This interview, with Mark Towler, chief executive officer of Phase 2, is a refreshing view of common sense leadership and authentic team management. Building a business with family also adds a challenging element that Towler has achieved with a certain amount of style.It all started when Towler’s brother asked him to partner in a company back in the 90s focusing on wide area networks (remember those?), website development and data storage. That spinoff became Phase 2, now building world class software created by an elite team of top tier software engineers headquartered in Oklahoma City. While Oklahoma isn’t exactly a tech mecca, Towler and Phase 2 have found it a very good place to do business.Hearing how Towler and his team have built the business through practical decision-making, or as he puts it, saying no to the right things that makes it easier to say yes to the right things, is a good refresher course on doing business for the right reasons. That, says Towler, requires relentless focus on the business’s core DNA – in this case, heavy software engineering. What that means for Phase 2 is a smaller client base with larger spend.Staying true to Phase 2’s identity and focus while keeping his team challenged by solving new problems has been a key element in building Towler’s role as the CEO. Because his background is in sales, marketing, and finance he realized that chasing dollars to grow revenue doesn’t make for retaining the best and the brightest in a highly specialized niche.Towler and Phase 2 are on a successful path because they know who they want to be and they are authentic in staying in their lane. It’s a good lesson and a good listen.Learn more about Mark Towler and Phase 2You can find more information on all our episodes at Vertical Elevation, and you can find Carol on Twitter @carolbschultz or LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/carolbschultz/.

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