Maureen Power Sweeny, Chief Revenue Officer at RapidScale, introduces the Growth Helix framework, which intertwines strategy, execution, and organizational DNA. She explains how companies that co‑evolve these helixes stay aligned with market and customer needs. She also draws on her 30‑year career shaping global business models to illustrate each component. 

“Strategy without execution will fail, and an operating model that has no vision of where it’s going will also fail. When strategy and execution co‑evolve and stay aligned with the market, that’s when success occurs.” – Maureen Power Sweeny

Maureen emphasizes that long-term success hinges on integrating vision with action. She offers practical insights on how to anchor strategic direction while building flexible, high-performing operating models. Her approach encourages organizations to adapt as markets shift and customer expectations evolve continuously. Through real-world examples and leadership experience, she demonstrates how this framework drives lasting and accelerated growth.

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[Transcript]

[00:00:00] Steve MacDonald: Welcome, everyone, to the C-Suite Sales and Marketing Perspectives podcast. I’m Steve MacDonald, your host.

[00:00:05] Steve MacDonald: Today, we have a very experienced guest on, a five-time B2B CRO. That is a lot of experience you’re going to bring to the party here, and you’re currently working at a company called RapidScale, which is a Cox Business company. Lots of opportunity there to grow. And that’s part of what we’re going to talk about, how do we grow? Do we take the short-term route? The quarterly returns? Or do we look for long-term, stable growth? You have something that you’ve developed over the years based on what’s gone right and what’s gone wrong, and you’re looking at that. You call it the Growth Helix, and it’s something that every CRO needs to know.

[00:00:31] Steve MacDonald: And so we’re going to talk a lot about that today. But if you wouldn’t mind, just take a minute and give us a little bit more about your background before we dig in.

[00:00:54] Maureen Power Sweeny: Thank you, Steve, and thank you for the lovely introduction. As you said, I am now currently a CRO. It is my fifth role as a CRO at RapidScale.

[00:01:03] Maureen Power Sweeny: Prior to that, my career really started at IBM, where I spent 30 years building, growing, and managing businesses across the world. At one point, I ran IBM Europe’s outsourcing business, I ran IBM’s financial services business, and then I left IBM to be the CRO for a global gaming company.

[00:01:22] Maureen Power Sweeny: I then went to a global hospitality company, and after that, I spent time at two different technology services companies. And again, where I’m at today is a technology services company. So, I’m very pleased to be able to spend some time with you today, Steve.

[00:01:34] Steve MacDonald: Good. Good. Before we dig into our trail of questions here, if you wouldn’t mind just explaining to us what the Growth Helix is, so we have a foundation to go on here.

[00:01:46] Maureen Power Sweeny: Great. So, I coined the Growth Helix because, as in any life form, you need two helixes, if you will, to form your DNA. And one of the helixes that I talk about in the Growth Helix is strategy. So, few companies actually have a well-defined strategy or vision of where they want to go as an organization.

[00:02:00] Maureen Power Sweeny: Most say they do, but really having a robust strategy is incredibly important. You need to know where you’re going, why you’re going there, who your target customers are, your target markets, your ideal customer profile. That really forms the foundation to bring the rest of the organization along to achieve that.

[00:02:22] Maureen Power Sweeny: But, in hand with that, the other helix, if you will, is the operating model or the execution model. So, you can have strategy without execution, and that will fail. Similarly, an operating model that has no vision of where it’s going will also fail. Or at least, it’ll fail to grow because you’ll get stuck on a current path.

[00:02:38] Maureen Power Sweeny: And so, the more I reflect on my experience, it’s really when an organization has a clear strategy of where it wants to grow and why, and it has an operating model that is aligned to that strategy, that’s when success occurs. And the really important thing is that neither of these two helices, if you will, neither strategy nor an operating model or execution model, stands still.

