Constant Contact’s CEO on How Mentorship Has Helped Him Focus on the Long Game

Why mentorship can be an invaluable career aid, according to Frank Vella, CEO of Constant Contact:

• Mentors can help you see the larger picture and guide you so you can learn the business ropes faster.
• Mentors can be a precious sounding board when you have to make uncharted or difficult decisions.
• Peer-to-peer mentors can be a steadying and calm presence and help you see the long-term vision for your career more clearly.

Frank Vella is the CEO of Constant Contact, the e-commerce platform that provides small businesses with digital marketing tools.

Prior to joining Constant Contact, Vella built best-in-class operations at various-sized tech firms across the globe, including top-tier companies like Microsoft, GE Capital, HP Enterprise, and Xerox. He has led companies through growth, transformation, and successful exits while remaining focused on building a terrific culture and keeping a company's product and presence ahead of the crowd.

Vella tells CO— how great example-setting from mentors coupled with his immigrant parents’ advice has helped him carve out a successful career.

CO—: Who have your biggest mentors been—and why?

FV: I would put my mentors into different buckets. There have been a few who have been willing to help me situationally in every step of life. After deciding, much to my parents’ dismay, that I would not become an accountant, I went into sales at Xerox but I was not your typical salesperson. As someone who loves numbers, I understood the science but not the art behind selling. My mentor there, Ranji Prasad, taught me that numbers alone aren’t enough for sales, you have to understand the human element too.

From leaders like Jack Welch and Gary Wendt at GE Capital, I learned how to run a business, how to manage both the top and bottom line.

I then spent the next decade at Microsoft, where you gain access to mentors based on your strengths and weaknesses. I had great mentors who were icons of industry, like Gerri Elliott, who was then at Cisco, and Kevin Johnson, who was CEO of Starbucks. They gave me a well-rounded approach to business in terms of numbers, people, process, and vision, and were instrumental in turning me into an executive. One of the themes at Microsoft that really made leaders stand out was the concept of making others great: Are you building growth and personal development for yourself as well as for your teams?

After Microsoft, I worked for startup Virtustream until it got acquired by EMC. From the founder, Rodney Rogers, I learned that growing revenue from zero to 10 million was the most difficult piece of the equation. I learned how to leverage partnerships, raise capital, and sell a vision. Rodney taught me that the real job of a CEO is to create value.

[Read more: Execs From PepsiCo and Macy’s to Salesforce Reveal Their Mentors’ Best Advice]

CO—: Complete the sentence: “Had I not had mentors…”

FV: Had I not had mentors or coaches or advisors, or aspirations through the example of people I wanted to model, I wouldn’t have achieved these professional milestones. They showed me what growth in a career looked like.

I am the son of blue-collar immigrants from Malta and learned to make the most of any opportunity that came my way. My parents taught me that if you ask for help and be respectful, people will help. Mentors showed me what existed outside of my blue-collar immigrant neighborhood.

CO—: What’s the best advice you have received from your mentors?

FV: The acceptance of failure as part of the journey. When I was younger and more aggressive, the goal was the most important thing. But I learned at GE Capital that the ends do not justify the means. How you get there is as important as getting there. I learned the calmness of a long-game approach as opposed to a quarterly one. That has been great for me and the company.

CO—: What characteristics do your mentors have that make them especially good?

FV: Sincerity is number one. They actually loved mentoring and did it for your benefit, not theirs. That’s what I try to bring to my own mentoring. Also, they have experience, which gives them foresight. If you've done things well long enough and often enough, you can anticipate what might happen, and that experience is very valuable to a mentee.

Sometimes, just the act of listening is immense. Particularly as CEO, I don't have a peer in the company so I can go to my mentors and discuss what I’m thinking. If I can hear myself talk about a problem for five minutes, I can probably come up with the solution by myself. Listening is the most active part of being a mentor.

And so I would sum up their most valuable traits as: sincerity, the experience to add value, and the patience to listen.

[Read more: Constant Contact Wants to Help SMBs Monetize Content Via AI]

CO—: How have your mentors shaped your perspective regarding mentoring others? How do you pick whom you mentor?

FV: As the CEO of a company, I view mentoring as a self-imposed, mandatory requirement. I always like to be mentoring one or two people within the company, and these are people I envision will grow into the most senior level. Mentoring is an investment in that growth.

I make sure my company has formalized mentoring programs [such as one] for high-potential employees to get exposure to cross-functional projects and executives. And the other is to amplify diversity and opportunity within our company.

I mentor one person outside of the company, somebody who asked. I thought he had all the ingredients and passion to make a good fit.

I’m also involved in a lot of peer-to-peer mentoring through a few CEO groups and roundtables. We take that offline and help each other. I'm the go-to guy for small business and marketing topics.

CO—: How would you say your attitude toward mentorship has evolved over the years?

FV: Years ago, when a board member suggested helping me offline, it felt like a threat: This board member wants to tell me what to do and learn about my company. Slowly, you mature, and you realize that it’s an invitation to be helped and I have started embracing that. It has brought me back to my early days when I was not hesitant to ask for help. Over the years, I have embraced mentorship even more.

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