Page 4 - SPARK Q3 2018

Know Your Leader - Christopher Dials

VP, GTM Operations

What are the most important decisions you make as
a leader of your organization?
People decisions are the most critical. You need to
surround yourself with the right people who balance
your organizations thinking and skill sets. Also
those that challenge you as a leader as well. If you
have the right team in place anything is possible.
Also when you inspire people and your team and
they inspire you it is amazing to see how things can
get done.
Which is most important to your organization —
mission, core values or vision?
I am a firm believer in having a vision. You have to
have both long term visions and short term visions.
It is also important to know that it is ok to have ob-
stacles/challenges that get in the way of your vision.
There is no straight line to achieving milestones that
lead to your vision. Yes vision is important but that
does not mean core values takes a back seat. It is
just as important and should always be interlocked
with your vision.

Can you name a person who has had a tremendous impact on you as a leader? Maybe someone who
has been a mentor to you? Why and how did this person impact your life?
I have had many individuals who have made impacts or inspired me throughout life. Each one has
been a key part of who I am today and many still are a part of who I am becoming. I don’t believe it
would be fair to just call out one individual here that has impacted my success, but I will say I am thank-
ful for all of them. I will do my best to pay it forward and inspire others as well.
What would you be doing if you weren't at your current job?
I would focus on education. I love what I do, but if there is one area that we as a global society can fo-
cus our attention on it would be providing more education at all levels. I am not sure how I would en-
gage yet in regards to the educational process, but in the coming years I will continue my volunteering
at schools, speaking at universities and eventually when my career in IT comes to a closure I will dedi-
cate 100% of my time in this arena.

Why do you do what you do?
I have passion to make things better. To be in Operations your job is to always try to provide optimal
processes, streamline the business and be a strategic advisor to the organization. With this role I am
able to do all of these things and work with some amazing people who never give up and think that any
obstacle is too large to overcome.