[00:03:03] Maureen Power Sweeny: They have to continue to evolve as the market evolves. As customers require new and different things, the organization has to have the ability to be agile and to respond to the market. The operating model has to continue to adapt as well. So, I talk about strategy and execution being co-dependent, co-evolving, and staying aligned with the market.

[00:03:24] Maureen Power Sweeny: And that’s really what I term the Growth Helix. The third component, though, Steve, is also organizational DNA. So, I often talk about the fact that you can have strategy, you can have an execution or operating model, but the way you really bring it alive is through rewiring, if you will, the DNA of an organization.

[00:03:53] Maureen Power Sweeny: And what I mean by that is looking at the systems, the tools, the processes, the culture, and all the other components that make up the organism of an organization.

[00:04:00] Maureen Power Sweeny: So, when all three of those are aligned, that’s really where I believe growth can be successful.

[00:04:00] Steve MacDonald: So, there’s so much to unpack there. I gotta start somewhere. You started out, I love the idea of the strategy and execution side, right? But you started out by saying most companies don’t have a well-defined strategy.

[00:04:12] Steve MacDonald: And then on top of that, if you don’t have a well-defined strategy, but then you have an ICP, no matter what industry you’re in, they’re complex and they’re always changing, right? So, you don’t have a good strategy, you’ve got a complex, changing ICP, and then we have massive market dynamics and trends and things that are happening that are chaos.

[00:04:33] Steve MacDonald: Yet most CROs, you’re held accountable every single quarter, right? You’ve got a quota on your head, you go into the board meeting, and nobody wants to know anything except for how are we doing on this quarter’s quota, and what’s next quarter looking like?

[00:04:54] Steve MacDonald: So, there’s this very short-term focus, while this overall dynamic is eating away at that. You’ve signed up for your fifth time living in that environment. Tell me, using the helix, right? How do you carve success out of that? Because that’s a difficult situation to be in as a CRO.

[00:05:09] Maureen Power Sweeny: As you point out, the results are important, and the results are expected every month, quarter, and year.

[00:05:15] Maureen Power Sweeny: We all love those comparisons. And even, frankly, if you work in a private company where you’re not reporting externally, it’s still important and required. And I’ve operated in public companies, private companies, family-owned companies, and private equity-backed companies. So, the truth is consistent across that.

[00:05:30] Maureen Power Sweeny: So, how do you stay, how do you keep all of this aligned while delivering results? And I really do think it comes back to a well-defined strategy.

[00:05:39] Maureen Power Sweeny: I think it all does come back to strategy because what a strategy does is not only identify your target market, your ideal customer profile, and where you’re going over a longer period of time, not just the next quarter or the next six months.

[00:05:52] Maureen Power Sweeny: It’s also a vehicle to communicate both internally and externally why you, as an organization, exist, why you matter, and why a customer should consider working with you. And if you’re able to crystallize that, and it resonates both internally and externally, then everyone is aligned behind it and can follow through. It becomes the guiding light, if you will, for when things need to change and why.

[00:06:15] Maureen Power Sweeny: Often, when you win a new opportunity, a new deal, or a new customer, there’s a big celebration. But often, you learn a lot more from when you lose. And sometimes, when you lose, it’s because of some competitive edge that either you don’t have or a competitor has. If you ignore that and don’t consider it, and evaluate that input and adapt along the way, you’ll fall out of sync with the market.

[00:06:38] Maureen Power Sweeny: So, I think it’s about having a really well-defined strategy that can be communicated internally, so the entire team can go along on the journey with you. Why are things working, and why are they not? Why did the results come in the previous quarter? Or why did they not?

[00:06:51] Maureen Power Sweeny: And so, if you continue to refine that and use it as your anchor point, and if it resonates as well externally with customers, that’s how I think you keep this all aligned. The operating model must change and will change over time. People don’t seem to have too much concern when you have to adapt the operating model.

[00:07:11] Maureen Power Sweeny: But if it’s anchored in a well-defined, articulated, and researched strategy that has to evolve by nature, as the market evolves, then I think you can keep these things aligned.

