In “Career Planning and Strategic Decisions to Become CEO,” John Oechsle, was CEO of Derive Systems and now Bolt On Technology, shares how purposeful choices shaped his path from CIO roles at Johnson & Johnson and IHS to leading multiple organizations, including Swiftpage and now Derive. John explains how he set a goal early to become a CEO, took on challenging assignments others avoided, and leveraged international experiences across Europe, Latin America, and Asia to expand his leadership perspective. He also offers candid insights on why money is the wrong reason to pursue the C-suite and why true leaders must focus on growing people and creating shareholder value.
For the full interview: https://ocns.co/career-planning-and-strategic-decisions-to-become-ceo/
10 Min Clip Transcript
Michael Mitchel: [00:00:00] Alright, I’m gonna kick it.
I am Joy John OSHA, CEO of Derive Systems in the Broomfield, Colorado headquarters. This is gonna be a fun one. Uh, interview. In fact, it’s my first offsite on location since the pandemic era. So, um, it was great giving the tour of the facilities Throughout John’s career, he actively sought challenges in roles that would provide him meaningful opportunities to prepare him for the CEO chair.
John has served in c-level roles with different sized companies from growth to Fortune 50 CIO at j and JCIO at IHS market. Chief Strategy Officer at Digit Club, now Maxar, CEO of Swiftpage, and now the CEO of Derive Systems. Today we’ll discuss his purposeful career choices and CEO baptism of fire by starting with derive the week of the COVID lockdown.
John, thanks for being on the podcast. Do me a favor real [00:01:00] quick. Introduce, uh, yourself and derive systems.
John Oechsle: Michael, thanks so much for having me and, uh, this is fantastic to be in person here. This is, uh, you know, I think my first one, uh, since the pandemic of being in person as well, so I. Uh, this, this, this is a lot of fun.
So yeah, derive systems. Think of derive as a single company with two business units and three brands. So the two business units are the enthusiast, uh, business unit and the enterprise enthusiasts. Think of them as, you know, car enthusiasts. Uh, the two brands there are SCT and Bulldog. Two iconic brands. If you’re a, you know, a car enthusiast, um, and what we do there is.
Literally tune vehicles to, um, to give you better performance, more power, speed, torque, et cetera, on the enterprise side. That’s more enter, uh, like fleet management, so enterprise fleets, you know, et cetera. Um, and our brand there is vq, which stands for vehicle quotient. So kind of like iq, vq. Oh, okay. You know, type type of thing.
And there we do just the opposite, right? So we tune vehicles there to get maximum fuel efficiency [00:02:00] and, um, maximum decarbonization. So two very different. Markets two very different, uh, you know, skill sets, EE, et cetera.
Michael Mitchel: Well, well cool. Um, what was your first week like here? Because you, you mentioned you started literally like what, two days before the lockdown?
Oh my
John Oechsle: god. It was crazy. It was absolutely crazy. So my actual day. Start date was March the 16th, Monday, March the 16th. And if you can remember back in history, that’s when the entire world said, everybody go home and we’re gonna flatten the curve. Everybody go home for two weeks and we’ll flatten the curve if you, if you remember that.
Yeah. So I literally walked in the door, said, hi, I’m John. I had everybody, you know, some people here, some people in video conference, et cetera. Hi, I am John. Everybody go home. Hi. Get out. And, uh, so that, that’s literally my first day. And so it was, it was a, it was a huge challenge, right? And, um, I dove headfirst into, uh, doing everything via video.
Yeah. Uh, and so, uh, yeah, it was, uh, it was crazy. I, I would, I, I kind of will [00:03:00] tell you that, you know, I’m kind of proud of the fact that within seven to 10 days I had met everybody. Um. On video. Uh, so every single employee I, I was able to meet, uh, just not in person.
Michael Mitchel: I had a past guest, Jamie Sealey at the time.
We, she was on the, on the show. She was the general, uh, the, the general counsel for, uh, gates. But she had started as a CEO for another company at that same week, and she started virtually, she never met. Anybody. So at least you got to meet a few people. A few people. A few people. Yeah, for sure. So I gotta imagine it’s that week you start, you know, there’s gonna be some trepidation of a new CEO to begin with.
They look at you and they’re probably thinking, well,
John Oechsle: who, who is this crazy guy? Yeah. Is is basically what they were thinking. And, and we had some challenges, uh, that we needed to, uh, to, to address really, really quickly. First and foremost was making sure everybody was home safe, healthy, and, and, and that kind of stuff.
