Chris Cormier Of SoPost: Five Things You Need To Be A Highly Effective Leader During Turbulent Times
An Interview With Fotis Georgiadis
…have a vision, be focused but be reliable and be there for your team. Be open, honest and admit when you are wrong, you have made a mistake or if a decision you make turns out to be the wrong choice. Learn from the problem, but focus on the solution.
Chris is the new US GM and VP of Sales for SoPost. Out of Sopost’s North American operations in New York City, Cormier brings a plethora of relevant industry experience to his new role. He has a proven track record of scaling businesses, which will help him excel in this new role. Most recently, Cormier was the Industry Manager for Fashion Global Accounts at Walmart Connect (WMC). As part of the inaugural leadership team that brought Walmart’s media business in-house, he built and led the team focused on strengthening relationships with the company’s most important fashion brand partners. In the span of 2.5 years, he grew the business 500 percent and developed unique partnerships for WMC within the influencer, marketing, and branded content spaces. Chris lives with his partner, son, and dog in New York.
Thank you so much for your time! Can you tell us a bit about your ‘backstory’ and how you got started?
After finishing university in Canada, I landed a role as an assistant buyer in the Corporate office of Henry Birks & Sons, a luxury jewelry store in Canada. One of my favorite aspects of my job was working with our suppliers on our annual Holiday catalogue and securing coop funds from them in exchange for “space” to feature their product. I was chatting with a friend about my career aspirations one day and spoke about how much I enjoyed doing this and wished that there was a job where I could work with advertising and do sales. My friend gave me a look and said “what about ad sales?!?” I didn’t even know such a thing existed and, like the rest of the general population, assumed ads just magically appeared everywhere. At that point I was determined to break into the “ad sales” industry and, because I was interested in fashion and beauty, I figured the magazine industry was a good place to focus my efforts. Through networking and determination, I landed my first role as an account manager at Campus Canada magazine, where I was lucky to be calling on Fortune 500 companies right from the start. I worked hard, learned on the job and developed a solid network of client relationships that kicked off a career that, 4 years later, found me working at ELLE magazine in New York. Then I was off to the races… or swimming with sharks… maybe a bit of both.
Can you share a story about the funniest mistake you made when you were first starting? Can you tell us what lessons or ‘take aways’ you learned from that?
As one of the worlds top fashion brands, ELLE was all about image and putting your best foot forward… for everything. I remember having a meeting at a clients offices in Midtown, about a 20 minute walk from my office. I love to walk, and it was a beautiful day, so I took a taxi to the appointment and planned to walk back to the office afterward with plenty of time to make it back in time for our weekly team meeting. When I emerged from my meeting and hit the sidewalk, the clouds had rolled in and it looked like it was going to rain. Too stubborn to change my original plan of walking back to the office, I began my trek through the streets of New York, confident that the skies would hold their downpour until I was safely back behind my deck. If you know the torrential rains that can hit the East Coast during the summer, you know I was a fool. The skies opened up and I got absolutely DRENCHED within seconds. I can still feel my grey summer-weight suit and white shirt clinging to me as I stood on the street corner about a block away from my office. I still in complete shock when a town car pulled up and the back window rolled down. It was ELLE’s “big boss”, Publisher Carl Portale (an associate of the real “Mr Big”) impeccably dressed as usual dry and comfortable in the back of the air conditioned car. “Christopher, you’ve gotten yourself into a situation now, haven’t you?” he chuckled in his deep voice. Next thing I know he’s opening the car door, jumping out and telling his driver to take me home so I can get changed and back to the office before our weekly staff meeting. He then produced an umbrella, seemingly out of nowhere, as he strolled back to our office.
The lesson I learned? A gentleman is always prepared.
None of us are able to achieve success without some help along the way. Is there a particular person who you are grateful towards who helped get you to where you are? Can you share a story?
Yes, Lynne Dominick who hired me to manage the Beauty business at ELLE. It was a highly coveted role with plenty of qualified candidates in NYC, but she took a chance on a young guy from Canada with no green card and only a few business contacts in the US. Her choice changed my life forever and for that, I am eternally grateful.
