Loc leaders kick the New Year off right during LocLife™ 5
The first LocLife™ session of 2021, brought together four of the localization industry’s veteran leaders, and it was so jam-packed with valuable insights that we may have set a record for the longest event yet!
Our beloved moderator Javi Diaz led LocLife™ 5: Onward: Inspiring Perspectives from Loc Leaders in a discussion with our panelists:
- Renato Beninatto, CEO at Nimdzi Insights
- Michael Kriz, CEO at Acclaro
- Teresa Marshall, vice president, globalization & localization at Salesforce
- Anna Schlegel, vice president, global portfolio-to-market at NetApp
Each of these knowledgeable leaders shared their stories and perspectives about the relatively young localization industry. As always, guest speakers and participation in the chat forum helped the discussion take on a life of its own.
As participant Gary Lefman put it, “This entire conversation is proving to be extremely rewarding. Best LocLife so far! Best webinar this decade.” And attendee Mario Pluzny agreed, adding, “This may be the best LocLife yet. You can feel the passion and leadership.”
If you missed LocLife™ 5, you can watch the on-demand session here!
Top takeaways:
The question that kicked off this inspiring event quite aptly regarded where the panelists look for inspiration.
Each of the leaders mentioned the importance of listening, reading and having a circle of people around them, which Teresa referred to as her “tribe.” Renato spoke about finding inspiration in little things; unexpected things, adding “I’m also inspired by this new generation that has a lot more altruism and hope than my generation.”
Guest speaker and Global Localization Program Leader at Ikea, Alessia Felici, asked about overcoming obstacles. Michael discussed some hardships at the beginning of his career. “At the beginning of my career in the early 90s, I moved to France, but wasn’t legal to work there at the time. So, I created a company to sponsor myself for a visa there and hired myself to provide localization as a service. I was able to build a small company, but I was in my 20s and didn’t know the first thing about running a business. Ultimately, we failed but I took away a lot of lessons. And it motivated me to learn, grow and try again, which I did with Acclaro.”
Guest Jeff Beatty, senior head of localization at Mozilla, asked about finding opportunities to grow on the client side.
Anna said, “You have to prove yourself. I didn’t ask for a promotion. That promotion came to me. I worked with the globalization team for four years and demonstrated the transformation of the team, and was asked to lead the transformation of the product lifecycle as VP at NetApp.”
Similarly, Teresa remarked, “I didn’t ask for the VP role, but sometimes you have to ask. It’s attached to the impact. Take every opportunity where you can learn about the business. It will give you a leg up because at one point there will be a chance to piece things together.”
When asked about mentorship, Renato noted, “Mentorship is not about one person. It’s situational. There are different people that are going to give you good advice and experience. You should be able to create a network that knows you, understands you, roots for you, believes in your talents and wants you to take advantage of their experience.”
Guest speaker and manager Manager of Globalization & Localization at Alteryx, Stephanie Cardwell was curious what leadership style is most impactful. Anna replied, “People first. Train them to do the work the company needs them to be doing. Some people you can let them just do their work. Others you can’t. Sometimes you have to walk the walk with them and if you see others running, you let them go. You use your gut and instincts.”
Teresa added, “You manage people the way you want to be managed, and also the way they want to be managed. You listen to what makes them tick. What’s helpful to them. It’s about empathy and listening to what they need.”
There were so many more nuggets of wisdom shared during this session of LocLife™, so be sure to watch the recording if you weren’t able to attend. Stay in touch with our community and tune in for LocLife™ Session 6 — Equality Talks: Women on Leadership on March 4th to hear our panelists chat about their defining moments, challenges, successes, and positive outlook on the future of women in leadership.
