What is it really like behind the scenes at DriveWorks? Gordon Tredgold explains.
Maria Sarkar, VP and Co-founder of DriveWorks, recently met up with Gordon Tredgold, a school friend who is now one of the top 100 leadership experts. Gordon writes a blog – Leadership Principles and is the author of Leadership: It’s a Marathon, Not a Sprint. After spending time with Maria and Glen (DriveWorks CEO and Co-Founder) here at DriveWorks HQ, he has written a blog post called ‘Does Leadership Define Culture‘.
The blog post is based on conversations with Maria and Glen as well as what he saw first hand whilst he was visiting.
Gordon describes DriveWorks as a ‘dynamic company with a great culture’. He especially comments on Maria’s passion for DriveWorks, ‘not just profits, but mostly her products, her customers and most importantly her people’. This is reflected in Maria’s description of the DriveWorks team as her family and her commitment to maintaining a great corporate culture.
Gordon explains that the great company culture was clear from the interaction he witnessed between Maria and the DriveWorks team. He noticed that Maria’s leadership approach is part of who she is and how she acts, not just something she has read in a book. This leadership approach is shared by all members of the management team and as a result, it is very consistent, resulting in a clear understanding and acceptance by everyone of the DriveWorks culture.
Giving staff freedom is one of the necessities for a great corporate culture according to Gordon. He said at DriveWorks there is a definite work hard play hard culture, proving Glen and Maria’s trust and confidence in every member of the DriveWorks team. This trust and confidence is based on the rigorous recruitment and personal development plans in place at DriveWorks. It is very important to find people with the right attitude who ‘fit’ within the company.
As a leadership consultant, Gordon told Maria to continue doing what we are doing and change nothing because DriveWorks is way ahead of many companies. Of course, Maria being Maria, replied “that’s fine, but I’d like you to tell me what we could do to make it better!”.
What does this great leadership mean for DriveWorks?
The positive attitude and culture filters down from the DriveWorks Management Team to the rest of the team and this reflects in everything we do at DriveWorks.
The DriveWorks team is made up of happy, motivated staff who are willing to learn and work hard. The DriveWorks philosophy results in the great products we’re continuing to develop and the high standard of support we provide for our Partners, Resellers and their customers.
Wade Anderson’s description of DriveWorks as an invaluable asset is just one example of this.