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PROUDLY PRESENTS
Daniel Sapir
Resident of The USA and 3-DNET® VIP member
Email contact : daniel.sapir@exec.org
INTERVIEW WITH 3-DNET®
Listen to sample sound "bites" from the interview:
Question 1 : Tell me about yourself
I grew up in Israel, at the age of 17 I joined the naval academy and served in the Israeli Navy for three years. In 1973 I arrived in the US to study. I graduated with honors from the University of La Verne with a degree in Philosophy and Psychology and a minor in economics. I am often asked why I had chosen these fields of study and the answer is really quiet simple: they have to do with the most fundamental aspects of life. Philosophy deals with the nature of things, knowledge and morality and psychology deals with who we are and our thinking processes. Such understanding contributes to improving the quality of thinking and it allows one to become more effective in dealing with people, managing complex business processes and transactions and demonstrate leadership that people respect. Upon graduating I enrolled in the PhD program for clinical psychology at Chapman University for two years. I did not complete the program as I found it very difficult to earn a good salary. That is why I switched to Chapman’s MBA program and got my MBA. I must say that the combination of psychology and business is a rather unique one and has helped me in my career and made me a better person and a very good executive.
Question 2 : What can you offer to your next employer ?
Given that most employers look for results, the most desirable attributes are one’s strategic thinking and execution capabilities. Throughout my career I have excelled at articulating clear vision and strategy and executing it. I offer a very attractive blend of business maturity and quality of thinking with a great deal of personal enthusiasm and drive to excel.
Question 3 : What are your strengths ?
My core competency lies in four main areas: Articulating coherent marketing strategies which include: business model, market positioning, solution development (deals with product vs. solution model), and go-to-market plans. Field execution – implementing the strategies at the field level. This includes outbound marketing campaigns, interaction with analysts, lead generation, sales force training and development of sales aides. Excellent ability to map a given technology to the business problems it solves, its market position and value proposition. Business Development (channel and alliance management).
Question 4 : What are your accomplishments ?
Well, accomplishments can mean different things to different people. The mere fact that I had left my home country at a young age, paid for my schooling and raised a family, all without anyone’s help is a deeply fulfilling personal accomplishment. On the business side, I have successfully built business operations for three fortune 500 companies and managed them for a number of years. I am most proud on the creation of a s/w business unit for EMC (DG division), where I had grown it from zero revenues to $120mill. In 8 years. I have always enjoyed building businesses and, as it turns out, I am rather good at it.
Question 5 : What are your limitations ?
I am often asked this question. The best way to respond is by relating what I have been told by others: Given my nature as a manager who is driven to excel and on the aggressive side when it comes to business, I can become impatient and sometimes “frustrate” those around me. I have learned, over the years, to be more sensitive and “pace myself” so the entire team moves in concert. .
Question 6 : How much are you worth ?
The topic of compensation is an important one and can be discussed once we reach an agreement in principle. One’s value to given organization can be measured along many variables and need to be discussed during the interview process. I bring considerable experience in many business disciplines that make me a very effective executive. My educational background brings about new and fresh perspective that truly fosters creative thinking that results in better strategies, planning and execution….how much is that worth to you?
Question 7 : What are your ambitions for the future ?
I have always enjoyed, and been rather successful, building businesses and managing field operations. I would like to stay in this business discipline and continue to grow in terms of scope of responsibilities and manage business unit operations larger than $150mill and more than 125 people
Question 8 : How long would it take you start contributing to the firm?
Immediately! No question about it. I have the intellectual capacity and technology background to contribute to any organization upon joining them
Question 9: What is your management style?
At heart, I am a mentor and an educator. I believe that fundamentally people want, and indeed NEED, to excel. Excellence is a psychological need we all share as part of our nature. As a manager I tap of this need and help those who work for me by guiding them, discussing issues and complex problems and assist in the planning and mapping technologies to solving business problems. I am not a micro manager. I set objectives, performance criteria and goals and help my people achieve them. I tell my people that failure is part of success. I believe that it’s “ok” to take calculated and educated risks and, should one fail, draw lessons and conclusions and learn from one’s own mistakes. I also insist that mistakes in judgment are shared with the rest of team so we can all analyze them and learn from it.
Question 10: Why do you think you have a good potential to be a manager?
Well, my potential has been realized. I am already a very good manager. Having said that, however, I do think this is a very good question. Let me respond as follows: Management, by definition deals with the understanding of how to “process human activities” in order to realize a certain outcome. It requires logical thinking and understanding of processes and their implementation, as well as the psychological drivers of human behavior. I believe that I possess both, the ability to think logically and analyze/implement processes in an orderly and effective manner, and the understanding of people, what motivates them and how to harness their creativity. As my management professor used to say, “a good manager is one who caters water to his/her people.”
Question 11: What would you look for in hiring people?
From experience I have learned to assess people in terms of their quality of thinking and ability to solve problems. Clearly subject matter knowledge and experience are of paramount importance, however, the ability to think independently and creatively constitutes the “mental infrastructure” if you will, upon which understanding of how to execute effectively; how to utilize one’s knowledge and experience and how to relate to others, truly depends.
Question 12: As a manager, have you ever had to fire someone?
Yes. I suppose that most of those who have held management positions with direct reports had to let people go at some point in their career. It is not a pleasant thing to do, but sometimes it is necessary.
Question 13: What do you see as the most difficult task of being a manager?
Motivating people to excel and realize their full potential, and creating an environment of true team work. The benefits are rather substantial: increasing self esteem and productivity, which in turn results in low turn-over and cost savings.
Question 14: Describe what you feel is the best work environment?
The best work environment is one that is open and predictable. Open, meaning the free flow of ideas and the ability to express opinions and explore new ways of operating and executing one’s job without the fear of reprisal. Open, meaning that the individual is expected to executed to the best of his/her ability and has learn from failures. Predictable, meaning that the work environment is a disciplined one and the rules of conduct are well-defined, objective and enforceable. People need to have the confidence that the “rule of law” in a given work environment will be respected and that their efforts, accomplishments and failures alike, will be recognized and be based on an objective performance criteria.
Question 15: Looking back how do you describe your past employer?
I have been employed by several companies in my career and it’s really a mixed bag of excellent, good and mediocre. The good ones paid attention to their people and attempted to foster their growth. The mediocre ones focused on driving their employees without investing in them and recognizing their performance. I do believe that many companies are increasing their investment in improving the “overall quality” of their people and are realizing measurable increases in productivity and employee/customer satisfaction. In my view people are the real asset and companies that take the time to invest in them realize a much higher returns than those who do not.
Question 16: What have you done to increase productivity, performance, efficiency, etc..?
I strongly believe that a good manager is one “who caters water to his/her people”. I have gone to great lengths to train, mentor and educate my people, and have done so by example. By working closely with them, brainstorming and demanding and rewarding excellence. I do believe, as I have stated previously, that excellence should be demanded and rewarded. However, a good manager does not make demands in a vacuum. A good manager explains, helps, mentors and supports his/her people and extends a helping hand when one fails. Productivity is a function of motivation and enthusiasm which need to be fostered.
Question 17: Whether you are a "computer wizard", how do you respond to the financial side of your responsibilities?
Financial performance is a measuring yardstick and its how all businesses are measured by. I have had complete P&L responsibility and feel very comfortable with the financial side of the business.
Question 18: How many people have you supervised in your recent job?
In my most recent job I had 16 people reporting to me. In previous ones I have had as many as 120.
Question 19: What do you like more, working with figures or words?
I like both actually. I enjoy very much writing, and have written extensively in my career. I have always incorporated figures in the form of charts, financial reports and statistics to support my arguments and positions.
Question 20: How do you think that your subordinates receive you?
Well, the only way to answer this question is to have you talk to people that have worked for me. But I can tell you that they all “loved me”, and very much enjoyed working for me. I would also like to think that most of them learned from me.
Question 21: What do you think of your previous boss?
A brilliant technologist.
Question 22: Describe a situation in which your work was criticized?
