Dave Ruane, Digital Content & Partnership Manager at XTM International
Strategic consultant & innovation advocate, global content expert, mentor, coach, and speaker
Dave has a passion for technology, innovation, language, and in taking an open approach to team building, solutions building, and knowledge sharing. He regularly speaks on global content and business topics and enjoys moderating industry panels and discussions.
As a business consultant, he helps companies bring product and content to global markets. He started out as a software engineer in the burgeoning software sector in Dublin in the 1990s and learned to problem solve and develop solutions from early on. At the time, bespoke solutions normally had to be created rather than bought or found on Google.
He is currently managing Digital Content and partnership at XTM international. And during his 25-year career has done business across various sectors including IT, Life Sciences, Industrial, Finance, Travel, and Gaming. He co-founded the Process Innovation Challenge (an innovation platform in the language industry) and is a board member with Translation Commons (a non-profit platform for sharing linguistic knowledge). When not travelling to visit customers in the US and Europe, he finds time to tour the villages and landscapes of southern Spain, where he is based.
Who do you most admire in business?
I admire leaders who show particular traits. Consistency and integrity in leaders are underrated, add to that someone who can make their vision clear and understandable, get a team to follow them and the vision, and show humility, and you have a rare breed that attracts people to them. It might sound like a well-prepared answer, but when you see it in action, it is very powerful and normally has a long tail to it.
A number of years ago, I stumbled upon the servant leadership methodology, which seemed to be a close match to those types of leaders. The main facet of servant leadership is as a leader; it’s your job to serve. These people do exist in everyday business, and I am glad to say I have had the pleasure of working with some. To get there is not easy, as you have to ‘park the ego’ and think less on self-serving. Another thing these leaders have in common is that they tend to avoid hyperbole, false claims, and pumping up reality, but rather use the clarity of vision and data to measure and drive. Sometimes this means they fly below the radar in certain types of organizations.
I also admire left field thinkers, someone who comes at a problem with an obtuse idea or a set of beliefs and sees it through, as well as those who find a way to use their expertise or position to serve the common good.
Some public figures who I admire or admired include Bill Gates, Ginni Rometty, Warren Buffet, Miguel Ángel Revilla (Politician in Spain), Simon Sinek, Richard Feynman (the fun-loving theoretical physicist) and Randy Pausch (author of 'The last lecture').
What companies or brands do you like or do you think are getting it right?
I like brands who have a clear vision and are not afraid to surprise or wow, and show enough empathy and emotional intelligence to grow responsibly. It can be hard to check growth and stick to guiding principles and an original vision. Southwest Airlines, Marriott Hotels, Apple, and Lucas Film come to mind as larger companies that do this. While the Apple story is well known, what they do very well is get their customers to believe in what they believe. This builds incredible brand affinity and eagerness for the next releases. If you can get your customers to buy into what is behind the products, the long tail impacts can be amazing.
What is the best advice you have ever received?
Wear their shoes and embrace change: When in situations where I just don't understand behaviour or I don't get where someone is coming from, or where there is a change strategy being implemented, I try to imagine the situation from the other’s perspective. Sometimes this means I need to change how I receive the information and invariably it means increasing empathy. This is a great tool and get's better with practice. Embracing and accepting change is fundamental, as in most cases, you are just prolonging something inevitable. It is better to be in the innovator's group than the laggards when change is coming.
Read lots: I am a bit of a geek for business and self-development books. I probably read around 6 a year, which keeps me in touch, maintains learning agility levels, and always brings in new ways of thinking. Measure it, and it will improve: A previous boss of mine once told me this, and I admit I was a bit of a non-believer. Eventually, I followed his lead and found that it is amazing how often this can help move a situation from little movement to breakthrough and growth.
What are your thoughts on the future of social media?
Social media has evolved from our need to communicate our individual voice/story within a common group environment, to be in a global village or various villages. Social media providers have to continually evolve their apps to keep users and their attention. For social media companies, it is all about growing users in a race to be a base platform with the most users, that means to release more 'cool and interesting' functionality and do it fast.
Dr Noriaki Kano, a professor of quality management at the Tokyo University of Science, said that a product or service is about much more than just functionality. It is also about customers' emotions. He went further and broke functionality into basic features (that are expected), satisfiers (necessary but can be used to increase customer experience) and delighters (features that customers don't even know they want, but are delighted with when they find them). His key point was that what was once delighters, over time eventually become basic needs. This speaks clearly to the newness that we continually seek, which becomes mundane and explains a lot about industries like social media.