But also there was. You know, some financial challenges that we needed to, uh, to work through. There was some, uh, defocusing of the business, so the business was a, is [00:04:00] a little bit, uh, messy. Uh, I would, I would say that we needed to, uh, to get cleaned up. So the, uh, the first 11 weeks were, uh, rapidly moving, rapidly changing in an environment where people really didn’t get to know you because you were.
You know, only seeing, uh, me or them on, on a video. So, um, it was all about, I, I, I did a couple of different things. I made sure that every single day, uh, 8:00 AM we had our leadership team on a video conference every single day, no matter what, no matter, no matter where you were in the world. Uh, and we just stayed really close, uh, that way.
Uh, we put in, uh, brs or monthly business reviews. I put in place what’s called Java with John Sessions, where we randomly pick five people from the organization, spend a half an hour, uh, with me on the, uh, on, on a video conference so we could, we could talk through, and it was just a matter of over communicating, over communicating, over [00:05:00] communicating.
Every Friday, I send out a message, an email to the entire organization. And I told ’em, uh, it’s gonna be the good, the bad and the ugly. You’re gonna get everything, uh, from me on that. And people really started looking forward to those, to those messages. So we kind of did those kind of things to, to help us through.
But I’m, when I’m, you know, we were reorganizing, we had to lay off a bunch of people, um, you know, the entire world shut down. Did we have to go out for a PPP loan? You know, all that kind of stuff. That was you, gimme flashbacks. Wow.
Michael Mitchel: It was crazy. Yeah. You know, the, and the last couple years, you know, I use that term, I heard other, the lost years, and it really is.
Mm-hmm. Um, I mean, I remember, um, starting to like pick up emails, you know, from conversations about being on a podcast or coffee or b or whatever it was be, you know, in 2019. And normally you’d be like, well, that was a while ago. Everyone’s like, oh yeah, let’s pick that back up. Mm-hmm. I think everyone feels like there’s been like this lost period.
Yeah.
Michael Mitchel: Um, but also looking back, I mean. Yeah, this doesn’t be the focus of the whole, [00:06:00] the whole conversation, but nothing could have prepared you for, for that. I mean, that was such a unique outlier of a business experience or life. Correct. Um, I mean, was there anything that you drew on from your, from your experience that you were like that?
John Oechsle: So one of the things I drew on is, you know how to be a strong leader. And you know, you, you kind of, you have, you, you kind of hone those skills over, over the years and then you say, okay, now there’s this variable where I can’t be, have see people in person. Yeah. So what do I need to do differently? Um, and it was like keep on doing all the Right.
The stuff that you were doing before, but then you had to add some different things on, on top of that. Yeah. You know, one of the, one of the things and because things are moving so fast. Um, and we had to very rapidly, you know, reduce the size of the organization. And then so how do you keep the rest of the people that were here, uh, motivated And, you know, we just got everybody together.
Um, we just, I made sure everybody understood this was a healthy company. We just needed to [00:07:00] get it to a healthy state.
Michael Mitchel: Yeah.
John Oechsle: Uh, it’s a healthy company and I had, and I told everybody. Um, you know, you keep, I always tell everybody, keep the faith. If you have faith in me, I have faith in you. And together we’ll get through this and you’ll hear me say this a ton.
And, and if you ask any of the, what we call drivers, there are, there are employees, um, I always end every meeting with keep the faith. Yeah, keep the faith. Um, because that, that’s what we need to do. If we work together, we’ll get through this. The minute we start not working together, that’s where we’re gonna, you know, have some challenges.
Michael Mitchel: I think the Coffee of John is a great Java. Java with John Java. Java with John. Yeah, I just think that’s a great concept that, um. Even post pandemic, maybe not, you know, changed up the cadence, but keeping that going would be.
John Oechsle: So I’ve done that my whole career actually. Oh, okay. And, uh, but I really increased the frequency.
Yeah. And we still do it today. In fact, uh, yesterday I had a Java with John session, um, I usually do once a month now. Um, and we just randomly pick people and it’s a, it’s an interesting, uh, format. And what, what [00:08:00] I always say is what happens in Java with John, stays in Java with John, you know, we throw all titles out the window and, and we just say, we just talk.
Uh, and most of the time I just, I listen. Mm-hmm. Uh, because it, you know, people will come, sometimes people come with like, Hey, why are we doing this? You know, et cetera. Sometimes people will be like, Hey, man, did you see that Kansas, uh, you know, 15, uh, point rebound, uh, you know, coming from Monday. And, and it’s just an opportunity for people to, to feel comfortable.
