{"type":"rich","version":"1.0","provider_name":"Transistor","provider_url":"https://transistor.fm","author_name":"The Failure Gap ","title":"A Conversation With Emily Cates, VP Sales Transformation & Revenue Ops, Zebra Technologies Corporation","html":"","width":"100%","height":180,"duration":2556,"description":"Emily Cates, Head of Go-to-Market Transformation and Operations at Zebra Technologies, has built a career by saying yes to opportunities before having every detail figured out. Starting in HR and talent development, she moved into the business through chief of staff, services operations, P&L leadership, and eventually enterprise transformation. Along the way, she experienced startups, hypergrowth, acquisitions, and a successful business turnaround. Her journey has given her a unique perspective on what it takes to move people from agreeing that change is necessary to aligning around HOW to make it happen together.\n\nEpisode Takeaways:\nTreat transformation like value selling. Enterprise leaders need a compelling reason to participate in change. Emily emphasizes understanding what matters to each stakeholder, investing in those relationships over time, and connecting transformation to the value they need to see.\nBuild it together. Bringing leaders a fully baked solution can invite resistance. Emily prefers giving stakeholders something they can shape together, creating shared ownership instead of hoping everyone enthusiastically embraces someone else’s brilliant PowerPoint.\nPut the truth on the wall. During a professional services turnaround, Emily gathered candid feedback from customers, partners, and colleagues and created a literal “wall of truth.” Seeing the challenges together allowed the leadership team to identify themes, confront root causes, and align around what needed to change.\nAnchor transformation in shared meaning. Whether the goal is becoming more customer-first or changing a go-to-market model, leaders need clarity about what those ideas actually mean in behaviors and decisions. Connecting transformation to existing values and cultural expectations can make that alignment stronger.\nUse radical thinking to break groupthink. When teams get stuck, Emily deliberately introduces an idea far outside the current thinking. The team may never adopt the...","thumbnail_url":"https://img.transistorcdn.com/6CTvWJAaFFjJqjlsVhxTnhES72yGR8ntDCw44sys5j4/rs:fill:0:0:1/w:400/h:400/q:60/mb:500000/aHR0cHM6Ly9pbWct/dXBsb2FkLXByb2R1/Y3Rpb24udHJhbnNp/c3Rvci5mbS9lYmZk/ZDEyNzhjNTY0NjRi/MTk4NjJiNjI0Zjg4/YzcwNC5qcGc.webp","thumbnail_width":300,"thumbnail_height":300}