Description
I welcome Damien D‘Souza on this episode who is a business and technology transformation leader. His CV states COO, CIO and CCO experience, yet he markets himself as an interim and fractional ‚CTO‘. With his vast years of experience across multiple industries, he has worked in his portfolio career since 2019.
Things we discussed:
Whilst he started his portfolio career in 2019, he started working for himself in 2012
He left the corporate world after 30 years after taking redundancy and money for a runway to try 'self-employment'
Work is all about what you want to do, not why you do it
Damien started with IBM, then worked for Ericsson, Hutchison and Nokia
The corporate world is about politics and if someone says jump, you ask 'how high'
Most jobs come through his network
Whilst he is a technology leader he is also a COO but has done work in sales and marketing and supply chain in senior roles
It's not what you do but how you market yourself
Working with start- and scale-ups
How to help businesses to evolve and deal with things
It's like being a 'father', a business mentor as much as doing the job
It's about value add and outcomes
He prices based on projects and outcomes, with regular milestone reviews
Key principles he learned early in his careers:
Listen not hear
Never turn up late or unprepared for a meeting
Don't waste anyone's time, get the terms of reference right
People need to understand what you deliver (bring people along on the journey)
Interim and fractional CxOs are equal in the C-Suite rather than being a contractor
You constantly pitch for opportunities
Going to work for something one loves with people you like
Satisfaction through using one's skills
Reward is the flexibility, and pay is just as good
Priority is always oneself, not the work - a life work choice he made (Life-work balance NOT Work-life balance)
Younger companies benefiting from experience and an external viewpoint
Skill transfer and knowledge capital being important for the future
New business models emerging
Get out there and engage!
Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/damiendsouza/
This is the end of season 5 episode. You might think it's earlier than anticipated, but there is a reason. There is always a reason.
I say thank you.
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