The, we only have one rule. And that is, um, when you, when in the room, there can’t be anybody that reports to somebody else.
Michael Mitchel: Oh, good.
John Oechsle: So, because then it would feel a little bit weird. It
Michael Mitchel: would change the
John Oechsle: dynamics. Yeah. Yeah.
Michael Mitchel: You know, there’s, um, I have a po uh, interview coming up, but with A-C-H-R-O and she said during the PA Pandemic they would, um, they actually color coded some folks, you know, for, um, mental health, uh, awareness.
Yeah. You know, yellow, red, green. Um, and I can see value in that as well. I mean, I think there’s gonna be some things coming outta the pandemic that companies are, are gonna keep. [00:09:00] Yeah. You know, they may change how it’s out, how it’s, uh, out used. Um, but I think there’s a lot of lessons gained out there. I’m sure Harvard Business Review is gonna be cranking a lot of articles for the next 10, 15 years on, on, on all this stuff.
John Oechsle: You know, it’s funny, I, I keep every single email, uh, we’re actually on week one 10 right now, I think it is. And that’s the name of the, or that’s the, the subject line is, you know, at first it, it was week one.
Michael Mitchel: Mm-hmm. Right.
John Oechsle: Like, oh my God, what a crazy week, guys. You know, that type of thing. Um, but I, you know, I ke I’ve kept all of those and, and I’ll, I’ll just continue to do that, whether it’s pandemic or not.
’cause I just think it’s a really good communication style and I think people have gotten so used to reading them that literally one time, I, I couldn’t get it out on a Friday. And I got it out on Saturday and I was getting replies back like, oh, I thought you were gonna stop these now. You know, that type of stuff.
So, so I told you you
Michael Mitchel: got a, you had a follow,
John Oechsle: you had a listenership, you had to, you had high ratings. They’re, they’re, they’re listening. At first I didn’t think anybody was even reading ’em. Right. Yeah. ’cause I wasn’t getting any feedback until I, you know, that, and I was like, oh, and [00:10:00] y are kind of reading ’em, which, which is kind of nice.
So, um, but you know, I, I’m thinking of at some point in time, it would be interesting to. To just publish those.
Michael Mitchel: Mm-hmm.
John Oechsle: Like here, here, you know, here’s what it was like to go through the pandemic, um, you know, a, a week at a time. Right. Uh, so, huh,
Michael Mitchel: well, um, so we could spend an entire episode talking about the pandemic, but I’m here like, like there’s so much more to your background.
When did you decide you wanted to be a CEO and why? So,
John Oechsle: it’s, it’s interesting. Um, when IF when I first got out, I’m a computer science major. Uh, so I was a, I was a techie and I got outta outta school and I started in, in the consulting world. And, um, I had this, like, this interesting, uh, kind of skillset where yes, I understood technology, but I also understood business.
Um, and I could, I could hear and listen to what business people were saying. And I could translate that, uh, which back in the eighties, I’m an old dude. So back in the eighties that was, that was like [00:11:00] critical. Don’t even use old dude. We’re the same age. Uh, but you know, that, that was, that was critical. And, and so I very quickly got to like, wow, you know, I, I want to run businesses.
That’s what, you know, as soon as I started really interacting with. You know, different. I was finding myself at a very young age, being brought in the board meetings to describe what, why we needed a new inventory management system, et cetera. And I was like, you know, I really wanna run companies. I wanna be a CEO.
Michael Mitchel: Mm-hmm. And
John Oechsle: I said, okay, what’s the fastest path to being a CEO as first you gotta get to the C-suite. So, okay. What’s the fastest path to the C-suite? Um, and I really felt that the fastest path was gonna be up through A-C-I-O-I think I had, I thought I had a very unique skillset, which I, I think would, would’ve let me to go.
Um, I. And so that’s, that’s how it started. And then what I did is I looked at every single opportunity that was put in front of me and I said, is that gonna help me get to my goal? Yes or no? Um, and if it was, yes, great. If it was, no, don’t take it sometimes when the nos were, but they’re gonna pay me a [00:12:00] crap load of money.
So, okay, I’ll do that for, you know, a while and, you know, and kind of, and move my way up there. So, uh, and never, I never, ever, in my entire career said no to a horrible assignment. I, I took ’em. ’cause most people say no to horrible assignments. That’s when you can make the most impression on, uh, and, and learn the most as well.
