CEO MONTHLY / ISSUE 1 2023 7 The Future Is Simple In the past 15 years POWER SHIFTER has redefined itself over and over, shifting with the times to provide truly groundbreaking experiences to digital product users. We spoke to CEO JP Holecka, British Columbia’s CEO of the Year 2022, to find out more. POWER SHIFTER was founded with the idea that agencies and clients could co-create in much healthier ways, leading to better outcomes and longer relationships.” - JP Holecka, CEO Business is digital. That’s a fact of working today – you need to be incorporating digital processes into your operations to thrive in this ever-evolving environment. That is often easier said than done, and many struggle to know the best way forward when faced with endless options for how to transform their businesses or offerings. It can help to remember that even our most complex challenges don’t require complicated solutions: in fact, today’s leading companies are those that provide simple and accessible experiences to their users. With this in mind, POWER SHIFTER has shown true leadership by simplifying digital transformation and shifting clients’ most complex challenges into straightforward, powerful experiences that people love to use. CEO JP founded POWER SHIFTER to deliver industry-leading digital solutions and, just as crucially, to spur a paradigm shift in agency culture. Contrary to the reputation agencies have gained as breeding grounds for burnout and outdated hierarchies, POWER SHIFTER is a true pacesetter when it comes to promoting diversity, understanding, and creativity at every level. “Our industry is notorious for long hours, toxic work environments, and a lack of equity and inclusion. I have made it my mission to advocate for more empathetic work environments that are safe places for ideas to foster. I also have the most amazing and equally frustrating ‘one-two punch’ of being heavily on the ADHD and dyslexia spectrums. I am open about my differences and I encourage others to do the same: often, they’re what push us to be truly innovative. Those are two of my proudest achievements so far.” “We provide digital transformation services through the lens of service design, human-centred design, the most advanced programming languages, innovative CMSs, and cloud services.” This only offers a small insight – albeit a potent one – into JP’s leadership style, which has gained confidence and strength as the effectiveness of this approach became more evident. “My leadership style has become what I hope is perceived as a quiet confidence. When I started this agency, I knew more about what I didn’t want to do than what I wanted to do — so for the first five or six years, I had to make a lot of it up as I went along. I balanced my imposter syndrome with my firm belief that leaders can be empathetic champions of diversity. As with our products, I wanted to take a human-centric approach — so I observed, listened, and iterated. I now feel like I can enter into almost any situation with the confidence that I’ll be able to lead the way forward, and in the right direction,” JP elaborates. POWER SHIFTER operates in industries that have to deliver results through the utilisation of complex technologies. The difficulty lies in delivering these technologies and solutions in a way that is seamless, easy to understand, and accessible to clients and end-users alike. “Achieving simplicity for our clients’ digital products is never easy — in fact, most ‘simple’ experiences (think: the sleek interface of smartphones) are informed by complex technologies. Using Design Thinking processes, we create award-winning, simple experiences that win the hearts and loyalty of our clients’ customers.” This wouldn’t be possible without a culture of internal trust at POWER SHIFTER. “POWER SHIFTER is an extremely ‘high trust’ environment, which is critical to creating an organization that can make decisions as autonomously as possible. A high-trust environment also means tapping into the whole team’s collective intelligence and innovative ideas, not just those of the loudest or highest paid employees. Sadly, many agencies are still not too far off from the days of Mad Men, which is based on a top-down model that perpetuates fear and distrust.” So, what does the future of POWER SHIFTER have in store? How does JP plan to capitalise on the last 15 years of success and the recognition within the CEO of the Year programme? “I’ll focus my next 12 months on a new venture that will take our agency to even greater heights and expose us to more exciting clients. POWER SHIFTER has joined forces with three other agencies across North America under the brand ‘Trove.’ Together, we’ll provide Brand Design, Digital Product & Service Design, Content Production, and Performance Digital Media. Driven by the same culture of curiosity, creativity, and diversity that guides us at POWER SHIFTER, we’ll bring integrated agency service without big agency baggage.” Nov22444 “ Company Name: POWER SHIFTER Digital Contact: JP Holecka Address: 228 East Georgia Street Suite 300, Vancouver, British Columbia V6A 1Z7, Canada Website: http://powershifter.com, https://www.trovenetwork.com/ Contact Email: [email protected] Telephone Number: +1604-562-4701
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