Denise Sangster: Accelerating Growth through Transformation and Market Differentiation

Global Touch, Inc. is the consultancy for the hybrid and digital computing world. The company acts as a catalyst for its clients' growth by steering clients from product-led to market-led leaders. Global Tech helps its clients to achieve success through conventional and creative partnerships, while navigating unparalleled market dynamics and changes. 

Denise Sangster founded Global Touch in 1990 after working for a database software company in Silicon Valley as the Head of international (non-US) partners.  The company was acquired by Microsoft. While Denise was considering moving into a role at Microsoft, a number of her prior sales partners in Europe and Asia encouraged her to create a consulting company to help them with their businesses. Denise leaped at this opportunity and never looked back. She considers her consulting journey filled with many surprises and twists and turns along the way with international postings in Europe and Asia. The most important things she learnt in the process is to keep looking over the horizon to be prepared for what is coming next. 

Embracing the Right Inspiration for Success 

Denise started competing in sports at the age of 5, which she continued through her college years. Athletic experiences prepared her for business life more than anything else.   

Her childhood swimming coach was the winner of three Olympic swimming medals at the 1948 Olympics in London. King George was so impressed with her childhood coach's performance that she was invited to have tea with him and his two daughters, Princesses Elizabeth and Margaret at the Buckingham Palace.   

Denise considers her swimming coach one of her most important role model. One of the critical lessons Denise learned at a young ago is competing is not about winning or losing, but rather it is about winning or learning, an important business philosophy embraced by many of the top global leaders Denise has met during her business career.   

During college, after competing in swimming for 14 years, Denise switched sports to rowing, which was one of the hardest things she has ever done.  She quickly learned rowing was about commitment, humility, perseverance, respecting competitors and also thriving in chaotic situations, which all translate to the necessary traits of a successful leader. She also learned about teamwork, which includes working well with one's peers, developing the right training program, and finding the right coaches to help one succeed.  These are all the life-lessons Denise continues to draw from in her daily business life. 

Winning Over Challenges 

Denise started working globally in the early 1990s, when there were a limited number of American women working in the IT industry in North America-focused middle management or senior management roles, and even fewer women outside the United States in any type of IT leadership role. Being an American woman working in a male dominated industry was a challenge which Denise wanted to win even when men did not want to interact with her. She accepted this as a challenge; not see it as a road block. Ultimately, she won over most of them as peers and advocates, and a number became clients. 

Adopting to Transformational Leadership 

Denise believes there are at least ten attributes for transformational leaders, but she views three as the most important: 

1. Entertain new ideas- Transformation can rarely be achieved if the leader is not open or receptive to new ideas and never solicits them.

2. Remain adaptable- The leader must be in the mindset of constantly adapting to changing market conditions to keep proactively moving forward.

3. Take the right risks- Taking calculated risks is a key characteristic of a transformational leader. Denise adds that risks in today's world are significant, but workingclosely with one's team can reduce risk and help accelerate revenue, growth achievement and other goals. 

Bridging the Gap Between Data and Innovation 

At Global Touch, Denise and her team are always looking to innovate their approach, tools and performance metrics to help their clients stay ahead of the rapidly changing market conditions. Denise and her team know the power of data. Their methodology has been developed and continually refined over two decades and is based on a combination of science, art and deep IT industry knowledge. For example, Global Touch measures key touchpoints "before," "at" and "after" the deal signature to understand how these touchpoints drive customer lifecycle success, sustainable partner profitability and predictable revenues for its clients.   

Denise believes the importance of data is well understood by companies, but many struggle with how to put it into operational practice and then operate as a data-driven company.  She sees many IT companies, as well as other industries, continuing to leverage stagnant processes developed fifteen years ago, which is limiting their success.  One of the biggest oversights is very few companies use data to tell a meaningful story that resonates both intellectually and emotionally with customers and partners, as well as the people that need to use the story to achieve their company's goals.  

Bridging the gap between data and those who need to learn something from it, or make decisions based on it, is a key necessity for companies who will thrive during and following this pandemic. 

Leveraging Continuous Innovation to Improve Industry Knowledge 

Denise views artificial intelligence, machine learning, automation, big data and so forth not as disruptive, but as vehicles to enable opportunities.  She asserts that they are part of a trifecta approach combining science, art and deep industry knowledge that Global Touch uses with its clients. Without leveraging continuous innovation, advancing the core methodology and improving its industry knowledge, her company cannot keep its clients a step ahead of changing market dynamics.   

Whether working for its clients or the company itself, the team has to answer the same question of whether it is defining the future or defending the past?  Denise says the "DNA" of her company is all about defining the future, and this is something it helps its clients realize by getting out of their comfort zone to achieve continual success. 

Guidance to the Emerging Women Leaders 

Denise says that there are a number of things that emerging women entrepreneurs should think about to be successful. Her top five list for emerging women leaders seems simple to do, but the last one has been the one that has been the hardest for her to remember to do everyday and it is also the one that has the most positive :  

1. Always be exceptionally well prepared for every meeting and discussion, and dazzle peers, superiors and clients with strategic thinking and readiness for anything that will move the company or client forward.  This will increase their visibility in an appropriate way without being seen as boasting or arrogant. 

2. Emerging leaders must be confident in business knowledge, social manners and etiquette. Many women don't realize the value of a solid hand shake or appropriate cultural greeting with women or men and how it can create a memorable first impression! 

3. Treat customers as customers for life and devise ways to interact with them, even when they don't have the budget to make short-term purchases.  

4. Women leaders of tomorrow must upgrade their self-talk, and turn off their inner critic and instead turn on their inner coach. 

5. Leaders of tomorrow must make it a habit to celebrate small daily successes with their team.  Recognizing daily successes in a meaningful way supports your team and helps drive the company's performance.