challenge. But I accepted the role and left my family’s 105 year legacy of service behind. There was tons to learn, new processes, politics, products and leadership styles. It was difficult. It was challenging- but I had been challenged many times before.
What I didn’t expect was that they would fire me in 6 months. I was entirely unprepared for that. It felt deeply personal and what it came down to was a fundamental disagreement in how to lead. Micromanagement is not something I would or will ever agree to- and that was what they asked of me. It was a toxic environment- one I never would have left on my own. So what felt like a knife in the heart at the time, was truly the greatest gift.
That shove out of the nest pushed me to really examine my true purpose. I asked myself three questions; “What am I truly skilled at? What brings me genuine joy? And how can I help people the most?” It became clear that my expertise lay in cultivating leaders and creating optimal environments for performance and growth. With unwavering determination, I decided to embark on a new journey and founded my company, Heartbeat for Hire. We provide coaching and speaking services focused on modernizing leadership and building irresistible culture that drives results.
In a little less than 2 years, I’ve done so many things I never thought possible. In addition to being a founder, coach, and speaker, I am also a podcast host, facilitate various workshops, and authored the book “Top Down Culture.” My podcast has achieved recognition, ranking in the top 10% globally. I feature remarkable individuals such as Olympians, CEOs, Emmy-winning journalists, world champion athletes, disruptors, and other masters of their craft. They generously share their stories of resilience through the lens of leadership and culture. I’ve been honored with multiple awards for my coaching efforts, including recognition from Apple News and the prestigious title of 2023 Coach of the Year.
Great, so let’s take a few minutes and cover your story. What should folks know about you and what you do?
My goal and raison d’etre is to modernize leadership as we know it. There are far too many leaders who still believe intimidation, aggression and demanding respect is the correct way to lead. We saw with “The Great Resignation” that people demand more from their leaders. Yet, if you’ve never had a great leader, you may not know where to start.
For the last 2 years, I have been solely focused on painting pictures of what good leadership looks like, feels like and how to change their approach. I continued that focus through a few avenues. First is my book, “Top Down Culture- Revolutionizing Leadership to Drive Results.” It is a collection of stories both inspiring and tragic that align with my methodology, teaching the most important aspects of heart centered leadership. I touch on building trust, psychological safety, tone, recognition, vulnerability and so much more.
Additionally, my Heartbeat for Hire podcast features incredible people and their courageous stories which are equal parts inspiring and informational with a dash of humor, a pinch of tears and a whole lot of heart. The podcast can be found on YouTube and all of the audio platforms.
My favorite thing to do is to speak to organizations on all of these topics. I’m looking forward to a busy year of speaking engagements where I can share what I’ve learned in the hopes that this positive tidal wave will continue to grow. Leaders must understand that people don’t want to quit their companies- they quit managers. We need more great managers in all facets of leadership so the more people who get on board, the better impact we will have across corporate America.
Lastly, I coach both individual leaders and C-Suite teams on how to transform their organizations where their employees feel a sense of pride, autonomy and opportunity for growth.
All of these services can be found at my website in addition to my socials. Please reach out to me on LinkedIn- I’m very active there and would welcome your connection.
If you had to pick three qualities that are most important to develop, which three would you say matter most?
The three qualities that I think are the most important to any leader but especially to me on my own journey are curiosity, active listening and recognition.
Curious leaders are the ones who are constantly learning. We recognize we don’t know everything and ask questions to help us navigate our world. Nobody knows everything and staying humble and curious has helped me to grow, network, find clients, colleagues, partners and friends. Being curious also allowed me to find my publisher, my podcast guests and numerous speaking opportunities on TV, Podcasts and to live audiences.
Active listening is a quality that is rare because attention is one of the scarcest resources we have. It is so easy to be distracted by 100 different things at any given moment. The greatest gift you can give someone is your time and when you feel listened to, it forges a special kind of connection. I seek to provide that to my new connections no matter how they find my way into my network. I am constantly excited by the incredible caliber of people I meet and I wouldn’t be in a position to soak in their excellence unless I was actively listening to their story.
Recognition is the easiest thing to do as a leader and as a human. Lifting others up is a wonderful way to share examples of greatness. Sharing the spotlight is a turbo boost for networking as well. When you consistently share the greatness of others, you are not only seen as a generous leader, you invite the networks of the person you are recognizing into your own. I find great joy in writing recommendations, endorsing skills, featuring people in my social content or having them on my show. The most important thing to remember is that recognizing others doesn’t dull your shine- it makes you shine brighter than you ever thought possible.
Alright so to wrap up, who deserves credit for helping you overcome challenges or build some of the essential skills you’ve needed?
When I think of the most influential people in my career arc, I think of two leaders especially who inspired me to be my best. Sherry Lautenbach and Adriana Robinson were two senior leaders I worked for at IBM. They both had characteristics that I valued then and carry with me today. Both leaders were beloved by their teams and they each understood how to bring out the best in their organizations.
Sherry and I were friends before she became my boss but I watched her successfully navigate a stale, male and pale sales culture with determination and ease. She was widely respected by all who knew her so when she became my boss, I was delighted to get first-hand, great leadership experience. I was managing one of the largest and trickiest accounts in IBM and to add complexity, we were each others’ clients, we were partners and competitors. So, there were strings attached to every move we made as an account team. I had a large team of 55-plus people working on the account so it was a lot to coordinate.
When I shared my strategy for how I wanted to lead the team, after going on for a couple of minutes, Sherry stopped me and said, “Girl, I’ve got your back. Now fly.” She couldn’t have known how those words would influence me at the time, but that gave me the courage to push my team and share that we had an opportunity to do things differently. We had her support and her confidence and in turn, my team had mine.
We proceeded to close the largest deal in our history over $20M, something we were all proud of but what was most impactful was the way the relationship changed with this client. We became advocates, partners and truly were energized by our collective success together. That lesson would stay with me for the rest of my career and helped me to guide other leaders and companies on how to be a modern leader.
Adriana had a different impact on my career. She had an innate ability to create an environment of fun. She instilled confidence in her managers who in turn extended that to their teams. It was thrilling to watch her navigate a high pressure sales environment while instilling confidence in her organization. She spent time getting to know her managers and recognized talent across the team. She challenged us and pushed us to do things we didn’t know we could. All of her leaders would have done anything she asked.
Adriana was exceptionally special to me as she was a leader who promoted me twice. She knew if she gave me space, I could get fiercely creative and inspire my team to do great things. I’ll never forget the day she asked me, “How do you want to run your business?” It was the first time I felt a leader actually wanted to hear my input, listen and allow me the freedom to create the organization I knew we needed. Under her leadership my team crushed it quarter after quarter and I could stand proud in saying my team contributed to more than 50% of her overall number.
These two women remain my friends to this day. It is my wish for anyone reading this that they get to work for exceptional leaders like Adriana and Sherry but mostly to be inspired to lead with their own hearts.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://heartbeatforhire.com/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/lyndsaydowdH4H
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/LyndsayDowdH4H
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/lyndsaydowdh4h
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC9asGvE8Ks4XjR2UNwNmKDw