"You can't love if you dont love yourself and you can't lead if you can't lead yourself."
Carl Gough Tweet
Carl Gough is a philanthropist, and social entrepreneur, from Nottingham, the land of Robin Hood, with over 20+ years of experience in Global Business Development.
After making the leap from the IT industry to the startup space, Carl realized the uphill battle that is charity fundraising. Combining his understanding of the challenges faced by both charities and tech vendors, Carl applied his innate ability to open doors for people to build the brainchild that is meetmagic.
He is an inspiring motivator of people in his team, industry and beyond and has a hands-on practical approach to making business work. As a rapid new business growth specialist, he is the unending energy force behind the success of meetmagic and it’s charity initiatives.
Carl Gough is the founder and CEO of meetmagic.org – a purpose led philanthropic initiative spanning ANZ, Asia and the UK markets; meetmagic helps business leaders and their companies become a force for good through everyday business meetings.
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Table of Contents
We are thrilled to have you join us today, welcome to ValiantCEO Magazine’s exclusive interview! Let’s start off with a little introduction. Tell our readers a bit about yourself and your company.
Carl Gough: Established in 2016 in Sydney, Australia, meetmagic is an organization grounded in the desire to empower charities to create sustainable fundraising streams. meetmagic delivers organizational growth to senior executives and innovative global technology companies by curating meetings between them in support of charity.
Members make a contribution to meet with an executive who in turn raises their hand to host a meeting. 70% of all funds raised from the meeting go directly to the executives’ chosen charity. Since the inception of the #meetingforgood campaign in late 2019, over $1 million dollars has been raised for children’s charities providing support to over 25,000 seriously ill children.
2020 and 2021 threw a lot of curve balls into business on a global scale. Based on the experience gleaned in the past couple years, how can businesses thrive in 2022? What lessons have you learned?
Carl Gough: I believe that People Managers will need to adapt to become People Leaders, and that means changing from being a transactional manager who manages a to-do list and move towards a transformational leadership style, supporting their people to the outcomes. It’s a mindset that requires trust. In the startup world. we do this, but in corporate its very different
The pandemic seems to keep on disrupting the economy, what should businesses focus on in 2022? What advice would you share?
Carl Gough: Focus on yourself.. You can’t love if you don’t love yourself and you can’t lead if you can’t lead yourself.
How has the pandemic changed your industry and how have you adapted?
Carl Gough: The Hybrid work model has given meetmagic.org a huge opportunity. People are working from home, so we are helping keep people connected through our platform. Sales and marketing still need to generate pipelines and opportunities, execs still need to solve critical business problems. So through some smart tech, we bring the two together
What advice do you wish you received when the pandemic started and what do you intend on improving in 2022?
Carl Gough: That Change is hard at first, messy in the middle and beautiful at the end.. give us something to look forward to amongst the chaos.
Online business surged higher than ever, B2B, B2C, online shopping, virtual meetings, remote work, Zoom medical consultations, what are your expectations for 2022?
Carl Gough: We are launching a brand new platform that will allow us to scale – we aim to add 10,000 executives to the platform by the end of the year and generate millions of dollars for charity as a result
How many hours a day do you spend in front of a screen?
Carl Gough: I’m driven by purpose, So I don’t see it as work.
Covid signaled the end of the industrial revolution, so I don’t really count the hours.
In the old days when people worked in factories., the 9-5 was invented.. today work is something you do, not a place you go to. That said, I probably spend 8-10 hours on a screen each day.. whether it’s mobile or desktop/laptop.. this is our world now.
The majority of executives use stories to persuade and communicate in the workplace. Can you share with our readers examples of how you implement that in your business to communicate effectively with your team?
Carl Gough: A CEO is first and foremost
- A Chief
- An Executive
- An Officer
- A Chief needs to inspire his people
- An Executive needs to ensure things run smoothly
- An Officer needs to be with you on the field in battle
My job is to help them 10x their thinking, provide 1-on-1 support for their growth and make sure they understand why we do what we do. And ensure Culture, Purpose and Vision have alignment.
Business is all about overcoming obstacles and creating opportunities for growth. What do you see as the real challenge right now?
Carl Gough: People – Finding the right people to be in the right seats.
Cash – Funding our scale
Story – Getting our story out there – obscurity is a killer of most businesses
In 2022, what are you most interested in learning about? Crypto, NFTs, online marketing, or any other skill sets? Please share your motivations.
Carl Gough: I’m really excited about how meetmagic.org has a pathway to web3 – I see NFTs and Crypto as a huge incentive to join our community that is making a difference. The de-centralised world is an absolute must.
A record 4.4 million Americans left their jobs in September in 2021, accelerating a trend that has become known as the Great Resignation. 47% of people plan to leave their job during 2022. Most are leaving because of their boss or their company culture. 82% of people feel unheard, undervalued and misunderstood in the workplace. Do you think leaders see the data and think “that’s not me – I’m not that boss they don’t want to work for? What changes do you think need to happen?
Carl Gough: I’ve just had two people resign, I’m still unclear as to why. The exit interview may shed some light but one thing is clear. The market is very good if you are looking for a job and have certain skills that are in demand. So just breathing in the wrong way these days can lead to people resigning.
I’m not thinking too much about it. If they choose to leave, they were not right for us. That simple.
I see us as a great opportunity, if they don’t, then I have not done my job properly, but if they leave because it’s too hot in the kitchen, well that’s a different story and one they need to address themselves
On a lighter note, if you had the ability to pick any business superpower, what would it be and how would you put it into practice?
Carl Gough: I’d like one simple message that would motivate anyone to reply to a message. Getting people to reply these days is nearly impossible
What does “success” in 2022 mean to you? It could be on a personal or business level, please share your vision.
Carl Gough: By the end of December 2022 – I’d like our platform to have 10,000 executives around the world signed up and the matching algorithm to be booking 500 meetings per month. This would mean a huge impact on society and a real change in the way meetings happen. For Good
Jerome Knyszewski, VIP Contributor to ValiantCEO and the host of this interview would like to thank Carl Gough for taking the time to do this interview and share his knowledge and experience with our readers.
If you would like to get in touch with Carl Gough or his company, you can do it through his – Linkedin Page
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