Nextrio leader aspires to be worthy of being followed
By Gary Hirsch, Inside Tucson Business
Published on Friday, July 10, 2009
Cristie Street is managing partner of Nextrio, the Tucson-based information technology consulting firm she co-founded seven years ago.
Born in Phoenix into an Air Force family she was “on the traveling plan,” as she puts it. “I lived in Phoenix for seven years — long enough to get a good sunburn and a bunch of freckles. In fifth or sixth grade we started the ‘move every two years’ thing. We lived in California, Louisiana, Germany and North Carolina. They dropped me off in North Carolina where I attended NC State.”
Street has been a full-time Tucsonan since 1995.
While some children struggle with frequent moves. Street credits her experiences “for making me who I am. I would have been introverted and lacked confidence were it not for the change that moving brings.”
She recalls when, prior to their move from Los Angeles to Germany, “My dad took me aside and opened my history book to a picture of Versailles. He told me I could read about the world, or I could see places like this and get to know the people firsthand. He made it sound so cool; I made up my mind to think of moving as a great experience.”
Her dad retired from the Air Force a major general. Street views him as a model leader. “I saw him as a leader and as a politician. I learned you must project a vision and convince people to follow you, not because you’re the general, but because you are worthy of being followed. That applies in any organization you lead. It’s my daily aspiration — to be worthy of being followed.”
While she saw consistency, discipline and order as important for her dad, Street doesn’t think that translates well to technology. “I’m the chief cat herder. We harness creativity and encourage people to challenge and question. Understanding the difference between what dad did and what I do has helped shape me as a leader.”
Street owns Nextrio with her husband, William, and three other partners, “the brothers I never wanted.”
Growing up one of three girls and moving regularly, Street’s longtime relationships were mostly with family members.
“These have been formative years,” he says. “My diverse relationships with my partners — business, family and friendships have been the biggest learning experience of this venture.”
Street also brings sales and marketing expertise to the venture. She likes to say, “If (husband) Bill were a blacksmith, I’d be selling wrought iron. My passion is taking complex, scary stuff, mixing it with brilliant, scary-smart people and smoothing out the rough edges making it accessible.”
Street partially credits her success to recalling how she liked being treated as an employee. “At Rightfax we were a technology startup in dotcom heaven. I could walk into the CEO’s office and speak my mind with no worries. I want to recreate that for our staff.”
To lead well Street says, “I listen more than I talk — to what is and isn’t said. I want to hear what they’re not telling me. That information feeds my gut instinct. I back it up with book knowledge and experience, but that instinct has served me well.”
She also values the quality of remaining fearless in the face of crazy ideas — her own and others’. “Crazy ideas from scary-smart people make this business work. The difference between crazy and brilliant is often a fine distinction whose success is apparent over time. So being open to new ideas is critical.”
Street also values humor, not taking herself or a situation too seriously and cautions against a growing trend to snarkiness. “You have to avoid the sarcastic snarky. It’s different than funny and if you’re not careful, you become the bitter side of funny.”
She underscores the importance of writing. “So much of what you do, regardless of how it’s ultimately communicated is best practiced first in writing to organize thoughts whether you are working to compel, persuade or inspire.”
She also feels much the same about financials. “Without a firm grasp of finances you can find yourself upside down before you know it. “
Fulfilling and challenging is balancing the relationships involved in running a company. “At any time you can accidentally snip the bonds holding it all together. I enjoy doing work that matters. I enjoy learning from partners and staff. And at the end of the day I’m goal oriented — I want to see happy people and a successful company.”
What keeps her up at night? Her 3-year-old and “holding the dream.”
“When you sell the dream people believe in it and you. At the end of the day I’m the guardian of the dream and I take it seriously. In the absence of something to believe in there is no company.”
Street says she draws inspiration from Laura Liswood, co-founder of the Council of Women Leaders and former director of the Harvard Women’s Leadership Project. “I was inspired by what she did, but even more inspired by her audacity at demanding interviews with key women leaders of the world.”
If there’s one thing Street wants you to know it’s that “Nextrio is a good place for great people to do good work. We work to meet that goal every day, and I would want that as our mantra in any business.”
Nextrio’s approach to IT is like a wellness approach to health. “We prevent the bad things from happening, making IT a strategic advantage for your company.”
Nextrio
5225 N. Sabino Canyon Road
www.nextrio.com
(520) 545-7100
Information technology consulting to small businesses
Contact Gary Hirsch at gary.hirsch@vistage.com or (520) 225-0373 to suggest a CEO or business owner for a future “Inner-view.” Hirsch is a group chair and executive coach with Vistage International - www.vistage.com - and leads a group of CEOs, company presidents and business owners who meet monthly. CEO Inner-view appears the second and fourth weeks of each month in Inside Tucson Business.
Copyright © 2009 Inside Tucson Business