SUCCESSFULLY GUIDING THE WORLD’S MOST BELOVED COMPANIES
It was an absolute pleasure to have Mitch Lewis, athlete, 7-time summiteer, global exec and most importantly a longtime friend and sponsor come and spend time with my EMEAR Global Virtual Sales Leaders.
During these challenging times, we continue our climb to success and reward with our teams. In our business and personal lives, we can sometimes feel like we reached our limit. How do we take that next step? No one knows better than Mitch the power of the next step and how to overcome obstacles we can’t control, and how to celebrate the successes as we move forward.
In our business and personal lives, we sometimes feel as if we’ve reached our limit. The obstacles pile up, and the challenge seems too big. As Mitch shows us, all it takes is the courage to take one more step and carry on. His is an inspiring story with spectacular results.
In his presentation (to the NetApp Sales All Hands Meeting), Mitch shows us how to challenge ourselves to climb to ever-increasing heights while experiencing the thrills and rewards of success on a much deeper level.
Thank you Mitch Lewis for taking time today to share your story of “dreaming big,” teamwork and belief in oneself today with team Workday!
Your tales of what it took to climb the Seven Summits, run a marathon on each continent and other accomplishments are timeless reminders of the importance of training, teamwork and the potential we all have to do amazing things if we set our minds and hearts to them.
I believe everyone on the call was inspired by you/your thoughts and know, without doubt, that we will all be better for them (as I have).
I initially met Mitch when he was heading Partners for Juniper in Asia Pacific, which included India where Inspira is headquartered. We worked closely together to support our teams to design and implement innovative solutions and programs to scale our collective Networking business with our Enterprise customers. During our time together, Mitch presented his “Everest” inspirational and motivational story to my extended management team. Despite his world-renowned achievements, he presented his journey to us with great humility. Being one of us in the industry, we could relate to where he was & were inspired by his accomplishments & took to heart his practical principles and steps for us to climb our own big mountains. I appreciated that he took the time to listen to our personal stories, offering lots of time for questions and posing thought-starters for bigger summits for us to consider. Simply, I’d recommend Mitch to any organization or group that is looking to transform themselves during these challenging times.
Mitch and I have known each other for over 25 years from our global professional lives, but also to have seen our respective families grow over that time as true friends. Starting off in Dallas and then to Stockholm, I was lucky enough to be part of Mitch’s team during the early 2000s in Sweden where our team accomplished some of the most innovative, cost-effective marketing during an extremely turbulent time in the industry and world, including 9/11. In the years that followed, we stayed close and I always appreciated his guidance and support, even from afar. A couple of years ago, I introduced him to the SC Johnson Community Programs and was lucky enough to see Mitch present to an audience of over 250 people in my community at the historic Golden Rondelle. Mitch made me proud! He was engaging yet humble. Classic Mitch — He captivated the audience and stayed to sign books and answer questions. People continue to ask me when he’s coming back – virtual next time!
Mitch and I met more than 15 years ago when I was Co-Founder/CEO of Dilithium Networks and we were looking for a senior head of product management and marketing. Mitch was just repatriating from Indonesia and we formed a close relationship from that first interview, and he was eventually running one of our business units as well as product, partner and marketing leadership roles. We remained friends; even with my wife Sandy running a marathon with him in Napa – he was fast, but she was faster! A few years ago, I was planning my local chapter of YPO (Your Professionals Organization) opening fall event in a beautiful Napa vineyard and I of course thought of Mitch as one of the speakers. Given an audience of almost exclusively CxOs, there is some pressure for the quality of the speakers and a high bar for all. The four speakers that year, including Mitch, were some of the most inspirational that our members had experienced. I can highly recommend Mitch to any company, community or campus looking to inspire their folds in these uncertain times with authenticity, humility and humor.
