Human on the Inside with Alley’s Nick Lavidge
Maxme: We’re big believers in the power of human skills. But don’t just take our word for it - the evidence for excellence powered by human (‘soft’) skills is everywhere! In this engaging, ever-enlightening series, we speak with industry leaders, innovators and game-changers to learn a little about their personal career journeys, and how human-led strategies, philosophies and cultures are proving a force for good in their working worlds …
Welcome Nick and thanks for stepping into the #SuccessIsHuman spotlight! You’re the Founder & CEO of Alley - the fastest growing customer acquisition and retention agency in Australia.
In 1 sentence (ok, we’ll give you 3), what does your role entail?
Nick Lavidge: I’m lucky enough to lead a talented and happy team of 100+ marketing professionals to live true to our Mission while working towards our Vision. Day-to-day I oversee (along with an amazing management team) Alley’s global operations, service offerings, financials, client relationships, new business and most importantly, culture.
M: You Founded Alley in early 2014, and in less than 8 years, were acquired by Australia’s largest media buying agency Nunn Media. Bravo! Currently holding the role of CEO, you’re still very much involved in the running of Alley, and given your deep pedigree in digital marketing, we’re not surprised.
Kicking off your career in late 2009 with Oakley (in your home, the USA), spearheaded the label’s foray into Digital Marketing - launching its first eComms platforms around the world. Venturing to Melbourne, Australia in late 2011, you did the same for 2XU - the country’s first high performance sports brand & world-leader in triathlon & compression. In less than three years you got the itch for your next big challenge and headed north to kick start Alley in Sydney.
In recent years you’ve also held board roles in Entrepreneurial Organisations such as EO and multiple startups.
How does all this work speak to your personal purpose and what drives you as an individual?
NL: I have a people over profits mindset and my purpose is to make the largest impact on people. I believe when you focus on employee growth then they do amazing work, take excellent care of your clients and ironically, as a result profits will grow faster than if you focused on them first.
M: Tell us a little about your personal education pathway/s - what led you to where you are now? How closely do your formal qualifications match your current career?
NL: I went to Marshall School of Business at the University of Southern California, where I double majored in Finance and Entrepreneurship. I felt like the Degrees provided a good foundation in the early years of running businesses, but as I matured as a CEO I felt there were more efficient ways than formalised education systems to obtain the knowledge I needed.
I read a lot of business/leadership/self-improvement books and then I trial the concepts I like in my business the next day. I feel this type of practical “real life” education is much more impactful than being trapped in a lecture hall.
Entrepreneur’s Organisation (EO) has also provided great programs, speakers and mentors which have aided my development significantly.
M: If you could share one piece of career advice to your 21 year old self it would be ...
NL: Put more focus on your mental health if you want the quickest path to success.
Early in my career, I fully adopted the “hustle hard” or “grind at all costs” mentality which works on the surface, but over time can leave you depleted and stressed. When you’re in this negative state, you’re a horrible leader - you don’t see clearly, chase bad opportunities and lose good staff who don’t want to keep up with you.
When you’re mentally fit, you can be the best leader possible to your people, and when you’re motivating the team rather than doing everything yourself, you can experience exponential growth.
M: Maximising the potential of individuals, communities and businesses through the power of human skills is the reason Maxme exists. Can you tell us a little about the role and / or value of human skills in your workplace or industry right now?
NL: They are the majority of the equation. As an agency, our product is our people so we invest a lot in our training programs. The way we approach it is that we break apart skills as hard skills (technical ability) and soft skills (human ability). Hard skills are much easier to teach and learn than soft skills, so we try to put a lot of emphasis on soft skills, such as deep listening, empathetic leadership, handling difficult conversations, clear communication, etc.
M: Self awareness sets the critical foundation for all Maxme learning experiences. What’s your strongest trait / personal super power?
NL: I believe that true mastership is never achieved and part of what keeps us happy in life is the continual pursuit of improvement. So I’m not sure I would call it a superpower, but I do have an unquenchable thirst for knowledge and improvement in all areas of my life, with the goal of being 1% better every day.
M: And on the flip side, what’s one human / ‘soft’ skill you’ve had to really work on improving over the course of your career?
NL: I’m an inherently hyper-driven person and early in my career I would be overly aggressive in achieving my goals. It was very much a dictator or command & conquer mentality which caused a lot of unnecessary stress to those around me. I read a great book called “Radical Candor” which taught me that I could still be direct, but care about people empathetically at the same time. Adopting this leadership style combined with finding my purpose of positively impacting people has really helped me find the sweet spot.
M: If you could share one piece of career advice with recent Uni graduates or candidates keen to work in a field like digital marketing, what would it be?
NL: Digital marketing is very diverse in skillset - from data/analytics to technology to creative to psychology and beyond. I’d recommend trying to learn each facet, then decide if there is a particular one that interests you the most (as a specialist) or if you want to focus on how you can stitch all facets successfully together (as a strategist).
M: You’ve been granted approval to add one Uni graduate to your business, but have 100 applicants, all with outstanding academic results. How do you find your perfect candidate - what are you looking for?
NL: Mindset. Since you’re at the start of your career, we want someone who is genuinely interested in learning. And part of learning is failing, so we’d want someone who has a resilient mindset - meaning they view every obstacle as an opportunity for improvement.
M: What’s next on your #learning agenda?
NL: Alley is focused on growing both organically and via acquisition. We just finished our first merger and will look to do more throughout the year, so I’ve been really trying to upskill myself on this topic. If you look at the data, M&A success rates are typically low so I’m learning as much as possible in order to ensure they are successful for our people and investors.
More human goodness you might like:
