Pamela Springer – President & CEO, Manta

President and CEO of the largest free source of information for small businesses, Pam Springer keeps her company strong by staying in touch with her execs – and then getting out of the way.

By Taylor Mallory

For Pamela Springer, president and CEO of Manta, the largest free online source of information on small companies, leadership means asking a lot of questions but letting her 45 employees run the show – offering data on more than 63 million firms worldwide and enabling business professionals to promote their companies, sell faster and make business connections. “I set high standards, measure analytics and pay attention to details. And I’m very specific about goals,” explains Springer. “Each quarter, I ask each department to set goals for what we’ll focus on during those three months – and the next. And we put metrics around that.”

Every morning at 8:45, the veteran executive with more than 20 years of experience growing technology-based companies, gathers her six direct reports for their daily stand-up meeting. “Everyone comes in or dials in and tells the big thing they accomplished yesterday, the most important thing they need to accomplish today and what’s blocking them. It creates a rhythm among leaders, and everyone knows what’s going on.” Then, they conduct the same meeting with their teams each morning. “It creates open communication and provides opportunities for recognition. The guy who was up at 3:00 in the morning restarting the server gets to tell everyone and be appreciated for it.”

Here she talks to PINK about growth strategies for small business, heli-hiking and coloring outside the lines.

PINK: How do you motivate your team?
Pamela Springer: I let them make local decisions. I set objectives, boundaries and expected outcomes. They determine which features we work on and the priorities – the manner in which we get there. That’s their expertise. I hire smart people and let them do what they’re really good at. I ask probing questions and hold them accountable, but I let them define the “how” and what happens over what period of time.

PINK: What’s your best advice for professional women?
P.S.: I really believe women need to be hit on the forehead and reminded it’s OK to color outside the lines. Women typically have a strong sense of order. That’s good, but your strength can be your weakness there. It’s important to innovate, to change and structure things differently than before. Forget about the perceived boundaries. Don’t be biased to business models. Challenge them.

PINK: What is the biggest challenge for companies in this environment?
P.S.: To understand their core value propositions and target market. And is your brand really clear around that? Being average at seven things isn’t as valuable as being really good at one thing. After all the chaos, what are you able to be best at in the world? And are your goals and brand aligned with that?

PINK: What’s your best advice for small business owners?
P.S.: Women business owners need to be more aggressive in looking for funding if they really want to grow their businesses. Historically, they’ve been more apt to bootstrap it, rather than reaching out for venture funding, for example. It’s hard for anyone to raise money in this environment, and venture capital isn’t being given to anyone in droves. But it’s a viable channel to learn more about and pursue, and women should strongly consider it to boost their ability to do more things in parallel. Going to the state or commercial banks for loans are other traditional options. But the risk-reward-return ratio is different than with venture money. Plus, you typically get experienced investors who can give sound advice and help build your rolodex.

PINK: What is the best business advice you’ve ever received?
P.S.: I love Stephen Covey’s advice – to seek first to understand before you’re understood. From tactical things to HR issues to headlines coming across, it’s better to research and understand before you react. You don’t want to waste time, but measure what you say. You’re held accountable to it as a leader. So you need to have done reasonable diligence, so you feel comfortable with your response – even if that’s just saying “Tell me more.” Things aren’t always as they appear. You can waste your time and take people in the wrong direction if you don’t.

PINK: What is your workplace pet peeve?
P.S.: People being late for meetings. Even if it’s only five minutes late for an hour meeting, you either lose that time or make the meeting run over – and everyone else late for their next appointments.

PINK: How do you manage your Life/Work balance?
P.S.: I have a 23-year-old son. I learned to have perspective and accept that sometimes life won’t be balanced. I try to have a routine to different parts of my day, at home and work. There are benefits to consistency, but you have to be open to change if something important comes up. As my son was growing up, he was given responsibilities to handle around the house. I always tried to be home by 6:30 at minimum. And in the evenings, after he went to bed, I could go back and finish work. Today, I’m usually in the office by 7:30 and work until 6:30. In the morning or after work, I run or work out on the elliptical. Then, I practice piano. I started taking lessons four years ago, so I need it. Unless I have to attend some event, I read and watch some TV. I love Grey’s Anatomy and House.

PINK: What do you do to rejuvenate yourself?
P.S.: I like to go on hiking vacations. I’ve done Machu Pichu. It was eight days to climb 14,500 feet. The altitude was harder than I thought it would be. And I’ve done heli-hiking. They drop you somewhere, and you hike back for about seven days.

PINK: What don’t most people know about you?
P.S.: I’ve completed five marathons. My parents are immigrants, so I spoke German before English. And I was a college basketball player. Our team made it to the final four.

PINK: What’s your motto?
P.S.: “It’s not worth it unless you’re all in.” It’s hard for me to have casual games of anything. I’d rather have two things on my list and do them exceptionally than do an average job on several things. If someone asks me to be on and advisory board, for example, I’d rather not accept if I already know that it will be hard for me to make the majority of the meetings.

PINK: What is one personal goal you haven’t yet achieved?
P.S.: To climb Mount Everest. But I understand that would take a very intense level of training and would monopolize a lot of time. So if I can’t put the time into it, I’d at least like to climb to the base.