Well,
Michael Mitchel: actually you, you, I love when you, you segue for me, ’cause I remember once you said you took every crackpot project at Kellogg, and so it’s kind of like, okay. Um, it, it paid off. It did, right. It,
it did.
Michael Mitchel: I mean, but you’ve, you had to have gained so much wealth of experience, a
John Oechsle: ton of experience. Uh, sometimes positive experience, sometimes negative experience, but yes, a ton of experience and, uh.
It, it, it enabled me to see so many different facets of the business. Um, you know, back then, that was in the early nineties, um, Kellogg’s was a, a US based company with multiple international subsidiaries. Mm-hmm. And they wanted to become a [00:13:00] global company. If you can remember, late eighties, early nineties, everybody wanted to be a global company.
And, um. And so, you know, there was a massive project that went on to figure out how to become a global company, and I just raised my hand and said, I wanna be on that task force. Uh, and, and I, I, I did, um, you know, was did it over in Europe, down in Latin America, over in Asia, and, uh, you know, learned an enormous amount.
And a lot of times people would say like, well, why are you volunteering for that? You’re just the, you’re just the tech guy. And I’d be like, man, man, I want to, I gotta get rid of that, that, uh, you know, that label, it’s that word
Michael Mitchel: just,
John Oechsle: yeah, right. Just a tech guy.
Michael Mitchel: Yeah, yeah, yeah. I’m jumping it because I’ve been thinking about that word a lot lately, you know?
Um, and there’s a sidebar. I remember I was walking my dog crossing the street and this guy parks right in the middle of the crosswalk. And he is letting his kids out and he is blocking. I’m like, Hey, I’m right here. He is like, oh, I’m just letting my kids out. Like, no, you’re just being a jerk. It’s like that.
People use the word just Yeah. To, to devalue or excuse [00:14:00] behavior or, or I think more of a short term approach to something. You’re just a tech guy. Right. Okay. That’s you’re, you’re just thinking about today,
right?
Michael Mitchel: Or I’m just thinking about tomorrow. Exactly.
John Oechsle: No, that’s that. That’s great. Early in my career.
That’s, I heard that a thousand times. Yeah. You’re just a tech guy. Stay in your little tech world. Um, now after you do these assignments, you get some successes or whatever, all of a sudden everybody’s coming to you and saying like, Hey, I need you to do this. You know? Uh, so it, it, you got, you got rid of that label.
Michael Mitchel: But let’s unpack ’cause you, ’cause you said, um, you, Europe, Latin America, and Asia. So you, those are three continents. So you traveled extensively for
John Oechsle: Kellogg? I did. I had enormous amount of international experience. Um, not only with Kellogg, but with j and j as well. And then even with IHS, we had, we were in 56 different countries at at IHS.
So, you know, most of my career has been spent doing international assignments. Um, which I think also gave me a very, very [00:15:00] different perspective to be able to sit in this chair that I’m in today.
Michael Mitchel: Yeah.
John Oechsle: Um, so, uh, it’s, it’s very, you know, I, I remember the first, my first international assignment. I was down in Latin America at one time, and.
Um, you know, I was asked by corporate, you know, to make this certain project happen.
Michael Mitchel: Yeah. And
John Oechsle: I went down there and I was like, there is no way. I mean, the cost of this project was more than the gross national product of Columbia for God’s sakes. And, and, but corporate had no idea. Right. And so, and then you needed to go back and you say like.
You can’t do this, you know, just because you could do it over in Germany doesn’t mean you can do it down, down in Latin America because the cost is just, you know, very prohibitive. And they were like, wow, we never thought of that, uh, before. So it’s, it’s, you know, playing that go-between, between, Hey, I’m from corporate and I’m here to help, to, you know, really understanding, okay, listen, how are we gonna get this successful?
Because it isn’t a cookie cutter around the world.
Michael Mitchel: So how do you feel the international experience shaped you, um, a as an executive [00:16:00] personally, and your approach?
John Oechsle: I think it, it, uh, a, a couple of different things. One, it just gave me a wealth of knowledge, uh, of how to interact with the globe, uh, you know, for sure.
But it also made me, um, force me to rapidly become creative. And understand how to be successful. Uh, when you were, you were literally thrown into the deep end of the pool with, you know, just do this. Mm-hmm. You know, because we say so. Um, and so you’ve really then had to learn how to build relationships very, very quickly.
