our numbers, are we exceeding our numbers from a revenue standpoint, from a customer standpoint? Am I growing my career in terms of responsibilities as fast as I want to? (And it’s never been as fast as I want to.)
Earlier in my career, when it was a big organization and clear career progressions, I would use that to measure [myself]. When you’re in the top seat, it’s a little bit different. The measures are self-imposed or board-imposed metrics. The fallacy is that CEO doesn’t work for anyone. The CEO actually works for everyone. For me, I work for more than 200 member companies, to a certain extent the city of Austin and the state of Texas. The further up the food chain you go, the more masters you have.
X: What do you pick up on that many people don’t see?
BB: I think I’ve always been keenly attuned to what the customer or audience need set is. One of the things you do as a program manager or product manager is spend a lot of time thinking about what the problem is you’re trying to solve for. It’s not just the immediate problem. What is the problem in the future that you’re trying to solve for?
My constant inner-product manager voice serves me well in every aspect in doing business. I think the other thing that I’ll add to that, which is kind of a critical piece because it’s easy to get presumptive about what you think you know about what other people want, is being able to be really humble when you screw things up or take a wrong step and take ownership for the screw-ups. That means taking ownership for not just the screw-ups that you directly cause, but the screw-ups you could’ve prevented … if you had been more thoughtful. When you’re in a leadership position—it doesn’t matter if you’re a manager in big company, CEO of a big company, or CEO of a tiny tech industry association—you’re responsible for success all around. The buck stops with you.
X: How do you relax outside of work when you want to tune out the noise?
BB: Home renovation is a big thing. Doing something creative with my hands is really important to me, and allows me to turn off the left side of the brain. Right now, I’m remodeling a home. Other times when I don’t have a home remodel, I paint. Also, getting out and walking in nature, being outside is critical. I am a practicing Buddhist and I meditate on a daily and sometimes twice-daily basis. It keeps me sane and focused.
It gives you an opportunity to step away from the hamster wheel and exercise you brain and body in a completely different way. I think it’s the sort of thing, if you’re got a really tough problem to solve, sometimes walking away from the problem for a while and doing something different is the best way to refresh your brain.
X: Tell me about your early influences.
BB: I grew up with parents of the Depression era, who were very much self-made. I grew up seeing parents who were
