Thom Wright
Lexington, Kentucky, United States
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About
After 25 years in sales — and more than a decade leading enterprise teams — I’ve learned…
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4K followers
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Thom Wright shared thisYour Manager Job Description Is Already Obsolete Monday: pipeline review meeting. Tuesday: pulling CRM updates to build the forecast. Wednesday: prepping the team meeting deck and running the big deal review Thursday: updating the forecast. Friday: following up on action items from the week to make sure everyone did their job. Then you do it again. If that's your week, I'm not trying to be harsh…but AI just took your job description. Let me clarify…Not your job…your job description. The Coinbase headlines dropped yesterday, 14% of their workforce gone, "pure managers" eliminated. Jack Dorsey did the same thing at Block earlier this year, cutting 40% and publishing a manifesto declaring hierarchy dead. Microsoft has been folding manager layers quietly for months. These aren't isolated decisions. They're a pattern, and they're a signal directed straight at anyone who manages the way I described above. If your value is coordination, you're exposed. But the answer isn't to defend the role. It's to evolve past it. There are three levels to this. I’m calling them the Three Cs. 1. THE COORDINATOR manages information. Runs the meeting that could have been a dashboard. Tracks what's in the pipeline. Owns the deck. This role is already gone. Gong, Clari, Claude and a dozen other tools do it faster and more accurately than any human running a manual review cycle. 2. THE COACH changes behavior. Knows why an AE keeps losing late-stage deals, can name the specific moment it happens, and has a development plan in place before the pattern repeats. Teams with structured coaching cultures run 20% higher quota attainment. That's not a soft metric that's meaningful uplift. This role matters and always will. But there's a third level, and it's where the best sales leaders are heading. 3. THE CONDUCTOR does everything a coach does and also commands the technology layer their team operates on. They build agents that handle the coordinator work automatically. They write prompts that surface deal risk before a rep sees it. They use AI to free up their own time so they can spend more of it on humans, not less. A coordinator runs logistics. A coach develops one rep at a time. A conductor brings humans and agents into harmony and produces output none of them could deliver alone. Here's what's coming, and it sounds radical until it doesn't: the sales manager of the near future won't just manage human workers. They'll manage a mix of humans and AI agents. If you can't direct, prompt, and build with AI tools, you'll be behind the people who can. The Coinbase headlines aren't about Coinbase. They're a leading indicator pointed at every manager who hasn't made this transition yet. Coordinator: already gone. Coach: essential, non-negotiable. Conductor: where this is heading. Which one are you becoming?
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Thom Wright shared this🫸 Stop doom scrolling about AI for a second. I had a conversation with my executive coach this week that genuinely reframed how I'm thinking about all of it. He's roughly 20 years older than me. Old enough to have been in the workforce when the personal computer arrived. And he described something I hadn't fully appreciated...the fear back then was identical to what we're all feeling right now. Check out what I found from September 3rd, 1980 from The New York Times that ran a headline: "A Robot is After Your Job." Economists publicly questioned whether full employment would ever be possible again. White-collar workers were convinced their roles would be automated into extinction. A 1995 book called The End of Work predicted a "post-market era" and warned that a workless world would "undermine the very foundations of modern society." Here's what actually happened: the U.S. posted some of its best employment numbers since the 1960s! A Bureau of Labor Statistics study tracked 2,800 employees at companies that had just installed large computers. Nine were laid off. Nine. Steve Jobs, right in the middle of all that fear, called the computer "a bicycle for our minds" calling it a tool that amplifies human capability, not one that replaces it. Most of us weren't around for any of that. I'm 42, so I wasn't either. But what my coach helped me see is this: we didn't become passengers to computers. We became better at our work because of them. AI is the next chapter of the same story. Forty years from now, we'll tell our kids: "I remember when AI came out. Everyone thought it was going to take over everything." And they'll look at us the way we look at someone who hoarded cash because ATMs were going to eliminate banks. The tool is remarkable. The fear is familiar. And if history is any guide, the people who learn to work with the tool are the ones who come out ahead. That's where your energy belongs right now. 🧘♂️
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Thom Wright shared thisCorporate Bro represents this well. Shout out the great, but rare managers out there who actually care. Well done video.
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Thom Wright shared thisThis note is 8 years old. An AE I led at Heroku reached out recently just to reconnect. He sent me a photo of this note. He kept it. For eight years! We're living in a world obsessed with AI agents, automation, and scale. And I'm not against any of it... I sell automation software for a living. But no AI agent is going to write something on real paper, in real ink, that someone keeps in a drawer for eight years. For over a decade, I've made it a habit to send handwritten notes to the people on my team when they join or when they do something worth celebrating. The most powerful thing you can do as a leader isn't the most efficient thing. It's the most intentional thing. He kept this for eight years. I didn't remember writing it. He never forgot receiving it. That gap between what it costs you and what it means to them is where great leadership lives. Five minutes. A pen. A notecard. Still the highest-leverage tool in my leadership stack. Do you have a note like this somewhere? Or have you sent one?
