Embarc Collective Welcomes Holly N. O’Driscoll to the Coaching Team

We are excited to share our recent interview with Holly N. O’Driscoll, our Human-Centered Innovation & Design Thinking Expert.

What sparked your passion for Design Thinking?
Putting people first has always been a passion of mine, and when I got trained in Design Thinking in 2008, it was a game changer. Finally, human-centeredness was legitimized as a strategic imperative for insight generation and setting the stage for growth. This changed the trajectory of my professional life and frankly, my personal life too. Design Thinking is absolutely a useful business approach, and in many ways, it’s a great way to go about life. When we are more empathetic, solving the real challenge, getting curious and exploring what’s possible—our lives are better. Both at home and at work.

What key qualities do growth stage startup leaders need and why?
The transition from early stage to growth stage can be challenging not only for the business, but also for the people. The journey from founder to CEO or even hiring an outside CEO can be stressful. It’s a great place to dive into self-awareness and get clear on what you want to stand for as a leader. For your business, what skills are needed to take it to the next level? Is your strategy on point and designed to scale? What needs to be true hit the next milestone? This is just as much about working on yourself as a leader and getting the right people onboard as it is focusing on your business strategy. You have no business without the people.

What aspect of building a startup is often overlooked?
The short answer is all the less-sexy parts of running a business. As you grow, systems and processes become critical in order to ensure a smooth path to growth. Things like recruiting process, policy development, professional services contracts (think who is my IT support provider), performance management. These topics often evoke an eyeroll, and they are critical to taking the business to the next stage of growth. And to stay out of court.

What industry trend are you excited about and why?
Perhaps less industry and more leadership focused– I’m super excited about the focus on mindset training as a key facet of leadership and sustained high performance. While the concept is not new, it is showing up in the business zeitgeist now more than ever before. For example, seeing AJ Brown from the Philadelphia Eagles, reading Inner Excellence while on the bench during a regular season game has helped mindset hit the radar. I’ve been a follower of Michael Gervais’ Finding Mastery podcast for more than a decade, and have learned so much about how our mindset can shape our outcomes. While these examples are heavily focused on sport, they are 100% transferable to business; which is in my mind, just another sport with a different stage. I’m thrilled to see a focus on leadership mindset gaining traction.