[00:07:24] Steve MacDonald: It’s interesting because when we come into new positions, right? It’s very telling, what are our highest priorities?

[00:07:32] Steve MacDonald: You’ve just accepted this new position, right? And so, you’re going to come in. What are your top priorities? What are you looking at? We’ve talked about strategy here, but what do you assess when you’re looking at that operating model? The existing strategy, the existing go-to-market strategy, the organization has?

[00:07:51] Steve MacDonald: What are your priorities that you look at?

[00:07:54] Maureen Power Sweeny: The priority is to get out and talk to customers, existing customers, and really listen to them. What’s working? What is not? How has their experience been? Would they consider continuing to buy from the company? And why or why not?

[00:08:08] Maureen Power Sweeny: So, I think really getting engaged directly in the market with customers immediately is a top priority. Then, internally with the team, and not just the team that reports into the CRO, but the entire organization, right? Talk to the marketing team, talk to operations, talk to delivery, talk to the product or solutions folks that are developing the new offerings, and really understand what they see, what they hear, and to some extent, why they are there working for the company.

[00:08:37] Maureen Power Sweeny: What makes them have joy when they wake up every morning? And then, I think also talking to the board and really understanding from their lens where they see deficits or where they see great potential in the organization. So, I think it’s really very external, externally with customers, internally with all the other stakeholders, and then clearly making sure that you’re aligned with the board and their sage advice.

[00:08:59] Maureen Power Sweeny: And I think if you do all of those and stay in touch, interestingly, I was asked in this interview process an interesting question. And the question was: if I had a choice between preparing for a C-suite meeting with a customer or actually being in the meeting with a customer, which would I prefer?

[00:09:21] Maureen Power Sweeny: And it’s a great question because my answer was: well, you’re not going to have a successful meeting with the customer if you don’t do your planning. So, they’re both important, but being in front of the customer is where I get great joy. And of course, that was well received because it’s their wallet, their mind you’re trying to influence, it’s their wallet you’re hoping to attract a piece of.

[00:09:41] Maureen Power Sweeny: And really staying aligned with the customers is, I think, super important because they will tell you most, especially if they’re an existing customer. They really want to be successful because they’ve made a choice to work with you, especially if it’s a long-term contract. And in the case of cloud or technology services businesses, often these are multi-year relationships that you build over time.

[00:10:03] Maureen Power Sweeny: And so, I think customers will tell you the truth. They’ll give you the good, they’ll give you the not-so-good, and they’ll give you areas for improvement. And if you hear things often enough, you can start to see patterns. Then, the organization has the choice to make as to whether or not they adapt and respond to that.

[00:10:21] Maureen Power Sweeny: And not one data point. I think you need to see patterns in what you’re hearing from customers. So yeah, every time I’ve taken a new role, that’s where I’ve focused my energy, as much externally as you can, as well as listening internally to all of the stakeholders. The CRO organization has the privilege of representing the organization in the market.

[00:10:41] Maureen Power Sweeny: We’re the ones that are talking to either prospects or customers. We’re the ones communicating a value proposition. We’re the ones going through a negotiation. We’re the ones who are caring for them from a customer experience perspective. And so, staying grounded externally and really staying in front of the market and the customers, I think, is the best way to know when you have to adapt that growth helix we talked about earlier.

[00:11:06] Steve MacDonald: I’m gonna ask you a question directly related to what you were just talking about there. And it might be a trick question, but it’s not meant to be. Here’s the question: I’ve talked to over 180 B2B C-suite executives, and one of the number one things that specifically CROs and CMOs do is come in and we talk to customers.

[00:11:27] Steve MacDonald: It makes perfect sense. Absolutely. But then what ends up happening is we get really busy in the business of being a CRO, and we stop having those customer conversations. It transitions over to, we have lots of conversations with prospects. And out of all of these conversations that I’ve had with C-suite executives, one thing I’ve developed as a hypothesis is that throughout the B2B or industry, we have a very high degree of familiarity with our ICP (Ideal Customer Profile), but we don’t have a very deep understanding of our ICP.

