You won't find Sapient Senior Vice President Alan Wexler on a conference call or in an airport at 6 a.m. When he's not on the road, there's a good chance you will find him trail-running in the Santa Monica mountains with an eclectic mix of colleagues as well as a client or two. Despite playing a central role in helping his firm record its highest annual revenue last year, Wexler prefers to talk with his clients and colleagues about his firm's long-term prospects for growth and continued success. The discussion centers on balance, which is not surprising for someone who each day blocks out his 6 to 7 a.m. schedule slot for exercise, despite working in the Pacific time zone. "I'm proud of the results, but, to me, our profession is all about people," he says. "This is especially the case within Sapient given our focus on interactive marketing and the types of people and talent that our focus requires: designers, marketing strategists, media planners, advertising experts, technology platform experts… We are successful because we are able to focus on the intersection of all of that talent and are able bring that rich combination to our clients in a flawless way. That's our sweet spot."
Besides posting record revenues, the firm's North American business, under Wexler's direction, enjoyed its highest win rates in Sapient's 18-year history.
The hard numbers serve as necessary short-term guideposts, Wexler suggests, but the real determinants of long-term performance reside in more qualitative areas. "It's more about understanding and appreciating what our people value and what we need to value in our people," he explains. "And we want to make sure that we have genuine empathy, respect and understanding for where our people are coming from and what drives them."
Empowerment plays a central role in Wexler's leadership approach. "Regardless of whether we're talking about an associate coding in our Bangalore office or the person running our interactive practice, the challenge is inspiring individuals to own something larger than their direct responsibilities," Wexler notes. "How do we enable the associate coding Java in India to think about owning the success of his entire office or owning our strategy to penetrate a new market? How do we motivate and empower this associate to recruit his very talented friends into the company because he feels a sense of ownership for the firm that far exceeds his coding responsibilities?"
Wexler's off-hours pursuits—he competes in marathons and triathlons when he's not enjoying family time—give him the room to reflect on leadership and empowerment. One such endorphin-producing brainstorm hatched the idea of blending his personal and professional passions. As a result, Wexler now leads fellow consultants on early-morning runs once a week in the mountains outside of Los Angeles. He also organized a group of Sapient consultants who compete in the Malibu Triathlon together each year.
"From a leadership perspective, I feel an obligation to show a commitment to competition, health and self-improvement," Wexler notes. "On the trail runs, I'll often run with a 23-year-old associate, someone who leads one of our businesses and a client. It's been a great way to build a sense of community and connection throughout the company."
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