In the latest of our ‘Agents of Change’ series, we were joined by Nalina Athyantha, Senior Vice President of Global Enterprise and Field Marketing at ServiceNow.
Following more than a decade in senior marketing roles for world class organizations, Nalina has earned an enviable reputation as a results-focused, strategic executive, and is now tasked with ensuring ServiceNow – already a highly regarded global organization – is optimally positioned for its next chapter of growth. A chapter Nalina is driving.
ServiceNow recently reported strong business figures, including a 99% renewal rate and 25% year-on-year growth, but rather than resting on its laurels, it is instead working towards becoming the defining enterprise software company of the 21st century.
Scaling an organization the size of ServiceNow to achieve this ambitious goal, against a backdrop of economic decline, will require a sharp focus on the few levers that will effect change, as well as strong organizational alignment.
In this episode of Agents of Change, Nalina shared with us her strategy for success, including her belief that ‘what got you here is not necessarily what will get you there.’
She described the important role of storytelling in reaching these ambitious goals, and her ‘less is more’ approach. When you need to shift the needle on already strong growth, the only way to succeed is to concentrate on the successful execution of just one or two goals, rather than attempting to ‘boil the ocean.’ While effective goal setting for growth is hardly revolutionary, the challenge lies in making those goals actionable, and that’s where effective storytelling comes in. Goals need to be pertinent and relevant to everyone across the organization, not just the leadership team. People are a company’s number one asset, so it’s crucial that everyone wakes up with the same view of what they’re marching towards.
Effective change management, concluded Nalina, is about making changes in a methodical way and achieving the right balance between patience and focus. The smaller the step, the bigger the change!
If you’d like to hear Nalina’s interview in full, click here.