[00:12:00] Steve MacDonald: And I’m not talking about you in particular, you said most companies don’t have a big strategy. The ICP, that is the voice of authority, that’s the highest voice of authority in our business. But when we talk to them on a regular basis, when you have those deep, meaningful conversations that you’re talking about, and they open up, and they’ll tell you what’s good and what’s bad, and they’ll tell you about the things they’re trying to do and haven’t been able to, and they love your help on… wonderful conversations come out of that. That’s not typically part of the day-to-day business process.

[00:12:38] Steve MacDonald: When we’re running sales or a customer success organization, we’re very focused on different things. And there’s almost like a shield up in a sales conversation with a prospect, right? Because they know they’re getting sold to.

[00:12:52] Steve MacDonald: So here’s my question, and I don’t mean it to be a trick question: How do we keep that learning coming in the organization? How do we not stop getting that deep, meaningful feedback that we know we have? Because things are always changing.

[00:13:11] Maureen Power Sweeny: No, it’s not a trick question. It’s a very good question. I would argue that many organizations do a surface-level ICP (Ideal Customer Profile).

[00:13:20] Maureen Power Sweeny: I had two favorite questions that I always ask, and if I was obnoxious, I’d show you my little plaques that I had made for when we were all in the office. But one of the questions is “Why?” and the other is “So what?” And the reason I think these questions are powerful is that often people will say, “The value proposition is, we’re the best cloud infrastructure company” or “We are privately owned.” And I always say, “Why does that matter? So what if I’m a customer? Do I really care about that?”

[00:13:41] Maureen Power Sweeny: Or, if you aren’t asking the question behind the question, people have said I can do a little bit of a root canal when I do questions, because I’m always trying to get to the driving factor or the driving motivation behind why a customer or anybody says what they say.

[00:14:00] Maureen Power Sweeny: And often, you ask multi-level inquiries,not root canals, but inquiries, and really try to get because often customers won’t articulate or they haven’t put words to actually the problem they’re trying to solve or the opportunity that they’re trying to seize.

[00:14:23] Maureen Power Sweeny: And so, I think the best way is to be really thoughtful. Do your homework before you go in front of a customer, learn as much about their business as you can, and ask really good open-ended questions. And then shut your mouth and listen because that’s where the nuggets of insight come from. And that’s where, if you can really connect to the root driver of why a customer is saying what they’re saying or help them find out and explore together a business situation, you often will really get to what is driving that customer to make a decision.

[00:14:49] Maureen Power Sweeny: And sometimes, you are opening that up together. So, to answer your question, I think it is being really thoughtful when you’re in front of a customer and really exploring with them what their business challenges and needs are.

[00:15:07] Maureen Power Sweeny: And then you unearth, if you will, really where you can connect. I think then, take that as feedback as you refine your ICP. Because like everything, it gets refined and changed over time. Then, I think you can really get a meaningful client relationship.

[00:15:27] Maureen Power Sweeny: And by the way, I actually don’t like the word “sales,” Steve.

[00:15:28] Steve MacDonald: Okay.

[00:15:29] Maureen Power Sweeny: I think it’s a bad word because I don’t think in the right consultative approach to engaging with a C-suite B2B buyer, if they give you the honor of time on their calendar, you need to make it worth their while. Come prepared, ask good questions, and then close your mouth and listen.

[00:15:48] Maureen Power Sweeny: Because it’s really not about sales or selling to a customer, it’s about listening and uncovering what the real need is. And if you can do that, then that really is where you make the connection and you know that you really make the magic occur.

[00:16:00] Maureen Power Sweeny: So I often say it’s not about selling, it’s about meeting customers where they are in their buying journey.