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Thom Wright shared thisIf you've never read the book by Kim Scott Radical Candor, watch this snippet video to see as a leader why this framework is so powerful for building trust, candor and increasing performance across your teams. I've used this for over 7 years and can personally attest this works!Thom Wright shared thisNot the best at giving feedback? Here’s how to challenge someone directly and still show that you care: http://t.ted.com/zgnsGMn
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Thom Wright shared thisThis past Saturday night. Indiana Pacers NBA game. Great seats. 19-win team. Low stakes. Or so I thought. Late in the game a foul gets called. The crowd erupts. Everyone already had a verdict, you could feel it. 20,000 people absolutely certain they knew what happened. The referee paused. He went to video review. They put every angle on the big screen for us to look at the play. First angle: overhead. Crystal clear. Obvious foul. Case closed. Second angle: bench side. Less certain. Third angle: completely different read. Looks like no contact at all. He stood there. Took his time. Reversed the call. So, the angle that looked most definitive was actually wrong. Here's what is so interesting about this... Neuroscientists have studied this. When you're highly confident in a decision, your brain doesn't just interpret new evidence through a biased lens, it literally stops processing evidence that contradicts you! Confidence becomes a neurological blind spot. That referee did something most of us never do. He paused his certainty on purpose. Salespeople and leaders, think about what that costs us when we don't do this. The deal you had at 90% that went dark at the finish line because you were working your champion's angle and never once looked at it from the CFO's view. The rep you decided was a performance problem six months ago and have been managing out ever since when the real issue was something you could have fixed in a conversation. The customer who went cold and you told yourself they just didn't get the value when actually they were seeing something from their side of the table you never bothered to ask about. We were certain. So our brains stopped looking. The most underrated skill in sales and leadership isn't confidence. It's knowing when to pause it. Deliberately. Under pressure. When everyone around you already has a verdict. The referee didn't look weak when he reversed that call. He looked like someone who cared more about getting it right than being right. That's the job. When's the last time you went back to the tape?
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Thom Wright posted thisFor a long time, I thought confidence was what people were looking for from me. A quick answer. A strong opinion. A decisive tone. No hesitation. But over time, I've come to believe clarity matters more. Clarity about what matters. Clarity about what doesn't. Clarity about what deserves your energy. Clarity about what needs a no. Clarity about what success actually means to you. A lot of people spend years trying to become more confident. I think a lot of us would be better served getting clearer. Because confidence can make you sound ready. Clarity helps you decide.
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Thom Wright shared thisOoof! Sales leaders, this one was hard to listen to. First, follow Jeff Hancher if you aren't already as he delivers great practical leadership insights. Second, if you are a high performing sales leader, listen to this and really think about your self and how you are viewed by your leadership.Thom Wright shared thisMost high performers don’t struggle with talent. They struggle with being led. And that’s the part no one tells you. If you only align when you agree… If you move faster than your leader can support… If everything turns into a debate… You might be harder to lead than you think. At higher levels, everyone is capable. What separates people is coachability. In the coming days I want to challenge you to ask your boss this question: “What makes me hard to lead?” Real change can come from this single question. I would love to hear the results. Please message me! This latest episode of The Champion Forum Podcast will challenge how you show up and help you grow because of it. Episode link: https://lnkd.in/d2xtcgEs #Leadership #HighPerformance #CareerGrowth #SelfAwareness #LeadershipDevelopment
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Thom Wright posted this***Manager Challenge: Next week, be on time (or early) for every 1-on-1 with your direct reports*** Not "running 5 minutes behind, be right there." On time or Early. Yes, most of us are double-booked and sprinting from one call to the next and haven't eaten lunch. And if you're already Slacking or texting your direct report when you're running late, good. That's basic courtesy and it matters. But that's not the challenge. The challenge is: you don't need to send that message at all. For one week, be intentional. Protect that time. Because when you're consistently late to your people's 1-on-1s, you're sending a signal whether you mean to or not, their time is less important than whatever I just came from. 👉 One week. Every 1-on-1. You might get a few strange looks from your directs who are used to waiting on you. Good, notice that! 🗒️ Then at the end of the week, ask yourself: What did I do differently to make this happen, and can I do it again? Being on time isn't a soft skill. It's a leadership signal. Show your people they're worth being early for. It's the start of a new month, a natural reset. I'm taking this challenge with you. Who's in? Drop a comment below. Let's hold each other accountable.
