On October 13, SourceCon will kick off with a keynote presentation from Tito Magobet. Tito was most recently Manager, Global Talent Sourcing for Research in Motion (RIM); I first met Tito at Microsoft in 2003 – we started the same day. Within months, Tito developed a reputation as a brilliant, hardworking sourcer. Since Microsoft, Tito has built a career as a sourcing leader at an enviable list of companies, including Google and the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.
Tito’s keynote will focus on building actionable talent intelligence strategies. There are probably fewer than a dozen experts on this topic in the world. I asked Tito a few questions about his career and leadership style. His responses reveal a thoughtful, passionate, committed sourcing professional.
One of the keys to managing sourcers is hiring great sourcers. This makes the management job much easier. Hiring people who really want to be sourcers and are good at it. The other pieces are setting a clear path, which starts with setting high level vision and direction for the team, but also taking that vision and cascading it down into a granular set of individual goals and objectives (with granular metrics). It also helps if you come from the sourcing lineage yourself, so you can speak their language and can work together creatively to remove roadblocks and obstacles.
There are many qualities that top sourcers share, but I believe one of the most important qualities is also shared by top recruiters and that is being impact/results oriented. I’ve managed some of the brightest and most creative individuals (even a few PhD’s) and my top performers have always been very results oriented. I believe that key qualities are:
I get my teams to deliver by proactively integrating their thoughts and ideas in all aspects of the sourcing operation — from strategy development through the formulation of goals and objectives. I learned a long time ago that “it takes a village” to execute on the demands, complexity, and challenges of global sourcing and I believe in hiring great talent and creating an empowering environment for sourcers to do their best work. I believe that setting clear expectations around goals and objectives is very important, and this coupled with a structured performance planning cycle is also key to delivery. But I’ve also been very fortunate regarding the incredibly talented individuals that I’ve had the opportunity to hire and manage.
I guess this depends on the team and individual members. You can probably ask different people on my team and although they will probably be some consistent themes, you will likely hear different answers based on where each individual is at in their career. One thing that I’m not is a micro-manager. I think about the qualities that I like to have in a supervisor (autonomy, flexibility, transparency, respect, honest feedback, direct, etc.), and I do my best to model those same behaviors in my style and approach.
Although I did have an opportunity to meet Bill Gates, the dialogue was short but it was exciting to talk with him. His father is a very interesting individual and is truly an inspirational leader.
I don’t mean to get spiritual here, but it would have to be Jesus Christ. I don’t know of anyone whose life on Earth had such a profound impact on global history. His life and belief system is still one of the most studied and debated subjects there is.
Anything else you’d like to know from Tito? Ask it in the comments below.
Stay tuned next week as we bring you more interviews from the presenters for the upcoming SourceCon conference in Silicon Valley, October 12-14. Don’t forget to register – we’ll see you there!