Lets see….One of the challenges I had faced while at EMC’s Data General division, was the launch of a business unit into a new market that dealt with multi-dimensional databases. It was at a time when the market was transitioning to open systems and data warehousing s/w solutions were in much demand. Most senior managers at the time were skeptical of the success of this venture and thought that it would fail. I decided to prove that the business case was well thought out and was supported by solid market statistics. I shifted my resources and focused on field marketing and the training of the sales force. For about 18 months I had traveled extensively and helped the sales force close several major accounts. The results were impressive. Year 1 revenues were $1.9mill, Year two $12mill and year 3 $36mill. The sales force embraced the concept of “software driven hardware sales” and begun to engage in solution selling. Ultimately, I had grown the business unit to over $120mill.
Question 23: If I spoke with your boss what he would say about your greatest strength and weaknesses?
He would say that my strengths are: articulating a coherent strategy with very strong ability to execute well; excellent ability to map technology/product/solutions to business problems; very good people manager; driven and aggressive. He would say that my greatest weakness is being impatient at times.
"If I spoke with your boss.... ?"
Question 24: How can you handle life under pressure and with tough deadlines?
I am well accustomed to working under pressure. I would even argue that I perform better at times when a deadline nears. Key to the management of stress resulting from meeting deadlines, travel and other business pressure, is good time management and working out. For me, maintaining focus and not putting off tasks combined with a daily workout routine works very well.
Question 25: What do you think you do better: staff work or line work?
I am equally competent at both. It is difficult to determine where staff work ends and line work begins. I believe that a good manager is expected to execute well on both fronts. Research and develop the strategy, articulate a plan/business case and effectively manage the go-to-market (i.e. execution) phase.
Question 26: In your current position, what problem have you identified that was previously overlooked?
In my current position as a business consultant I advised one of my clients to completely change the company’s market positioning and move to a higher level of abstraction. The client’s technology was in the business intelligence and analytics space, focused primarily on web data analysis. I transitioned the company to position itself as a Business Performance Management vendor having a comprehensive information integration platform capable of integrating and analyzing web data as well as backend data (CRM, Sales, Financial, etc…) This positioning enabled the company to address larger enterprises and increase its revenues. Once the positioning has been addressed, I identified pricing strategy and the existing support infrastructure as lacking and developed a new pricing structure and created a sound support and services infrastructure.
Question 27: If you had a choice of job and a company what would you choose?
Pretty much what I am doing right now…the job will be a CMO responsible for Marketing, Field marketing and business development. The ideal company will be in the high tech space, preferably in the business intelligence, BPM, or storage sectors.
Question 28:Do you have any objection to take a psychological test?
No, none whatsoever. I am also agreeable to participate in drug testing, as I use neither drugs nor alcohol.
Question 29: Do you consider yourself as a creative person?
YES! VERY MUCH SO! This is a very good question as creativity is seldom asked for or required of senior managers. The marketing discipline requires one to be creative with both, the use of language and imagery. Creative communication requires that one address the senses when attempting to communicate market positioning, value and benefits and confidence. As part of my consulting work over this past year I had redesigned web sites, developed newsletters with Gartner, written several articles (one of which was actually published in DM Review online), and have developed sales guides and other collateral material. In the past, I had developed advertising campaigns and many outbound marketing campaigns, that required creative thinking and design of direct mail pieces, presentations, and other material.
Question 30: How do you describe your personality?
By my very nature I am VERY joyful person who likes to joke and have fun. I found that humor tends to increase productivity as it normally creates a relaxed working environment and allows for the release of pressure and stress. I enjoy a one-on-one relationship with the people who work for me as well as the ones I work for. This how I get to really know my people and understand the challenges they face and can be of most help.
Question 31: What is your outside reading you do?
I enjoy reading mystery and spy novels and business books and magazines. I also receive many on-line newsletters and technology magazines to keep up with market and industry trends and development.
Question 32: What are some of your outside activities?
I enjoy reading and working out. I have been an avid runner for nearly 25 years now and work out daily. I love spending time with my family and go to the movies…as a matter of fact I love going to the movies. I also enjoy very much working in my yard, planting flowers and maintaining the landscape. I find this activity very relaxing and it gives me the time I need for reflection and solitude.
Question 33: Are you continuing your education?
Again, given my strong conviction about the value of education I feel that learning never stops. My education is continuing, however, not within an academic setting. I have earned an MBA and my continuing self-education consists of a lot of reading, attending conferences and collaborating with colleagues and exchanging information, ideas and views.
Curriculum Vitae Confidential
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