Social media apps, go through this process very quickly, to feed the attention culture and the tyranny of choice that now exists. I think we will see more movement toward direct monetization in social media apps and for them to find ways to have transactions (purchasing, money transfers, etc.) go through their platform. I also think social media will try to find ways across fiscal, cultural, and political boundaries. The growth of WhatsApp in India and Indonesia will open new opportunities for brands. AR/VR will be embraced further, Snapchat, Facebook and Apple are all working on AR glasses. New age demographics coming online (fastest-growing demographics coming online are the under 10s and over 60s). We'll see new social media platforms emerging catering to these, and existing ones adding features that appeal to them.
We are now in a content economy, and the truth is more and more masked and hidden. I think a next step we will see is more automated content and automated touchpoints. In the US currently, AI technologies such as Robocalls are getting very “lifelike” and reaching epidemic proportions, and I expect Europe will see more of this, unfortunately. WeChat has features to show users that it's verifying articles. Clearly, they are responding to people's concern that what they're being fed might not be the truth.
Do you have a mentor or do you mentor anyone?
I have had various mentors during my career and am an advocate. I find it is a great way to trigger ideas, validate concepts, and give you the additional direction or confidence, which a decision may have needed. Nowadays, I try to give back and have some people I mentor and others where we have mutual conversations. As a mentor, sometimes just the listening is enough to solve things.
I would go as far to say mentoring is now a critical tool in modern business; it is hard to make all the right decisions, having a mentor group around you can help you validate, redirect or reboot as needed. I'd also recommend having a small trust circle where you can run any ideas by and get straight and fast feedback.
How do you network?
If I find someone that I would like to get to know, I try to reach out honestly and straightforwardly. I find being clear on the why and what the value might be to connect, makes for more successful encounters. No one likes essays, so being to the point is key, and some value must be there, otherwise, why would you connect with me?
There is a proposal, and sales thought leader called Tom Sant, who writes about the WIIFM (What’s In It For Me), when you speak to people in business, ask yourself, are you answering the question, What is in it for them? If not, how far do you expect to get? Another thing Sant talks about is the Primacy principle, which is basically the principle of the first impression, they say you have about 7 seconds to make a first impression when you meet someone, it's always getting me to think what is the impression I want to leave.
Ideally, I try to meet people face to face (at conferences, etc.) before connecting using social media apps such as Linkedin, Twitter or Xing. When networking online, I always write a note and try to add some value or at least find common ground.
What do you wish you had known when you started out?
How to speak in front of an audience! I spent some years being afraid of speaking publically, and when I did speak on stage, I failed pretty badly. But something inside told me I needed to continue. I eventually got some breaks and got a few panel moderation roles. This was an area I could learn to be competent at, and eventually, speaking opportunities came my way. If you want to be a thought leader in your area, then push yourself to speak publically about it, it will open up doors which otherwise you may not ever even see.
And what is the most important part of your talk? The first 3 minutes! This is where you build relevancy and convince the audience you are worth their attention. This is the primacy principle in action again. There are plenty of good books on public speaking, a recent one by Scott Berkun "Confessions of a public speaker" is well worth a look.
What are you most proud of in your life?
Seeing and helping people grow. When someone I have led or mentored breaks through something and finds their path, this is fulfilling. I also enjoy seeing someone who may be lacking confidence or perhaps is introverted suddenly comes across as a brilliant ideas person with a voice. This is super addictive and contagious in a positive way.
I am also proud of setting up a platform for innovation in our industry (Language and translation). This is something that started as a pet project but is growing to give innovators a stage and a way to shine a light on smart ideas and technologies.
How do you define success?
Smiling more than I frown and getting the balance right. I moved my family from Ireland to a location in southern Spain, over 15 years ago. The idea was to have a high quality of life. The journey has been fantastic and taught me much about balance and choosing how to react to situations. Choosing how you react is linked to acceptance, you can either accept what is and what you can't control, or you can spend emotional energy giving out about it and venting. No matter in what situation you find yourself, I try to remind myself that I can choose how I react.
