Julie Harris's Linkedin Analytics

It was freezing as we walked to the water edge, in the depth of winter. A morning where you see your own breath and I should have been snuggled under the duvet. But here I was on an ice covered stretch of the River Thames in Weybridge. There were 8 rowers and me, the cox, lifting the boat into the water. As I said “come forward, go” to the rowers, the boat and the oars broke a thin layer of ice on the Thames. Little did I appreciate the trust that my crew had in me as I steered the boat that freezing morning. The thing is those rowers couldn’t see where they were going – all they see is the rower in front of them. Only me in the cox’s seat could see what’s ahead from the stern (back) of the boat. Eight rowers listening and responding to my instructions. I had total trust and faith from the crew that I would keep them safe and as it turned out, we had one of the most mesmerising and fulfilling training outings of the winter. Now imagine me coxing an eight at Henley Royal Regatta during a hailstorm that was so dense that I literally could not see the far end of the boat. Like steering blind folded. This time my faith was placed in the bow man at the other end of the boat who shouted instructions to me so that I could steer in a straight line so the boat didn’t hit the wooden booms on either side of us. Fast forward today, I haven’t rowed for 20 years, but I find this an amazing metaphor for my work, my career, my life and family. Trust, faith, leadership, communication, community and new skills. When I started rowing I thought I was learning a new sport, but in fact it set me on a journey to learn new skills as well as building friends for life. Like many people I’ve had a fulfilling and varied career. School told me to be an accountant, but I took a trainee programmer role at Lloyds Bank, where I was taught the discipline and structure of business. As I look back at my career, there is a common theme. The companies have been in the “teenage” growth stage and, my role has been to drive the business commercially from “teenager” to an “adult” business. If I take my recent journey, I was acquired at Hyperion by Oracle. Then at Pureapps, who were on a 2 year trajectory to sell, and as a Management Team we were sold to Accenture after only 9 months. This build to be acquired, I relish and love and put my heart and energy into. That said, it isn’t all about a hunger to achieve, it is also about having the business acumen to use my experience to accelerate a business. Some might call it growth hacking, I call it years of experience.