Laura Ortman – Achievement Driven, People Oriented, and Customer Focused

Name: Laura Ortman

Laura is the President and Chief Revenue Officer for Cologix. Without going into detail, Cologix is a “data centers of tomorrow” company.

Laura has had a great career, learning and taking on challenges along the way. She started in sales and worked in or managed all aspects of sales, account management, business development, software program, and technical management, customer support and success, revenue and renewals, and operations. She has worked for SOS Technical Services, Lockheed Martin, Jeppesen (a Boeing Company), VMware, Equinix, and Cologix.

I got to know Laura while at VMware. Our paths crossed a few times so I got to know Laura, but we never had an opportunity to work directly. All that I knew for sure is that she was an amazing manager and leader.

I am very happy to have her on the podcast.

Questions Interview

I asked Laura three questions that were specific to her.

1. This year I am focusing on topics in my podcasts. I would like to cover some of those topics with you. Let’s start with goals.
   • Do you use goals at work and at home? If so, why? If not, why not?
   • Let’s dig in a bit deeper. Give me some idea of how you think about how difficult to make goals (the right level of challenge).
2. High Tech companies live or die based on their ability to innovate. How do you balance running the business with innovating?
3. Companies succeed based on having great employees. How do you go about keeping the good ones and at the same time helping the underperformers move on?

I then asked Laura the same six questions that I ask all interviewees – in a lightning-round format.

1. What’s the most important factor you consider when hiring someone?
2. Who was your most effective boss, and what made him or her stand out?
3. What was the most difficult transition that you made in your career?
4. How do you approach helping someone with their career development or path?
5. What tools and tricks do you use to find work-life balance?
6. How do you go about building relationships with your peers and other leaders in the company?

I really enjoyed the interview with Laura. One area that was amazing was the discussion about goals.

“”Achiever is really my #1 strength.”

“I get motivated when I set goals for me and my team. And I get excited when we achieve them!”

Another area that Laura had some great insight into was innovation.

“As a leader, you want to give your team a feeling of inclusion and trust.”

“You want to foster that type of culture. Innovation does not come from an environment of fear.”

I hope this gives you a sense of what you will hear in the interview.

Career Path

I talked to Laura about her career path. It has been a great journey. She has had strong support along the way, allowing her to take on new and challenging roles as she developed new skills.

I am sure you will enjoy hearing from Laura.

See Also

John Gilmartin – Balancing the Urgent and the Important, While Remaining Incredibly Calm

Goals – Success Comes with Operationalizing

How To Build a Great Team