Understand what will work and what won’t work. Negotiate between in-country and corporate. Uh, so I think it just, it just, it honed skills that, um, you know, I would’ve ne it would’ve taken me years to get, uh, if I just tried to do it, you know, in a different, different format.
Michael Mitchel: Hmm. That’s really interesting.
Um, can you think of, I know how to, uh, phrase this, so bear with me. Can you think of a, a peer as you’re coming up at some point, [00:17:00] like it’d be JJ whatever company it is. You don’t have to say what company or who it is. Yeah. They didn’t make the same kind of strategic decisions you did. Right. They kind of focus more on the today versus tomorrow, and where are they career-wise,
John Oechsle: you know?
That’s an make sense, interesting thoughts. Um, you know, I, I’ll, I’ll take a look. I’ll answer that in a couple different ways. Yeah. Uh, I have a lot of friends, you know, different, uh, different players, fraternity brothers back in college or whatever, and you kind of watch, you know, where our careers go. Uh, and, and it, it, it really all depends on what you want to do.
And, you know, I set a very high goal for myself right away and said, I wanna run companies where others sometimes would say like, I just want a job, uh, or I want, you know, do this or whatever. And then they got in and they got comfortable and they just said, Hey, if I can be a director, that’d be great. Or, or vice president or, or whatever.
So it really gets what drives you. Is, is I think, how you’re, and you’re gonna go about it. Now, if you’re very [00:18:00] driven, you may go about it differently, but I think it really is where do you want to go and what’s important to you? Um, and everybody’s, everybody’s different, uh, in, in that sense. Now, the second way I’ll answer that is that what I pride myself on, and I took this from.
Uh, a a, a guy that I worked with at IHS, uh, worked for Jerry Stead, who is the CEO, and Jerry is a phenomenal guy. He is, everything that the jury has done is he’s, has gone, touched and gone gold, right? He did Ingram Micro from 8 billion to 32 billion. He did IHS from 200 million to 2.2 billion, you know, all type of thing.
So, um, and what, what Jerry always said is that it’s not about what you can do, it’s about how you can create the next level of leader. And so, uh, I ke I keep two lists. Uh, list number one is what I call my A list. And those are people that have worked with me for me or who are out through the years, and you’ll, and wherever, whatever assignment or gig that I’m in, I tap into my A list and say, okay, who’s available?
In fact, if you look at Derive, I’ve [00:19:00] got four or five people from that a list in derive with me right now.
Okay?
John Oechsle: Um, you trust ’em, you know ’em, we all like each other. We all, you know, we’re great, great friends, you know, et cetera. The second list I keep is how many people that have worked with me for me, or whatever that have gone on to be in the C-suite.
Michael Mitchel: Mm-hmm.
John Oechsle: Um, and you know, it’s starting to get up there. Now it’s like eight or nine, you know, and I was like, wow, can I break 10? Uh, you know, some are CEOs, some are c uh, iOS, CFOs, you know, et cetera. So, uh, that, that’s the list that I’m the most proud of is, you know, how can I help? Um, not only can we have a bunch of fun while we’re doing something, can we create an enormous amount of shareholder value, but can I also create, uh, the next step in somebody’s career that that’s, that’s pretty cool in my mind.
Michael Mitchel: Yeah. That’s a recurring theme when, when I talk with executives. It is, you know, whether, how that looks. Is it official mentoring? Is it informal? Is that, um, mentoring never stops. I think that also people want to help other people and people take [00:20:00] pride in their network at career advancing. You know, we all kind of, you know, as we age, we all kind of go up in the same direction.
Mm-hmm. Right. I think that’s really interesting. Um, what’s, um. You know, how do you feel that your tech background has influenced you as a CEO? And the reason why I ask this is because I, I’ve heard different philosophies on, on the, the background of, of CEOs. Mm-hmm. You know, the ones that are the sales background or the CFO fans background, they’ll have a different approaches to how they run a company.
How do you see your background influencing you?
John Oechsle: So, uh, two, two ways. One is, uh, as I look at assignments, um, particularly as at the CEO level, um. I. Only stay in that technology information space.
Michael Mitchel: Mm-hmm.
John Oechsle: Um, and it could be all different kind of technologies. It doesn’t have to be one specific, but because I understand technology all the way down to the roots, if you were to ask me to take over [00:21:00] a, uh, you know, a grocery store, uh, I’d be like, I, I don’t know how to do that.