Extensive research suggests that “purpose driven businesses” are more successful in many areas. When your company started, what was its vision, what was its purpose?
Our vision and purpose at the start remains our vision and purpose to the present day — to be the most powerful sampling platform in the world. That is one of the most appealing things about working at SoPost, we are true to who and what we are and we are laser focused on how we can be the best at it without trying to be something that we are not. The business has organically expanded with robust data, analytics, VR capabilities and a consumer focused platform but we remain true to our core value proposition.
Thank you for all that. Let’s now turn to the main focus of our discussion. Can you share with our readers a story from your own experience about how you lead your team during uncertain or difficult times?
I am sure that my experience is shared by all leaders today — managing a team during a Global pandemic and all that followed. I was at Walmart Connect at the time, as part of the leadership team building out their marketing platform. We had brought the business in house only 6 months earlier, so we were a relatively new team still figuring things out and getting into our groove. Walmart is a people-first company and their focus immediately turned to the wellbeing of the customer and their employees. As leaders, we were encouraged to check in regularly with our teams to ensure they were okay and had the resources they needed from both a personal and professional perspective. There was no question that the work had to get done (customers were relying on us for essentials), people were encouraged to talk, share and ask for help which was quickly provided without question or judgement. I heard some remarkable stories and, each time, the wellness of the employees came first.
I am a pretty transparent person and I have always encouraged an open and honest dialogue with my teams, so this was not unfamiliar territory for me. AS professionals, we want to do great work and be recognized for it, but if we bring our “whole self” to work and feel supported, we’ll excel even more.
Did you ever consider giving up? Where did you get the motivation to continue through your challenges? What sustains your drive?
Giving up is not in my DNA, which is both a positive and a negative. I am more of a “bear down and push through” type when faced with a challenge and I am very unlikely to abandon something until a really feel I have given it my best. Life is filled with challenges and they an opportunity to grow as an individual and as a leader. If things get nutty, I’ll find a way to blow off some steam, rest and get back at it the next day, usually with a renewed focus and purpose.
What would you say is the most critical role of a leader during challenging times?
So many things — have a vision, be focused but be reliable and be there for your team. Be open, honest and admit when you are wrong, you have made a mistake or if a decision you make turns out to be the wrong choice. Learn from the problem, but focus on the solution.
I think it’s also important to remember that, as a leader, it’s very important for me to help remove barriers to my teams success. If people know that you have a vested interest in their success, they will supported and give you their best work.
When the future seems so uncertain, what is the best way to boost morale? What can a leader do to inspire, motivate and engage their team?
Now, more than ever, it’s important to take time to connect with people. We are not in an office together 5 days a week and I don’t expect that to change any time soon. That make it more challenging to build up a rapport with your team but it can also be an opportunity. Even before Covid, I was a fan of doing 1:1 check in meetings with my direct reports outside of the office at a nearby restaurant or cafe. We always talked business but, outside of the structured environment, people were more included to be open and honest about how things were really going. As a leader, this gave me intel that was equally as valuable as any information that populated a deck or an excel spreadsheet.
What is the best way to communicate difficult news to one’s team and customers?
Have an open and honest conversation and try to be compassionate about how they may be receiving the information on their end. The latter is often the trickiest part and is dependent on how well you know the individual. If you deliver the information in a calm and compassionate way, you’re more likely to have a productive conversation. If it’s an on-going problem, then be sure that you have had conversation leading up so things are not a total surprise.
I am not a fan of delivering difficult news via email, it’s too vulnerable to misinterpretation and you can lose control of the situation. Too many times we bury information in a barrage of written communication that may or may not be getting through. We feel we’ve “check a box” but if the message is not received has it been effective? Nothing beats a face to face dialogue (Zoom or in person) to be sure your message is being heard. The you follow it up with an email.
How can a leader make plans when the future is so unpredictable?
