Do Hard Things A Podcast With Gabe Lullo Ft. Alex Seiler

Gabe Lullo (0:00)

I'm Gabe Lullo, and welcome to the Do Hard Things Podcast. We're talking to go-to-market leaders and entrepreneurs who have conquered the challenges, the hustle and the grind. Get ready for real talk, real insights, and no fluff.

SPEAKER_2 (0:15)

But the hardest thing in the world right now is not actually closing deals, it's actually getting somebody's attention.

SPEAKER_3 (0:20)

If you don't have that hook in that first five to 10 seconds, guess what, they're gonna scroll to the next one.

SPEAKER_4 (0:25)

You need to go win, and you need to make it sound like yourself. That's the biggest piece of the puzzle. And I promise you, we can all tell.

SPEAKER_5 (0:31)

The people that are trolls, and the people that are haters, never done the thing that you're doing.

Lexi (0:36)

I love doing this podcast, because I get a front row seat to some of the greatest minds in sales.

SPEAKER_7 (0:44)

Gone are the days of saying stay in your lane. When you're an executive leader, and you're an enterprise-wide leader, there are no lanes. You've gotta be partners.

SPEAKER_8 (0:51)

Curiosity is like when the type of questions you ask is sometimes the value that you bring.

SPEAKER_7 (0:57)

I need you to tell me when you're ready to buy, or what you're ready to do. And I think it's changed so much into like adding more value. And if you're not doing that, then you're definitely going to come off as desperate.

SPEAKER_9 (1:07)

High-pressure selling is like a dinosaur tactic at this point. No parent is like, oh, you should be a salesperson when you grow up, right? Everyone's like a doctor, lawyer, whatever crap. It never sells people.

Gabe Lullo (1:19)

It's not your job to motivate people. It's your job to find motivated people.

SPEAKER_9 (1:24)

It's not cockiness.

SPEAKER_3 (1:25)

It's not arrogance.

SPEAKER_5 (1:26)

It's confidence knowing I know this and I know that I can help.

SPEAKER_4 (1:30)

From where I started to where I am today is all because I learned how to sell.

SPEAKER_7 (1:34)

There's too many people who have only been doing this for five freaking minutes. Sit down, close your mouth, actually go out there and get yourself beat up, then come back and tell me if something is dead or not.

Gabe Lullo (1:45)

That is exactly why I started this podcast because right there, that's the epitome of doing hard things.

Lexi (1:56)

Welcome back to the Do Hard Things Podcast with Lexi and Gabe. Today's guest, Alex Seiler, is a Chief People Officer, Keynote Speaker, and Startup Advisor who spent 20 plus years proving that people strategy is business strategy.

Alex's philosophy is simple. Think like a business leader first, people leader second. Whether it's supporting WeWork scale to $2 billion in revenue, navigating Citi through the 2008 financial crisis, or driving Control Risks multinational expansion, he partners with CEOs to solve business challenges through strategic talent decisions. After leading multiple startups as a Fractional Chief People Officer, Alex is ready to return to a full-time executive leadership position. He's a top 50 HR professional and an award-winning thought leader. Alex, welcome to the show.

Gabe Lullo (2:43)

Welcome everyone back to the Do Hard Things Podcast with Gabe and Lexi, of course, and Alex, Alex, we just heard your bio. We love your story. We are so excited for our audience to hear your story.

Welcome to the show, man. How you been?

Alex Seiler (2:55)

Thank you.

Gabe Lullo (2:56)

Good.

Alex Seiler (2:56)

Yeah, I listened to the bio and I was thinking, who is that person? He sounds great. And I was like, oh, they were joking about me.

Gabe Lullo (3:06)

I love it. Man, your personnel is infectious. We were in the green room talking. I'm just like, I can't wait for you to share your story with everyone, which let's start at the beginning, right? Let's start at that origin story.

Alex Seiler (3:18)

Yeah.

Gabe Lullo (3:19)

Because getting into what we do with leading people, it's not always the thing people go to college for, right? So how do you get into leadership? How do you get into people development? And really, what was it that shaped you into this career that you've chosen?

Alex Seiler (3:33)

Yeah, no, it's a great question. So you're right. It's interesting. These days, people actually are going to school to study HR. That was not the case. Now I'm going to age myself. And I got into it over 20 years ago.

And honestly, it's not a sexy origin story, to be honest. But I didn't choose HR. I always say it found me. So my first job in the space was as an HR, HRS analyst at Citigroup.