[00:16:09] Maureen Power Sweeny: We all know, you can use whatever stat you want to find, that customers are doing their homework as we all do before they go into actually engage with you in a meeting. On whatever topic, they’ve educated themselves to the extent that they can, or competitors have educated them.

[00:16:24] Maureen Power Sweeny: So they’re starting to frame their decision criteria in their head. So it’s really finding out where they are in that buying journey and going along with them, exploring that, and uncovering what the real motivation is that has them talking to you in the first place. I think that’s where the magic occurs.

[00:16:39] Maureen Power Sweeny: So, I actually think “sales” is a dirty word. I shouldn’t say that as a CRO. When I started at IBM, IBM was in the hardware and software business, right? There was no flexibility, there was no customizing, there weren’t even price discounts.

[00:16:52] Maureen Power Sweeny: So in that case, you were selling, and I had to convince that customer that what I had to sell is what they needed. When you get into the services space, it’s 180 degrees different, right? You’re listening for need, you’re listening for clues, and then you’re curating a solution to meet their needs.

[00:17:10] Maureen Power Sweeny: It’s a very different engagement model. It’s a very different buying journey, and you’re not selling a thing to them, right? You’re uncovering needs and curating a solution to meet them. So, I actually, I’ll go on the record and say, I think “sales” is a five-letter dirty word, and I think we should think more about listening and really exploring with a customer what their needs are.

[00:17:33] Maureen Power Sweeny: And then you verify and validate the ICP over time. I hope that answers your trick question, Steve.

[00:17:39] Steve MacDonald: No, it did. It did. And it unearthed a bunch of other really good stuff. So, let me ask this now. The idea here,what you just articulated, what I took out of that,is that you are creating an experience when you are in, and you are talking with a very important ICP. With a C-suite or manager, you’re responsible for creating a relationship that is sometimes the very first touch point with the organization.

[00:18:00] Steve MacDonald: And McKinsey did a study a couple of years ago where they looked at over 400 highly profitable companies, both B2C and B2B, that were providing the greatest return on shareholder value. And the number one differentiator they found was CX,customer experience. The last thing that buyer wants is to come on the phone and for them to have to educate you on what they want and what they’re doing.

[00:18:36] Steve MacDonald: They wanna learn. They’ve got challenges they can’t overcome. That’s why they need you, right? They want that value coming your way, but the cues on that value happen when you ask the right questions. And like you said, listen in Gong. So, I’m gonna stop talking in a second. Gong did a whole study on thousands and thousands of sales conversations, and the sales rep talks two-thirds to three-quarters of the time.

[00:19:00] Steve MacDonald: There’s no active listening there, right? You’re only leaving this much time for the actual prospect to talk, and they’re gonna reflect on what you just talked about for a half hour, right? Or whatever it was. Tell me about that, is that a good takeaway? Is that experience and how you’re trying to position yourself as, like the Gartner trusted advisor versus a seller? You call it a dirty word, right? They don’t call it that. You’re a trusted advisor.

[00:19:27] Maureen Power Sweeny: Again, if a client gives you time in their precious, valuable day, you need to make it worthwhile. And to your point about customer experience, right? We will remember how we feel from being in that moment, in that environment, in that meeting. We will remember more how we felt than what anyone said.

[00:20:00] Maureen Power Sweeny: If you feel that you’re getting new information,if you’re the customer,if you feel the person sitting with you, either virtually or in person, has done their homework, has taken the time to think about what could be of value to me, if I’m the customer or the prospect, then I’m feeling that this was a good meeting.

[00:20:13] Maureen Power Sweeny: Honestly, if I’m a customer and I’m doing a lot of the talking, I feel really good about that. That’s the other part about it. Because, and if the person sitting across is truly listening to learn, they call it “active listening,” right? Listening to learn and uncover, and if they’re astute enough to be able to find those nuggets of information that they can then use as a follow-up question, then you start doing that little root-cause analysis, you know, that I talked about earlier, and really getting to what the customer is really trying to solve for that they may not be able to articulate.

