Lisa Agona is an insight-driven marketer who sees marketing as a growth engine for global business information and technology companies. As CMO of Ensono, Lisa is responsible for building the company brand, harnessing market and client insights to determine the business way forward, and driving demand for Ensono’s infrastructure and cloud services.
Previously, as CMO of LexisNexis, she helped grow a $500M U.S.-based identity risk management business to a $1.5B business spanning multiple industries and countries. Prior to LexisNexis, Lisa led global marketing efforts for Accenture’s capital markets operating unit. Lisa holds a BA from West Virginia University and an MBA from Columbia Graduate School of Business.
How has your life experience made you the leader you are today?
I grew up in a lower-middle-class family in Pittsburgh. We had to be resourceful in managing our family. In addition, my mother had to leave college early and imparted upon me the power and importance of education. Education helped build my confidence and opened professional doors for me. Resourcefulness aids me in thinking through problems and coming up with creative solutions.
How has your previous employment experience aided your tenure at Ensono?
My past experience includes creating insight-driven marketing teams at big companies like LexisNexis and Accenture. Both companies underwent significant change. That experience enabled me to take established big company best practices and adapt them for a start-up environment in which I am building out our marketing capability from scratch. The key is to apply my resourcefulness in how I adapt best practices to ensure that I am not trying to force big company practices into an environment where it’s not appropriate.
What opportunities and challenges do you foresee at Ensono?
We have a tremendous opportunity to take advantage of the explosion of hybrid IT services, and managed cloud business in particular. As for challenges, we need to continue to preserve our culture as we grow organically and through acquisition in adjacent markets. We have a scholastic, nonpolitical culture. It’s the reason many of us signed on at Ensono. We need to be rigorous in attracting people who embrace our culture and reinforce it.
What advice can you offer to women who want a career in your industry?
Stand in your power. Make preparation and communications a top priority. Prepare for every meeting, and never pass on an opportunity to present. Too often I hear women qualify what they are about to say, or they give up their time and defer to a male counterpart. Finally, women need to regularly communicate what they are doing and the impact it has on the organisation.
What is the most important lesson you’ve learned in your career to date?
Never think that what made you successful in your last job will make you successful in your new job. Do bring your bag of tricks, but understand that each new opportunity requires adaptation to be effective.
How do you maintain a work/life balance?
I don’t. I have work/life integration, which works for me. Technology has provided me with flexibility to live a rich life both inside and outside of the office. And I do a fair amount of hot yoga and mindfulness meditation, the latter of which has changed my life in terms of how I see situations and react to them.
What do you think is the biggest issue for women in the workplace?
The biggest challenge facing women in the workplace today is our own self-limiting beliefs that creep up from time to time. It is always important to be aware of challenges in the workplace and areas where awareness has to be created around bias, but we do not have to actively look for every infraction and self-victimize. It is important to stand in our power and bring awareness, politely and professionally, to behaviors in the workplace that may be disadvantageous to women, and carry on.
How has mentorship made a difference in your professional and personal life?
Good mentors act as coaches and advisors, and they are a safe place to address insecurities and challenges. My early mentor encouraged me to go on to business school when I had been putting it off and questioning my ability to see it through.
Which other female leaders do you admire and why?
I admire female leaders who convey confidence and excellence in whatever they do – running a Fortune 500 company, serving patrons dinner at a restaurant, or managing a household. I meet women I admire all the time, and in everyday situations.
What do you want Ensono to accomplish in the next year?
As a company that operates very much as a startup, we are still building our teams. I would like to see us have our primary teams in place, aligned to our scholastic culture, and committed to helping others be successful – both our clients and our colleagues.
Source: Huffington Post
Previously, as CMO of LexisNexis, she helped grow a $500M U.S.-based identity risk management business to a $1.5B business spanning multiple industries and countries. Prior to LexisNexis, Lisa led global marketing efforts for Accenture’s capital markets operating unit. Lisa holds a BA from West Virginia University and an MBA from Columbia Graduate School of Business.
How has your life experience made you the leader you are today?
I grew up in a lower-middle-class family in Pittsburgh. We had to be resourceful in managing our family. In addition, my mother had to leave college early and imparted upon me the power and importance of education. Education helped build my confidence and opened professional doors for me. Resourcefulness aids me in thinking through problems and coming up with creative solutions.
How has your previous employment experience aided your tenure at Ensono?
My past experience includes creating insight-driven marketing teams at big companies like LexisNexis and Accenture. Both companies underwent significant change. That experience enabled me to take established big company best practices and adapt them for a start-up environment in which I am building out our marketing capability from scratch. The key is to apply my resourcefulness in how I adapt best practices to ensure that I am not trying to force big company practices into an environment where it’s not appropriate.
What opportunities and challenges do you foresee at Ensono?
We have a tremendous opportunity to take advantage of the explosion of hybrid IT services, and managed cloud business in particular. As for challenges, we need to continue to preserve our culture as we grow organically and through acquisition in adjacent markets. We have a scholastic, nonpolitical culture. It’s the reason many of us signed on at Ensono. We need to be rigorous in attracting people who embrace our culture and reinforce it.
What advice can you offer to women who want a career in your industry?
Stand in your power. Make preparation and communications a top priority. Prepare for every meeting, and never pass on an opportunity to present. Too often I hear women qualify what they are about to say, or they give up their time and defer to a male counterpart. Finally, women need to regularly communicate what they are doing and the impact it has on the organisation.
What is the most important lesson you’ve learned in your career to date?
Never think that what made you successful in your last job will make you successful in your new job. Do bring your bag of tricks, but understand that each new opportunity requires adaptation to be effective.
How do you maintain a work/life balance?
I don’t. I have work/life integration, which works for me. Technology has provided me with flexibility to live a rich life both inside and outside of the office. And I do a fair amount of hot yoga and mindfulness meditation, the latter of which has changed my life in terms of how I see situations and react to them.
What do you think is the biggest issue for women in the workplace?
The biggest challenge facing women in the workplace today is our own self-limiting beliefs that creep up from time to time. It is always important to be aware of challenges in the workplace and areas where awareness has to be created around bias, but we do not have to actively look for every infraction and self-victimize. It is important to stand in our power and bring awareness, politely and professionally, to behaviors in the workplace that may be disadvantageous to women, and carry on.
How has mentorship made a difference in your professional and personal life?
Good mentors act as coaches and advisors, and they are a safe place to address insecurities and challenges. My early mentor encouraged me to go on to business school when I had been putting it off and questioning my ability to see it through.
Which other female leaders do you admire and why?
I admire female leaders who convey confidence and excellence in whatever they do – running a Fortune 500 company, serving patrons dinner at a restaurant, or managing a household. I meet women I admire all the time, and in everyday situations.
What do you want Ensono to accomplish in the next year?
As a company that operates very much as a startup, we are still building our teams. I would like to see us have our primary teams in place, aligned to our scholastic culture, and committed to helping others be successful – both our clients and our colleagues.
Source: Huffington Post
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