Name: Greg Robinson

Title: Director, Performance Partner, OSPA

Organisation: Oracle

I’ve been with Oracle for over 23 years, located in the US and Asia-Pacific (Australia). During my first 16 years at Oracle, I was a solution engineer and manager. When I transferred to Asia in March 2017, I joined our Sales Enablement team where I lead a team of highly skilled professionals that develop our great pre-sales and sales teams.

Thank you to the 2,000 leaders who’ve generously done the 7 Questions on Leadership!

I hope Greg's answers will encourage you in your leadership journey. Enjoy!

Cheers,

Jonno White

1. What have you found most challenging as a leader?

Balancing the goals of the organization with the individual goals. Sometimes restrictions within the organization make it difficult to motivate employees when their goals and expectations are not aligned with the organization.

2. How did you become a leader? Can you please briefly tell the story?

First, I think it's a journey and not a destination. I've been leading most of my career, but it's something I work on every day. Mostly I've led by example, then I was recognized for this by my management, and then given opportunities to advance.

I still make an effort to improve my leadership skills today by constantly reading and putting into practice the things I read. I also teach leaders, so there's nothing like improving your skills than teaching others.

3. How do you structure your work days from waking up to going to sleep?

My schedule is set for weeks in advance, but I block out time for exercise and self-work time each day to keep my mind clear and get things done that I need to get done. Other than these blocked times for me, the rest of my open time is about giving to others.

4. What's a recent leadership lesson you've learned for the first time or been reminded of?

Every employee has personal problems and these problems can affect their mental health and quality of work. Don't judge too quickly; Find the root cause of the problem before deciding how to coach, manage, or mentor your employee.

5. What's one book that has had a profound impact on your leadership so far? Can you please briefly tell the story of how that book impacted your leadership?

The Five Dysfunctions of a Team by Patrick Lencioni. The biggest takeaway for me was that it's ok for team members to have conflict. It shouldn't be restricted. It should be respectful.

6. If you could only give one piece of advice to a young leader, what would you say to them?

Coaching is critical. Use the GROW model as created by Sir Jon Whitmore (book: Coaching for Performance). It will help keep your mind open when working with your employees and others.

7. What is one meaningful story that comes to mind from your time as a leader, so far?

I shared my career path and mindset as a leader in a newsletter distributed internally to over 140,000 employees. One of those employees reached out to me for more information and mentoring. We developed a strong relationship and meet regularly to talk about his career, improving his skills, and just personally from time to time to continue to get to know each other for nearly 5 years now. I helped him change roles and improve his skills and he's been recognized receiving multiple awards for his achievements. I'm very proud of him!