Right. And I feel very uncomfortable. But understanding the underlying understanding of technology, where it comes from, whatever, gives me the comfort to come in to say, I know this space. I can make it, I can drive the growth in, into this company. So I think it gives me a, a, a very different, uh, approach to somebody that’s, uh, maybe a CFO that would come into a tech, uh, technology company, maybe looking more at the numbers, understanding SaaS and, you know, know recurring revenue and, you know, that kinda stuff.
Um, sales, marketing, you know, a different space. I’m coming at it probably with a. A product bent. Mm-hmm. Um, but I also have this affinity for marketing. I love marketing, right. So I, you know, I’m, I kind of marry those two together and, and, and really drive that. So
Michael Mitchel: what would you say the technology, because you obviously, you have to be strategic about when you choose a platform or a [00:22:00] direction or.
Obviously, I’m sorry, I had clear my throat. Yeah. Obviously with a technology background, there’s more to just plug and play and knowing how to write code. Mm-hmm. You’re also trying to decide which direction to take a solution, what kind of platform that, you know, implementations, integrations, and the purchasing and those strategic decisions.
Um, have you, when you talk about sales and marketing in your background, how have you interacted with, with those organizations?
John Oechsle: So, uh, all the way back to, uh, in my early days, uh, particularly in Kellogg’s, I mean, you can’t get a better marketing company than, than than Kellogg’s. Okay. Maybe Procter and Gamble.
Okay. You know, whatever. But, um, you know, so I, I was around just phenomenal. Product management, product marketing, marketing, um, et cetera. So I interacted with them and then saw how that interaction drove sales. Um, you know, it was a different, you know, Kellogg is, is [00:23:00] not a really direct to consumer. Mm-hmm.
It’s more of, you know, through a channel, uh, you know, type of thing. But, um, you know, so I started seeing that. So I, I think I’ve got an enormous, and even when I went to j and j was the, was the same way as well. So I got this enormous background on how technology, marketing, sales all kind of come, come together.
Now, technology, uh, would’ve was a little bit different in, um. In, in the consumer packaged goods world, it’s more of, you know, what kind of new cereals can you make? Is it protruding cereals or is it flakes or, or whatever. And what kind of, you know, uh, technology can you use? Now there it was all about how do you bring the cost down?
’cause there’s razor, razor thin margins,
Michael Mitchel: right?
John Oechsle: Uh, and so technology was a big play there as ’cause it really helped to drive the profitability of the company. So, you know, so that gave me the great background. Now when I look at it today. When I look at technology, the very first thing, particularly in like, let’s say, let’s say, you know, from a derived stand, uh, derived system standpoint, we say, okay, we have this technology.
Okay, what is this technology going to solve? What, you know, [00:24:00] how is it gonna help a customer? Why would somebody want this?
Michael Mitchel: Mm-hmm.
John Oechsle: Uh, and really drive that. And if you can’t answer that question, like, oh, but it’s really cool, okay, that’s not gonna be good. Right. You know that, that’s not commercialized. Right.
So, you know, but if you get to the point of saying, Hey, listen, you know, you got fuel prices that are higher than they’ve ever been in the world, and every other word out of everybody’s mouth right now is how do you, how do you reduce carbon, et cetera. I’ve got the, the best technology in, in the, in the industry.
That can do both. Mm-hmm. And I’m like, oh my God, okay, this is it. This is the right technology. Now working with technology guys, how do we continue to hone that? And then it’s like nobody knows about us. You know, how do we get that, you know, that marketing and sales and, and drive that. Yeah. Uh, so it’s kind of looking at it from, you know, that send is, is the technology useful?
Um, and solve a problem and people were willing to pay for it. Yes. Great. Okay, now let’s make sure that technology is sound. Why we drive the marketing and sales, uh, plan [00:25:00] and channel plan and, you know, all that kind of stuff. So
Michael Mitchel: when you look back at your career, um, was there any experiences or skill sets, like be it sales or finance that you wish you had obtained?
Um,
John Oechsle: you know, I, it’s funny, when I, when I did my, my MBA, I was always like, oh, should I have gone into like, bank investment banking or on Wall Street or, or something like that? And there was a period of time when I thought that that might have given me the edge, but, uh, no, I don’t think it did. Right. So, um, you know, I, I think there isn’t any one, uh.
Assignment or opportunity that I turned down that I would say, man, I wish I would’ve, I would’ve taken that. Uh, and my wife probably says that, I wish you wouldn’t have taken so many international assignments, but that’s a different story. Did she go with you sometimes? Uh oh, sometimes. Okay.
Michael Mitchel: Uh, my, my wife, uh, when we were, we first met, she was a PhD candidate.
