Magdeleine Bourgoin ─ Committed sales operations leader driving results and ushering change across organizations…
June 22, 2022 • 3 Minute Read
Updated October 2022
Magdeleine Bourgoin
VP, EMEA & LATAM GTM Sales Acceleration
Palo Alto Networks
(Previously—Vice President of Worldwide
Strategy & Sales Accelerations
VMware)
Are you looking for a committed sales operations leader who continuously drives results and ushers in change across organizations? We know the person—Magdeleine Bourgoin!
Magdeleine (Mado) Bourgoin is the Vice President of Worldwide Strategy and Sales Acceleration for VMware. She leads a team of about 1000 people, and is responsible for driving transformation of sales operations into a proactive organization optimized for multi-cloud and SaaS business. Mado’s dedication to her role and her team has allowed her to drive results above and beyond expectation, and she is known for her strong ability to usher in change across organizations and increase engagement.
Please meet this IT Wondrous Woman™, Mado Bourgoin!
Our 10 Questions for this IT Wondrous Woman.
Fun Facts
1. What’s the one thing about you that your business colleagues don’t know about you?
I was a bit of a troublemaker as a kid. This was especially true while my dad was serving as the Chief of Staff to French President Mitterrand. Our home phone was monitored and my brother and I loved making prank phone calls knowing they were being overheard by government officials!
2. Before the pandemic, how many air miles/KMs did you flying annually?
Quite a lot. I typically had at least one big work trip every month and I was also living in California and flying back to my homeland of France regularly.
3. What is the most adventurous food you have eaten and what city/location did you eat it?
I’ve eaten some pretty interesting things—including (imported) snake in Tahiti, which was quite good and reminded me of chicken.
Your Career
4. What are the top two experiences, achievements or failures that shaped your journey as a successful leader?
The first experience that comes to mind is when I took on the role of Chief of Staff to the head of Sales. I had to completely define for myself what this role was going to be and navigate my way through the Executives suite.
The other experience came at Cisco when I helped merge our solutions engineers with professional services. It was a real experience of all the challenges and opportunities that come with change management.
5. Did you have a mentor in the early part of your career and, if so, what is the biggest lesson you learned from your mentor or influencer?
I had a great manager early in my career who believed in me and helped put me on my own path toward management. He my first mentor, and I learned the importance of building a good support system and asking for help, which I wasn’t always good at. Another big ah-ha moment was when a mentor taught me how to better navigate office politics by reframing it as an opportunity to influence.
Walking In Your Shoes
6. What is one piece of business or career advice you would give to your younger self?
The most important thing I’d tell my younger self is to be yourself. I spent so many years thinking that the only way to succeed in my career was to act tough, like the men I saw succeeding around me. Finally, I decided to just be myself, and it was freeing.
7. As a leader, how do you remain a resource for people early in their careers?
Whenever I meet someone who is just starting out in their career, I always take the time to offer advice or some informal mentoring. I’ve also enjoyed doing some career coaching for high school and college girls who have an interest in tech.
Today’s Business Environment
8. What is the most interesting project you have worked on in the last few years?
The most interesting projects I’ve worked on in recent years have all revolved around some type of transformation. Right now, I’m part of our shift toward a SaaS business model. And I love these moments—figuring out how to navigate change and get people excited about it.
9. What skills are you currently developing or refining (in yourself) that will make you a more successful leader in the digital economy?
As far as hard skills go, I’m digging deep into learning about SaaS models—that’s where the future of our company is. On the soft skills side, I’m still learning to let go of the need to be perfect. I love that saying, “Perfection is the enemy of progress.”
10. What is your greatest business challenge today?
The biggest business challenge we’re facing today is hiring and retaining the right people. It’s harder in the virtual environment to build teams and keep people engaged. But if you can get it right, you’ll always find a way to execute, solve problems, and get the job done.