I met Mitch through a colleague while I was at Ixia and planning our yearly SKO. I had secured the historic Biltmore Hotel in Los Angeles, and for our expected large crowd, we had planned the main stage to be in the Grand Ballroom, where the Oscars had taken place in the 1930s. Needless to say, there was a lot of pressure to find a speaker commensurate with the work my team was putting into this, as well as our management and stakeholder expectations. Mitch and I worked on this for some time before the event, and I know that he spoke to a few of my peers on the leadership team to hone his message just right for where we were as a company at the moment in time. On a large 360’ stage, Mitch brought energy, enthusiasm and empathy. Being “one of us” – a quota-carry sales/marketing leader – he was able to connect with the audience on a business and goals level – let alone his breathtaking and inspiring climbing adventures. I’ve run tons of big events and folks told me afterward that Mitch was one of the most memorable speakers and that some of his principles carry on in their lives in small or big ways.
Over the course of the last 10 years, we at Mobile Future Forward have never shied away from exploring the future to understand the trajectories of technologies, business models and their impact on industries and societies. I’m always looking for senior industry A+ leaders for my conferences. I first met Mitch when he brought me in for research and consulting when he was running the Ericsson alliance and then APAC Partners for Juniper to help understand how to position and scale his business. A few years later, when planning for my annual MFF, I wanted to have Mitch speak alongside our other technology, networking and cloud CEOs; to talk about the challenges we all face and how to achieve greatness in our personal or professional lives. His story of ‘ordinary people achieving extraordinary things” resonated with our audience of senior executives who are always looking for new ways of thinking, scaling their business and motivate their teams. What made it special, is that he was also on a panel on ‘SDN/NFV Future’, so he was a two-for-one!
I first met Mitch over ten years ago and, in that time, I have had the opportunity to work closely with him as both my manager & mentor. When I was first hired as the Head of Global Marketing reporting to Mitch, I relied heavily on his exceptional leadership, marketing savvy, direct guidance and support to become a strong leader in my role. Over the years we have established a life-long mentorship & friendship. Because one’s personal and professional lives are so closely interwoven, he has proven to be an amazing and dependable support in times of both growth & challenges. Most recently, when being recruited by AWS, Mitch played an instrumental role in coaching and advising me through the interview process to ensure I was prepared and delivered my best. I deeply appreciate Mitch’s mentorship, loyalty, knowledge & networking support skills & look forward to our continued journey ahead.
Mitch and I met at Dilithium Networks, a 100-person late-stage VC-backed early leader in the mobile industry. Mitch, as the head of marketing, product management and development confidently took the reins in the ambiguous startup environment, communicating honestly and directly with customers with a polished focus on bringing them the strongest ROI through solid business cases and value propositions. Mitch was instrumental in helping me secure roles in Juniper, Nokia and ultimately IBM. Most recently, Mitch has been an invaluable guiding support in my role at VMware through his soft-touch approach of guidance, wisdom and humility.
What can I say about Mitch? Though we’ve known each other for about seven years, it feels like lifetimes & the professional & personal impact he has had on my business & personal life is outstanding. We initially met while I was growing my VAR in Australia, I had worked with dozens & dozens of Vendors, but very few were true Partners. His primary focus was helping to grow APAC and ANZ partners’ business and his team had a long-quarter winning streak of beating forecasts plus growth – hard to do! Our deep and varied discussions ranged from gaining investment support at Board meetings to Beers in Bali (as one does), where we cemented our business and personal relationship while talking about helping to make the world a better place. What I learned was how aligned our values were around honesty, transparency, and authenticity. While I’m building my next business and life venture, I’m looking forward to Mitch’s guidance, leadership, support and partnership.
“I’ve had the privilege & pleasure of knowing Mitch for over 20 years. We worked together in Stockholm for Ericsson’s new and global operators, and some years later, he recruited me to join his team in Jakarta. What I’ve appreciated most over the years is that regardless of where we’re living and working, Mitch takes the time to support me in my career and life growth. Working together with him on three continents has given me a chance to observe his natural leadership and inspiring coaching styles with individuals and teams. Especially during these unprecedented times we are managing through, I would highly recommend Mitch to any corporation looking to truly transform to the next level of achievement in our new normal.”
“I have known Mitch for 15+ years and have always been amazed at his professional and personal achievements, his humbleness and ability to be an incredibly positive and effective role model. His rich professional graph and international experience gives him invaluable insights into different cultures and industry. Mitch radiates an eagerness to invest in others and has a unique ability of reflective listening with empathy. I believe the start of any change is from within; these sessions therefore were incredibly helpful as he was able to help me set and exceed the stretch goals we identified.”