This also comes back to use of the time you have, and how valuable you used it. Should I be able to look back as an 80 something-year-old, I don’t expect I’d be worried about the projects I delivered on time or thinking about the times I vented, but maybe I’ll think back on the relationships built, how I helped others grow and achieve something and the overall quality of the time I spent.
What do you think your unique skill(s) is that has helped you become successful?
Being able to problem-solve. I had an innate curiosity for technology and how things work. This led me to open things up and to figure them out. I wasn't dexterous but did follow a path into electronic engineering in university and then software engineering in the business world. This gave me a great foundation, in particular in being able to find solutions to different classes of problems. It taught me there are different ways to look at a problem and by extension, a variety of solutions options. The trick is being able to identify how deep or shallow a particular solution should be, what the required outcomes are, and how much future-proofing to put in.
What valuable lessons have you learned so far that you could share with our audience?
Give without expecting to receive. In particular, knowledge and expertise but I'd also go further and say when you see an opportunity to help someone, take it. Listening to your instinct (inner voice) and having an abundance attitude might sound in stark contrast to what makes logical sense, though it has worked for me and many others.
Listen to understand. I force myself to ask, did I listen enough in that situation. Could it have taken a different path? Avoid too much hierarchy which can create distance between team members, have leaders be facilitators for teams to do good work rather than managers.
Make meetings work. Do something to increase inclusion, for example getting everyone to talk at the start creates a common baseline and better engagement, in particular when you have a mixed group of personalities and seniorities.
Meetings should always start on time, and I find it is important to validate why everyone should be at the meeting. Amazon has a two-pizza rule (only have enough people at meetings who could eat two pizzas) which is smart.
Give positive feedback when you can – I don't mean being glib or false, but recognize the positives. Each touchpoint with team members is an opportunity for something; It doesn't cost you anything and at the very least will make someone feel appreciated.
Is there anything new you are working on that you would like to share?
With the innovation platform, we are looking at ways to connect innovators with potential advisors or investors. This way, we can have the whole innovation ecosystem move forward and speed up.
Where's your favourite place?
Anywhere in Spain – it is a beautiful country and a culture rich society, but at the same time it is super-inclusive, and understanding of differences and common sense is used a lot. 10 years ago, when the global financial crisis was happening local coffee shops where I live had a price of coffee at one Euro. For 10 years, this became a glass ceiling as when a coffee shop changed the price to 1.10 Euro. Then the customers went elsewhere. What happened? – The coffee shop had to reduce its price again. Some smarter ones added a cake for 2 euros instead of breaking the one Euro coffee barrier. This is the type of common sense you see all over Spain, and one of the reasons it is my favorite place.
What is your hobby?
I try to go fly fishing when I can, it seems to fit my demeanour, or maybe it actually helped to form it. This is also one of my favourite places to be; on a windy May morning on a lake in the west of Ireland. Fly fishing is good at teaching about time and timing, and how to spot subtleties. I've also been known to carry a table-tennis bat when travelling and hit many wayward golf balls.
What are you not very good at and What are you good at?
I am not good at saying no, especially when asked about technology, business strategy advice or speaking opportunities. I am good at forming ideas and a strategic plan to execute it. I also like to think I engage audiences well and know how to get the best from a panel of experts or a roundtable/workshop session.
Which words do you overuse?
Way too many to list.
When are you happiest?
When someone has a problem to solve, and there is a whiteboard nearby or wading in a trout stream with just the odd mooing in the background.
What is your favourite famous’ person?
John Cleese for laughs, Werner Herzog for seeing reality, and Oscar Peterson for mellow Jazz chords. Anyone who pursues their dream earns my respect, and those that take a non-standard way to get there, I believe shine. There is a great story about Alvin Straight who drove across a few states of the USA in his lawnmower to see his brother. David Lynch directed a film about this guy, which is well worth a look.
What living person do you most admire?
José Mujica (ex-president of Uruguay), led his country for five years and lived in relative austerity, gave 90% of his presidential salary to charities. In his first speech he called for unity, saying that there would be no winners or losers, not a bad way to start. During his presidency, he brought major reform, cross-party collaboration and left his country with a relatively healthy economy and with social stability unlike many of their neighbours.
A positive quote you like to share.
"Know many, trust few, always paddle your own canoe." – From a colleague 20+ years ago. AND "Someone will know how to solve this problem. Change the problem, make it about finding that person". –me