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Thom Wright reacted on thisThom Wright reacted on thisAfter 18 months of one of the most rewarding chapters of my career, today marks an exciting new beginning. When I stepped away from my corporate career in late 2024 to take a strategic sabbatical, I knew I wanted the time to be intentional — not just a pause, but an opportunity to build, learn, and contribute in a different way. Working alongside Karly Elbrecht and Maggie Books to help operationalize the GTM strategy and systems at Camino & Company exceeded every expectation. Watching that business grow and improve across every dimension — together — has been a genuine gift. I’m deeply grateful for that partnership and proud of what we achieved in such a short period. I can’t wait to watch Camino & Company continue to grow and thrive in the community. Today, I’m thrilled to share that I’ve joined Affinity.co as Vice President, Strategic Sales. For those unfamiliar, Affinity is the relationship intelligence platform purpose-built for private capital — helping PE firms, VC funds, and investment teams systematically leverage their most valuable asset: their relationships. In a world where the warmest introduction wins the deal, Affinity gives investment professionals the network intelligence and automated activity capture to compete at the highest level. I’m energized by the opportunity ahead and couldn’t be more grateful to Sean Kearns and Ken Fine for the opportunity and warm welcome. To the Strat team, I look forward to lots of learning, pivoting, growing, winning (some losing), and celebrating together. Excited to get to know you Danielle Lazarov Christine Roth Gianfranco Vinci Jen Castaline William Groethe. To my new colleagues across Sales, Marketing, Solutions Consulting, Customer Success, RevOps, Product, Finance, Legal, and People/HR — I’m excited to roll up my sleeves and join you in building an AI-forward GTM motion that focuses on helping our customers get more value from the relationships that drive their business. Day 1. Let’s go! #Affinity #AIForward #PrivateCapital #RelationshipIntelligence #SalesLeadership #NewChapter
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Thom Wright liked thisThom Wright liked thisThere is a lot to leading in today’s complex world of B2B, especially if you want to do it with a high level of precision. You know this to be true, the results of not doing it well have very real and measurable impact: - Revenue decline or stagnation - Employee attrition increases - Poor cross-functional engagement - Costs increase from inefficiency and ineffectiveness. And while this is happening, many leaders wonder: ‘Do I even know all of the things that I need to be great at?’ What we want is the feeling of a powerful battleship heading out to sea... .... but instead it can feel like a black box at times. And far too often, investments aren’t made into sales leaders in the same way they are with sales reps. Assumptions are made that leaders like you already know everything that they need to do and how to do it well. Often a very incorrect assumption. It can feel lonely, unsure and frustrating. Maybe that feels like your experience right now. Feel free to drop me a DM. Looking forward to dropping content on this over the next weeks. #leadership #sales #leader #growth
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Thom Wright reacted on thisThom Wright reacted on thisThis summer, iNDustry Labs is launching its inaugural AI Leaders of Tomorrow Fellowship. This program will embed top Notre Dame students directly into AI projects with regional companies. Selected from a competitive applicant pool spanning engineering, business, arts and letters, and the sciences, the fellows will spend 12-weeks receiving hands-on training in Generative AI and Robotic Process Automation while building real solutions alongside industry partners and Notre Dame faculty mentors. This program is just one more way iNDustry Labs is connecting Notre Dame talent to the companies shaping the future of the South Bend-Elkhart region. Learn more about how iNDustry Labs is tapping into faculty and student talent to help regional companies unlock business value here: https://lnkd.in/geKJtF-d
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Thom Wright reacted on thisThom Wright reacted on thisDay one is in the books. I've officially joined Asana as Head of Global Channel & Alliances! 🚀 After seven incredible years at UiPath, I'm bringing everything I love about partnerships to a company that's reshaping how the world's teams work together. The product is exceptional, the team is world class, and the partner opportunity is enormous. To everyone at UiPath who made the last chapter so meaningful, thank you. To the Asana team, thank you for the trust and the unbelievable first day! There's a lot more coming soon. Stay tuned to hear about everything we're working on.
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Thom Wright liked thisThom Wright liked thisWhile many are trying to predict what Agentic AI and the future of jobs will look like, Pascal and team wrote a practical, step-by-step guide to building and orchestrating that future. It is a book that clearly explains what it takes to supervise an agent or a human/agent team, and provides practical frameworks for scaling productivity instead of creating new bottlenecks, identifying the right things to automate, finding the right implementation approaches, helping employees to become irreplaceable in the age of AI, and defining who is responsible for each agent. I am a very fast reader and usually pretty quick to comment, but to be honest, I blew a couple of deadlines as I had to think, scroll back, and rewrite my two cents multiple times. Proud to be a contributor to this work and congratulations to Pascal BORNET, Tarja Stephens, Dr. Rachel Wood, PhD, Frederique Covington Corbett, Ph.D., Shigeki Yamaguchi, Rakesh Gohel, Helen Yu, Nima Schei, MD, Lasse Rindom, Simon Ellis, Maxim Ioffe, Mohsin Khan, and Paul Kurchina.
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