Meet our keynote speaker at #LocWorld31, Paul O´Dea, CEO and cofounder of Select Strategies
You are our keynote speaker in Dublin, how does it feel to speak to our audience?
I’m very excited! It’s a rare opportunity to talk to entrepreneurs, especially in owner run businesses, and larger companies at the same time. It’s challenging for smaller businesses to sell and deliver a service that pleases larger organisations, and here we will all be, in the same room.
How would you introduce yourself to our audience?
I am an engineer who has been building organisations for the last 25 years, often through growth transformations. I typically come into companies that are at a change point.
They are about to take the leap into transformation or wish to engage their teams in a growth journey. They may have several options and not be quite sure. Often there are different views about these options within the management team.
I am called a company growth transformation partner. We help companies get clarity on their need for change and coach them to reach their goals. These companies can range from start-ups to very large companies, like HP or Expedia.
You stress “growth transformers” – what particular challenges does working in an international organization present for growth transformation?
Large international organizations often have invested heavily in their own core business model. This might make them less transformable and when they are challenged, they don’t face the brutal reality quickly enough. They tend to not really deal with the challenge but rather sit and wait, sometimes too long. Other large companies almost move too quickly but don’t bring their teams along with them.
Entrepreneurial and smaller companies are driven with passion and have nimbleness, which enables them to move quicker. Smaller organisations, , act more quickly, but this can also be determined by age and maturity of the company.
Basically, smaller organisations tend to be more forward and external looking which makes them more flexible, whilst large organisations often focus on looking inward. However smaller companies are often trapped by focusing on too few customers.
What are the important things we should be doing today for global business?
We have to be close to the whacky and most demanding customers to understand the trends and opportunities. We need to take the time to experiment and innovate. It has never been easier to be innovative and creative than today.
Is there a way for a Language Service Provider to help their client be transformed?
We will share a diagnostic at the Keynote we typically use with larger customers – Language Service Providers can take and adapt some of our concepts for their own purposes.
Be provocative and come up with new ideas. Focus on building your credibility to be able to sell beyond the basic services that you are offering. Ultimately, that is where the client will see the value. In the ability to introduce change and in new thinking.
Paul, this is going to be a two-way-keynote, can you please explain what that involves
To make this as interactive and accurate as possible, before the event we will conduct a survey to try and understand the current challenges of the audience. I will also be present after the keynote session in the exhibition hall to continue the conversation with anyone interested.
Thank you Paul, we are excited to hear more and to learn from your insights!