[00:21:00] Maureen Power Sweeny: But customer experience is super helpful, whether it’s in the buying cycle or it’s in the service. Once I’ve bought and the relationship is ongoing and I feel valued as a customer, then I’m more likely to go back to this company and explore other ways that we could work together.

[00:21:16] Maureen Power Sweeny: So I do think feeling how a customer feels, their customer experience, trumps everything, including what any intelligent B2B CRO, CEO, or COO says in that meeting. If they feel that you’ve come prepared, that you’ve made valuable use of their time, that you’ve helped them explore a new way of thinking about their business, or provided some insight,that’s what they will walk away with.

[00:21:33] Maureen Power Sweeny: You don’t have to write that down, right? Because it’s in here and it’s in here.

[00:21:50] Maureen Power Sweeny: And so that’s where, and I do believe that client relationships are so important and respecting them. And even honestly, even if you’re engaged with a customer and they never buy, you’ve still started that relationship, and you’ve started that experience. And who knows, they may come back over time to that.

[00:21:59] Maureen Power Sweeny: I’m sure we both have had that experience in our lives where we felt really good in a meeting or in a situation. And that’s what we remember. We don’t necessarily remember what we talked about in the moment.

[00:22:00] Steve MacDonald: No, it’s like being at that cocktail party where you get cornered by somebody and you’re trying to get away because they just keep talking about themselves. When you do get away, they loved it. They had a phenomenal time talking to you. Because you just listened, and they got to talk. But you get in this, even if that didn’t turn into a sale, that was a key learning opportunity.

[00:22:21] Steve MacDonald: And that’s my next question because you’ve said many times just in the time we’ve been on today about the preparation. Yes, coming in prepared. If you were just to kind of balance, like when you get in and you are preparing your team, what is your recommendation on how much time they should be spending, preparing in their day, understanding their customers, doing the research, making sure that they know what they need to know going in?

[00:22:50] Maureen Power Sweeny: I would say easily 50/50, like 50% prep, 50% engagement at a minimum. And with all the tools that we have available to us, there is no excuse not to be prepared, right? You can go on the internet, you can use an AI tool, you can read annual reports, you can read financial statements.

[00:23:09] Maureen Power Sweeny: There are so many nuggets of information in there that you can get your hands on to be informed and deliver value. So, no excuse. I would say easily 50% of the time should be spent on prep and 50% should be in front of the customer. Ideally, very small percentages spent on administrative work. Ideally, there are systems for that. And if you use the systems properly, then, including for existing clients, you have an up-to-date account plan.

[00:23:48] Maureen Power Sweeny: Because then you’re constantly documenting what you’ve learned, what you know, where the customer is going. And so, every time you’re going to engage, you’re not starting from a blank sheet of paper, right? That account plan is your working document and body of knowledge about that company.

[00:24:00] Maureen Power Sweeny: And, I believe you should have an up-to-date account plan that you are using every day as you interact with the customer. You’re documenting your findings and your learnings. And then you should have a specific opportunity plan, right?

[00:24:07] Maureen Power Sweeny: That is built on top of the account plan, but first, whatever the specific thing is that you’re trying to contract about. So, I do believe prep and homework, account planning, opportunity planning, and doing post-meeting analysis. What did I learn? What did we do right? What did we get wrong?

[00:24:25] Maureen Power Sweeny: Some people in this role think it’s administrative. I actually don’t think the homework is the administrative part. Maybe updating a system is the administrative part, right? But homework is part of your job, and it will come through when you’re sitting in front of a customer.

[00:24:38] Maureen Power Sweeny: It will come through that you’re prepared and that you value their time. And to your point about experience, they’ll feel, “Okay, this was worthwhile for me. I gave Steve an hour of my time, and this was worthwhile, and I learned something.” And I’ll think about Steve and his company the next time that whatever the topic is, comes up.

