In our Purpose-Led CEO interview series, Watson Partner Tiffany Goodlet speaks with CEOs who lead with clarity and conviction, using purpose as their organization’s north star. At Watson, we believe the CEO plays a defining role in shaping culture, setting direction, and building trust — and we’re thrilled to spotlight stories of leaders doing just that. 

Lynn Smurthwaite-Murphy joined Plugable Technologies as Chief Executive Officer in December 2021.  She has a unique blend of entrepreneurial grit and big-company scaling experience. Working  side-by-side with the company founder, Bernie Thomson, Lynn leads the company’s global growth strategy, something she has done previously at StarTech.com and Westcon-Comstor before that. During her time at Westcon they grew from $200 million in two countries to $7 billion in 70 countries.

Lynn has her ICD.D designation from the Rotman School of Business, and serves on the advisory board of Saddle Creek Logisitcs, a privately-held, company with supply chain operations across the United States.

Who inspired your leadership style?

I was fortunate to work for many good leaders throughout my career in the technology sector.  I saw the way that John Chambers, then CEO of Cisco communicated the strategy to his team and his partners. Tom Dolan, the co-founder and CEO at Westcon, was an entrepreneur. When the 3 partners started Westcon, they took out mortgages on their homes to take advantage of an opportunity – a company that disrupted the industry.  Both leaders built followership around their visions. They gave context – explained the “why” – stayed close to their customers. They were willing to take risks when they saw an opportunity.

How do you embed purpose in strategy and daily operations?

We are privately held and so we can take the long-term view of strategy, make necessary investments and then stay the course. We solve compatibility issues everyone faces with the connectivity of their devices – this is our market niche. We pride ourselves on providing the best support, product selection and information to our clients – this is our differentiator. Our clients often tell us they are shocked with how great the experience is. I value continual learning, and our team is the same – it is a core value. Everyone wants to know “why” behind our strategy, business plans and processes so that they can continually look for new and better ideas or ways of working.  I see this as a journey of learning and building excitement over the future together.  We talk about challenges and how to overcome them – diversifying products, supply, channels and building deeper relationships with our customers. Excitement in the team builds when we see new ideas coming in and the fly wheel starts building momentum.

What do you want to change in the world and why?

I aim to leave anything I touch in a better state. I would like to leave the world of work a better place for my daughters, employees and the communities they serve. That starts with me supporting change and leading with empathy, something that was once considered a sign of weakness.

How would you define the hallmarks of an effective CEO–board relationship and how do you foster it?

The purpose and the structure of the board is important for supporting the relationship with the CEO and their investors.  The roles and responsibilities of board members will be different if it is an advisory board or a fiduciary board, and having clarity of these roles is important.  For example, many private companies have advisory boards, which really means providing the CEO with a second opinion on strategy and specific advice to help set direction.  I’ve worked very closely with the boards of my last three companies, and I currently serve on a corporate advisory board. When the board and the individual members are well matched then the CEO and the company benefit from insight, oversight and foresight of other experienced leaders.  This relationship really helps management to see around the corner. In addition to being well defined roles and responsibilities, the relationship with the CEO is most effective when board members respect “the line” and understand that they are not running operations. Great board directors know how to ask a thoughtful question of management that respects “the line” yet leads to great discussions.

If you were speaking with a peer group of other purpose-led CEOs, what question would you like to ask of them?

“In today’s geopolitical environment, how do we balance innovation and risk so that we are not overly cautious and continue to see around the corner for what is coming next/what could disrupt us?”

A question from our previous CEO interview: How do you deal with The Imposter Syndrome?

Everyone has it from time to time, especially when trying to balance risk-taking with risk management. When I start to feel that way and question myself, I tap into my CEO network. They are very helpful for reinforcing that we don’t need to know everything.  Instead, it is important to surround myself with a great team, embrace continuous learning and stay focused on our people and our customers—even when uncertainty creeps in.