She had an opportunity to spend a year as a Fulbright in Albania. Wow. And we looked, we seriously considered it. I mean, I had a dog and I was like, oh, I’m taking my dog. I [00:26:00] learned how to like, make my own dog food. Um, but this is back when all the capital of Albania only had a powerful four hours a day.
Oh my goodness.
Michael Mitchel: So we, I, I’d like them not to. ’cause the joke was. I joked like, well, you know, when they have a revolution, the first thing they do is go hang the foreigners. And turns out later that year they actually did, you know? Yeah. Good thing you weren’t there. Yeah, exactly. I would’ve get like, you know, I’ve been Stephen Queen and, um, the great escape of my dog trying to get to the border in the sidecar.
Um, so, so let me ask you this. What’s been your biggest takeaway as you look back at your career?
John Oechsle: Um, I would say that, uh, the, the thing that I’m most proud of is that I set a girl a goal early.
Michael Mitchel: Mm-hmm.
John Oechsle: Uh, and I achieved it. Uh, it took me, it took me a long time. Uh, but I think, um, you know, I, I, I went through and I did, uh, exactly what I set out to do.
Um, and, uh, I wouldn’t change anything quite frankly.
Michael Mitchel: So I think this is why you’re different from past guests I’ve had so far. Um, they pivoted, [00:27:00] they’ve taken advantage of opportunities to advance mm-hmm. And seize the day, whereas you’re like, from day one, no, most kids wanna be astronauts. You wanna be a CEO, right?
Yeah. Yeah. So I, I find that really, really, um, well, congratulations. I mean, that’s, thank you. It’s not a need, it’s not an achievement you should take lightly. Yeah. Um. What advice would you give to the next CEO someone who wants to be a CEO, someone who’s at the director or VP level?
John Oechsle: So I would, I, it is funny, I, I, I talk to a lot of people, uh, and they ask me, you know, how do, how do I become a CEO?
Uh, and the very first thing I ask them is, do you want to be a CEO? Yeah, of course. Say yes, yes. And like, why? Tell me why you wanna be a CEO And if you don’t have a good answer for that, goes a lot of. Unfortunately, a lot of people say, you know, when it really gets down to it, it’s, oh, well, it gets paid the most money, and, you know, that kind of stuff.
And it’s like, no, if you don’t wanna be able to, to lead [00:28:00] people, to grow people, uh, and to create shareholder value, um, you need to, and those are, you know, they sound like words, but you gotta, you gotta want that and you gotta live that. And, um, that’s the first bit of advice I would say, is if you’re sitting at a.
Director or senior director, vp and you say, I want to, I want to get, I wanna be a CEO. Um, make sure that that’s exactly what you want to be.
Michael Mitchel: Mm-hmm.
John Oechsle: Uh, and then if you, if that’s the answer is yes, is get to that C-suite no matter where, you know, get it to be a CIO or you know, chief Strategy Officer or a COO or something.
Uh, just, you gotta get to the C-suite before you can go, in my mind, you can get to, to be the CEO.
Michael Mitchel: Right. Okay. Um, it was, you know, usually I ask someone to say, why should someone wanna be a a C-level executive? I think you’ve already addressed that. I, I, I think when I see people who sometimes people think, well, it’s the natural progression of my career, or because it’s the title, [00:29:00] right?
Which are two ex great examples of why you shouldn’t be Right. You know, it’s much more transactional. And I think, um, self-serving. It’s not, like I said, helping other people grow professionally or shareholder value.
John Oechsle: Yeah. And the, the, the other thing I, I coach, I folks, even inside of my own companies, um, is be careful not to take jumps or title changes too rapidly.
Michael Mitchel: Mm-hmm.
John Oechsle: Because, you know, a lot of people would like, I wanna be the chief marketing officer or, or whatever, but they really don’t have the skill sets to do that. And then if they get in that role and it’s a failure, um, getting that role again is gonna be really, really hard. Yeah. Uh, and so, you know. Be careful, uh, be, uh, you know, really take a look, be be thoughtful and, and go at a controlled level of where you see your opportunities.
And if you’re sitting at a, you know, a marketing specialist [00:30:00] and all of a sudden you’re offered A-A-C-M-O role, eh, you may not be, you may not want to take that role. You might want to jump, you know, a couple levels before then to get some more skill sets so that you can make sure that when you’re in that role.