[00:24:56] Maureen Power Sweeny: So, it builds on itself. But at least 50% of the time, I would say…

[00:25:00] Steve MacDonald: It surprised me when I heard the stat that, on average, B2B salespeople spend 30% of their time creating content.

[00:25:10] Steve MacDonald: That wasn’t one part of what you just mentioned.

[00:25:13] Maureen Power Sweeny: No.

[00:25:13] Steve MacDonald: But on average, it’s 30% of a salesperson’s time, and over two-thirds of the content that they get from marketing, they don’t feel has any value.

[00:25:23] Steve MacDonald: So it’s like, I think my surmise on that is, “I’m not getting what I need, so I’m having to create it.” Because content is such an important part of sharing value and the connective tissue between meetings, sharing, getting the next meeting, and following up on the past meetings.

[00:25:40] Steve MacDonald: And when you heard that stat, how did that make you feel?

[00:25:43] Maureen Power Sweeny: Look, when I say 50% preparation, I also think you need to be out in the market. I had one sales team once that didn’t last very long because they actually didn’t believe in calling on customers.

[00:25:52] Maureen Power Sweeny: So that’s a whole separate issue. They were order takers waiting for the phone to ring. But nonetheless, 50% in front of customers. But the 50% of preparation can include content creation. Okay? So, as you’re doing your homework and as you’re preparing for a meeting, you’re correct, you often create some deliverables that you can bring with you to either facilitate the conversation or as a leave behind.

[00:26:15] Maureen Power Sweeny: So I think you could include that in my 50% preparation or homework side of things. Also, you talked about marketing, Steve. The relationship between sales and marketing is another version of the growth helix. If the marketing team and the sales team are not continuing to learn from each other and adapt, then, you know, again, when I talked about alignment across the whole organization and making sure all stakeholders are engaged, a good marketing partner is there in service of growth and, therefore, in service of whoever is talking to the customers in the market.

[00:26:52] Maureen Power Sweeny: And so whatever deliverables they’re creating, whatever branding work that they’re doing, all have to be in service of how the organization goes to market. And it’s often through the CRO organization or the sales team as well. So that’s an essential component of any organization.

[00:27:11] Maureen Power Sweeny: And I’ve worked in organizations where it was highly functional. The CMO and I were literally like partners in crime. We would co-present to the board. The board often would say they’ve never heard a better articulated marketing and sales conversation, and we would constantly talk about what we’re seeing, what we’re learning, and continually adapting what is being created also in order to do demand generation, right?

[00:27:37] Maureen Power Sweeny: Whether marketing has a huge role in creating demand that the CRO organization can serve. So, it’s not a nice-to-have; it’s a must-have. Working with the marketing team and having well-prepared content to share with customers is also critically important. So, all of these things fit together, but content creation is part of doing your homework.

[00:28:00] Steve MacDonald: Alright. We could go on for two hours here, but I have one more question to ask, and we’ve covered a lot of territory. And our poor human brains can only retain about two or three things at a time. If there was one most important takeaway that you wanted the C-suite executives who were watching this podcast to take away today, what would that be?

[00:28:29] Maureen Power Sweeny: Growth is achievable. Accelerated growth is achievable when strategy and execution are inseparable and co-evolve.

[00:28:39] Maureen Power Sweeny: That’s simple but powerful when put into action.

[00:28:43] Steve MacDonald: Here’s what I know. People are gonna have questions. Is it okay if we share a link to your LinkedIn profile so people can reach out and ask questions?

[00:28:52] Maureen Power Sweeny: Yes, please do.

[00:28:53] Steve MacDonald: Fantastic. The whole mission of this podcast is to bring C-suite executives and B2C C-suite executives together to share their points of view on how we create long-term, sustainable growth in our businesses. And so you added to that. I call it the rising tide that lifts all boats. Thank you for being a part of that today. I appreciate it.

[00:29:15] Maureen Power Sweeny: Thank you, Steve. It’s been enjoyable. I learned a few things as well, so I appreciate the opportunity.