Listen. Think. Learn. Take in information from reliable sources. Decide. Mull it over. Change your mind. Think again, then make your final decision.
I find the fact that the future is so unpredictable very exciting. The marketing and media industry I started my career in is very different from the one I work in today. I was open to change, pushed myself to evolve and grow. I love hearing about new marketing trends and new ways to engage with the customer. As marketers, it’s our responsibility to follow the customer and engage with them where they are.
That’s one of the reasons why I am so excited to join the team at SoPost. When I was in magazines, we introduced customers to new products with scent strips and product sachets. Customers are no longer reading magazines like they used to and have migrated to social, e-commerce, influencer and other marketing platforms. SoPost is reaching qualified audiences where they are now and where they will be in the future. That’s very exciting to me, the possibilities are endless.
Is there a “number one principle” that can help guide a company through the ups and downs of turbulent times?
True to our UK roots — “keep calm and carry on”. When the world has gone mad and everything is a challenge, steps back, refocus, reconnect and make a plan. Turbulent times often make great businesses even greater, so jump in and ride the wave.
Can you share 3 or 4 of the most common mistakes you have seen other businesses make during difficult times? What should one keep in mind to avoid that?
They let fear take over and they don’t come up with a plan of attack. When things seem bleak, you may have to dig deeper to find the opportunity and a path forward.
When I was at Walmart during the early days of Covid, our suppliers were very nervous, and rightfully so. Many of our Fashion suppliers chose to pause their investment in media, which directly had an impact on my team. It was certainly not a time to be tone deaf, so I kept talking with everyone — my team, our suppliers, our merchants. It was during these discussions that I learned that we were suddenly seeing an uptick in athleisure sales online, before customers were allowed to shop for non-essential items in-store. When we saw that that was a definite trend, me and my team joined forces with the merchants to set up meetings with our suppliers to discuss the state of the business and where we saw bright spots in consumer spending. This gave confidence back to our suppliers who turned their advertising back on, helping to drive unprecedented growth and better serving the customer.
Generating new business, increasing your profits, or at least maintaining your financial stability can be challenging during good times, even more so during turbulent times. Can you share some of the strategies you use to keep forging ahead and not lose growth traction during a difficult economy?
Invest in your people, encourage innovation and look at new ways of doing things. A strategy may be very effective then lose steam, so it’s time to try a new way of doing it. Listen carefully to the people on the frontlines… more importantly, join the people on the frontlines. As your customers what is keeping them up at night, how can you help solve their problem? Ask question and listen.
Here is the primary question of our discussion. Based on your experience and success, what are the five most important things a business leader should do to lead effectively during uncertain and turbulent times? Please share a story or an example for each.
- Communicate — in person and with a regular cadence.
- Ask questions and listen — with your team and your customers. Sometimes a passing comment can unlock a huge opportunity.
- Be decisive, but be the first to admit when you have made a mistake and work quickly to course-correct.
- Hire great talent and let them do what you hired them to do. If they are struggling, make sure they are set up for success and explore ways in which they can be better supported. Make sure they are the right person in the right role.
- Work to break down the barriers to your team’s success and let them know that your are invested in their success. Management is not a “one size fits all” so get to know your team players and customize your approach as required.
Can you please give us your favorite “Life Lesson Quote”? Can you share how that was relevant to you in your life?
I am terrible at quotes because I usually mess them up. Jokes too (although I love to laugh)
Mine is more of a life lesson, versus a life lesson quote. My father was a top executive at a well know brewery in Canada and, every Friday, he packed a lunch so he could go sit in the plant with all of the line workers. This way he learned about the business at its very core, was able to ensure that they had a voice and were heard. Most importantly, they knew that they were valued.
We are nothing without our people. Yikes, is that a life lesson quote?
How can our readers further follow your work?
Hit me up on LinkedIn!
Thank you so much for your time!
Chris Cormier Of SoPost: Five Things You Need To Be A Highly Effective Leader During Turbulent… was originally published in Authority Magazine on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.