You get a success. One of the other things that I, I tell everybody is that, you know, fortunately in my, in my, in my career, you know, when I’m a big sports guy, so you have wins and losses, Ws and L, Ws and Ls. You only want Ws. You don’t want an L, right? Ls are tough to, to you to come by. And, um, and that’s what I tell everybody here at Derive is like, we’re, we’re gonna be a w we’re not gonna be an L here.
Uh, this is, this is gonna be a w and this is how we’re gonna do it.
Michael Mitchel: Do you have any other additional insights you’d like to share?
John Oechsle: No, I think, you know, we had a great conversation, but, uh, you know, hopefully, uh, your listeners will, will think that this has been helpful and, you know, be more than happy to chat about it.
Uh, you know, just, just reach out and if they can, I’m on LinkedIn, uh, Twitter at hjs and. You know, you, you can send [00:31:00] out my email if you’d like. That’s, that, that’s fine. It’s, it’s long and I have to spell it and every, nobody would write it down now anyway, so.
Michael Mitchel: We’ll, um, we’ll, we’ll share the, um, uh, on LinkedIn.
What, how can they find you on LinkedIn? Uh, just search for, uh, John Oell. Uh, it’ll, it’ll pop up. And that spelling of that last name is O-E-C-H-S-L-E, but also it’s h
John Oechsle: John. I do have an h. Do you know what the H is for? If you, if no. So my, my real name is Henry John Oel ii. Uh, and so my just rolls right off the tongue.
Yeah, I know. Yeah. So, uh, you know, when I was, uh, uh, little, my, my grandfather is Henry, what they called him Henry.
Michael Mitchel: Mm-hmm.
John Oechsle: My father, who was h uh, Henry, John Rosa Jr. He was called Mickey. That’s a different, a whole nother story for that. And then I’ve always been called John or Johnny, right. Um, when I, as I started moving up in my career, um, the problem is, is I’ll know if you really, if, if you don’t know me, uh, because if you call me Henry, then, then you really don’t know me, right?
So, [00:32:00] um, so I just put the HH, John Osho to, uh, all right. Go there. So, so,
Michael Mitchel: um. Here’s a question I got for you. This I ask everybody. This is kinda my closeout question. What’s been the worst job you’ve ever had and what was the most positive impact on it that still carries with you today?
John Oechsle: Whew. I think the, the, it could be like
Michael Mitchel: a high school
John Oechsle: job.
Yeah, yeah, yeah. So, I mean, just so I was a lifeguard when I was in high school as well, and I remember I was a, a lifeguard at, uh, a lake in, uh, in Belmar, New Jersey. Um, and, um. It was, uh, it was right across the river from Philadelphia, and so there was a lot of people from Philadelphia would come, come over, and it was just a really kind of a rough crowd.
And, um, and it was that, that was, it was horrible because. You were there to try and protect people, but you were there arguing with people all the time. And then you would have, uh, unfortunately, you know, we’d close down at night at, at dusk and [00:33:00] then, you know, people would jump the fences and, uh, get drunk and then you’d have to dredge for, you know, drown bodies and, uh, and, and that, you know, it’s just like.
I was like, wow, is this what being a lifeguard is now? And then it’s moved on to lifeguarding at the, uh, jersey shore, and that was a lot more fun. But, uh, uh, but yeah, I would say that that was, uh, that was a rude awakening. I, I took the lifeguarding, you know, uh, certification. And, uh, I was wondering, you know, I was trying to get all these different jobs and there was, you know, it couldn’t get ’em, and, and it, you know, applied to this one.
Boom. Got it. Like that. I was like, Ooh, something’s wrong here. And that it was not a fun job, so, so
Michael Mitchel: the clientele wasn’t the best. Yeah. So that’s what sucked. So, yeah. What did you take away from that? That still sticks with you?
John Oechsle: Um, w. Just because you get a job, it might not be the right job. I can argue with that.
So, you know, make sure, make sure you do your own due diligence when you’re looking at a job, no matter what level or what stage, no matter what level. All right? No matter what level. [00:34:00]
Michael Mitchel: Well, John, I really appreciate you, uh, your time on being on a CXO Conversations podcast. It’s been a great conversation. The time flew by, we could spend.
And now we’re on either any of the questions I’m sure we discussed. Um, you can follow, you can find me Michael Mitchell on LinkedIn. Mitchell is Huel at Denver. My Twitter handle is m Mitchell Huel 52 80. And John, your Twitter handle again is
at HJ osh. And H-J-O-E-C-H.
Michael Mitchel: There we go. Thanks a lot and see y’all next time.
Cheers
