Why Every Sales and Marketing Team Needs a “Boundary Spanner”

In almost every successful technology implementation we have seen, there is a very special profile of the person leading the effort. This Most Valuable Player of technology implementations is a boundary spanner. Boundary spanners cut across business and technology in their experience. They have empathy for the commercial mindset (“Get it done. Produce results”) as well as the IT mindset (“Design for long term. Control risk.”)  Although our experience is with sales and marketing, we suspect this leader profile is critical in other domains as well. This article explains what boundary spanners do, how they do it — and how organizations can create more of them.