Today we’d like to introduce you to Christy Johnson.
Thanks for sharing your story with us Christy. So, let’s start at the beginning and we can move on from there.
It certainly wasn’t a linear path. I started my career working with small businesses in Costa Rica. It was a very rewarding experience and taught me how even the smallest changes in people, process or strategy can make a big impact. That insight has stuck with me and I apply it even today. When I returned to the states, I took my first management role selling steel internationally. I was in the industry for a decade and those early experiences helped build foundational skills for the things to come. Being constantly out of my comfort zone, staying with something until I figured it out, and finding ways to connect with people very different than myself all got hard wired.
Through some mutual connections (and a strange twist of fate), I ended up coming to Atlanta to work for a new Registered Investment Advisory Firm, Buckhead Investment Partners, which then led to working with the private equity fund (BIP Capital), and ultimately the opportunity to be CEO at Achieveit.
Has it been a smooth road?
Overall, it’s been a pretty smooth ride, but admittedly it was a humbling experience to completely change from the steel industry to the financial sector. I went from knowing everything there was to know about an industry to knowing virtually nothing. It did require me to roll up my sleeves, dig in, and figure things out. That approach works no matter where you are in your career and certainly has held true throughout my career. On the other hand, the transition from BIP Capital to AchieveIt was a very smooth ride, as it kept directly in line with what I was doing at BIP on the investment team.
So let’s switch gears a bit and go into the AchieveIt story. Tell us more about the business.
AchieveIt’s Execution Insight Platform is the only solution purpose built to solve the problems of organizational execution. AchieveIt gives hundreds of companies better visibility into how they’re actually executing their most critical initiatives, and a way to ensure alignment, accountability and collaboration throughout their enterprises.
You would be shocked at how poor companies are at organizational execution. There have been plenty of studies, from McKenzie to the Harvard Business Review, that indicate 70% to 90% of all plans fail to deliver their intended results. The main reason they fail is because the tools that companies have to use are completely inefficient.
Most companies, regardless of size or resources, are using Excel, Power Point, and Email to try to manage and drive execution of not just daily productivity and tasks but of their most strategic, critical initiatives, and they simply don’t work. There are four main factors that drive execution for an organization. The first is alignment; it’s crucial that all employees know how what they are working on is aligned to the organization’s overall objectives. The second is accountability; people must know what they are responsible for, to whom they are responsible and by when they are responsible for delivery. The third is a single place for collaboration of the team. And finally, is visibility, which empowers leadership to see the big picture across all execution efforts – where things are going well and where things may need intervention. Organizations can’t leverage those drivers with Excel, PowerPoint and Email. And that’s where AchieveIt comes in; it activates each of these drivers, supercharging execution across the organization.
What are you most proud of as a company?
This one is easy. I am most proud of our team here at AchieveIt. Our commitment to our customers and to each other is demonstrated each and every day. The acts of going ‘above and beyond’ constantly make me proud.
How do you, personally, define success? What’s your criteria, the markers you’re looking out for, etc?
Creating a company and culture where employees are doing the best and most impactful work of their lives. If that happens, all else follows.
What role has luck (good luck or bad luck) played in your life and business?
There are certain circumstances people come into that are better than others but I’m not a big believer in luck. Focus and execution generally pay off.
Contact Info:
- Address: 1117 Perimeter Center W n501, Atlanta Georgia 30338
- Website: www.achieveIT.com
- Phone: (800) 535-1559
- Facebook: @GoAchieveIt
- Twitter: @GoAchieveIt
- Other: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/achieveit/
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