Building high-performing teams and driving followership: A conversation with Matt Carter, the CEO of Intrado

Matt Carter, CEO of Intrado, the Stonepeak-backed provider of 9-1-1 critical infrastructure and technology solutions, and a board member at both JLL and NRG Energy, sits down with Heidrick & Struggles’ Jessica Gentile and Francesca “Chessy” Michel, to discuss his approach to building high-performance teams, the particular leadership skills or capabilities that are most important, and creating strong organizational cultures and driving followership. He also shares how his experience as CEO of both public- and private equity–backed companies as well as a board member shapes his thinking, and discusses the trends he foresees in the digital infrastructure sector and how he thinks teams should prepare to stay ahead of challenges.

Below is a full transcript of the episode, which has been lightly edited for clarity. 

Welcome to the Heidrick & Struggles Leadership Podcast. Heidrick is the premier global provider of senior-level executive search and leadership consulting services. Diversity and inclusion, leading through tumultuous times, and building thriving teams and organizations are among the core issues we talk with leaders about every day, including in our podcasts. Thank you for joining the conversation.

Chessy Michel: Hi, and welcome to the Heidrick & Struggles’ Leadership Podcast. I'm Chessy Michel, a member of our global Technology & Services Practice and a core member of our digital infrastructure team. Today, I'm joined by my colleague Jess Gentile. Jessica, I'll let you introduce yourself. 

Jess Gentile: Great. Happy to be here, Chessy. Thanks so much. I'm Jessica Gentile, partner at Heidrick in our global Technology & Services Practice. I sit in Chicago and I’m pleased to be part of this series. 

Chessy Michel: Thanks Jess. Today, we're excited to be joined here by Matt Carter, CEO of Intrado, the Stonepeak-backed provider of 9-1-1 critical infrastructure and technology solutions.

Appointed as CEO in 2023, Matt brings over 25 years of senior leadership experience in enterprise networking, cloud, and digital technology industries. In addition to his role at Intrado, Matt also serves in the boards of JLL and NRG Energy. 

Matt, we're excited to have you here today and welcome to the podcast. 

Matt Carter: Thanks for having me. It's great to be here. 

Chessy Michel: To start off here, I'll jump in: Matt, what is your approach to building high-performance teams?

Matt Carter: You know, my approach to building high-performing teams really revolves around three key principles: clarity, capability, and culture. 

First, let me deal with clarity. It's important, in terms of clarity, that there’s a vision and goals to ensure that everyone on the team understands the direction and their role in achieving it. So, when people understand what the vision and the mission are, it makes it a lot easier for them to understand what their role is in helping us to fulfill it. 

Second, capability: focusing on recruiting and developing the right individuals. It's not just the experience, but it's also the mindset that's also critically important. 

And then third, culture: really emphasizing and fostering an environment of trust, of collaboration, and of continuous improvement. So, what I look at, in terms of building high performing teams, are three things: clarity—it's absolutely essential—capability, and culture. Those are the three things. 

Jess Gentile: And when you think about your career over time—you've been a very successful CEO in both public- and private-backed companies, private equity companies—how does that shape the thinking? Does that play a factor as you think about the depth and breadth of experience you have in different structures, cadences, etc.?

How do you think about that as you consider building teams based on the environment you're in? 

Matt Carter: You know, I equate it to sports. Because I'm from Boston, I always used Boston sports teams, and particularly Bill Belichick. They always used to ask him, “What kind of football did the Patriots play?” And he said, “We don't have a particular style. It's all situational football.” 

What he really meant by that was every opponent brings something different. You don't want to be the guy with the hammer who thinks every problem looks like a nail, where you just go about it the same way, with the same approach. Certainly, you want to play to your team's strengths.

So, when I look at my background and the things that I've been able to accomplish, I think it's really been due to my flexibility. I've been able to adapt and maneuver, and not be stuck with one approach to any particular situation.

Having led both public- and private equity-backed companies, and also VCs, I've learned the importance of adaptability and strategic alignment. Those are important things.

In terms of the experience that I've had in public companies, there's a strong focus on transparency and accountability to shareholders, with the appropriate governance framework and consistent communication. 

So, on the public side, you have to certainly be a lot more transparent, more willing and open. You’ve got to remember that you're there for your shareholders. In private equity, you're there for them. But there is a communication cadence that's absolutely essential. 

In private equity-backed companies, agility and results-driven mindsets are absolutely essential to heighten the emphasis on value, rapid growth, and creation. In private equity, I find there tends to be a lot more emphasis on “How do we go at it quicker, faster?” to accrete value as quickly as you possibly can. Certainly, on the public side, people certainly want value accretion as quickly as they can, but it's done with a little bit more of a structured approach because of the transparency and accountability for the public markets that you have to provide.

Chessy Michel: Are there any particular leadership skills or capabilities you think are most important for people to have as you're hiring effective leadership teams, Matt? 

Matt Carter: Absolutely. Effective leadership teams absolutely have to possess strategic thinking. The world isn't static and the world isn't linear, so you have to have really good strategic thinking skills. 

You also need emotional intelligence. Remember, at the end of the day, you're in the people business and you have to motivate people. You have to get them to buy in. It's no longer the “my way or the highway” approach to stuff. People want to be convinced, and you have to be able to have the right emotional intelligence to know how to work with different types of people to bring out the best in them. 

And then lastly, resiliency. At the end of the day, you know, business is a day-to-day combat. You're going to get knocked down, and you have to get back up. You're going to have bad presentation days; you're going to have bad outcomes, bad quarters. But at the same time, you have to keep on keeping on. And so, I think all of these things. Emotional intelligence fosters strong relationships, and team cohesion, and resilience is essential in overcoming setbacks and driving sustained performance.

Then you need to be able to effectively communicate with people. I was telling somebody just recently that we had set forth a set of motions here in the company and somebody said, “You know, we've already said that like three or four times in different communications.” Yep. We're going say it a fifth time. We're going say it a sixth time. 

You have to constantly keep reminding people and reinforcing the message, so that everybody has cognition. So that it becomes, literally, almost like breathing air. It's just part of how we do things on a day-to-day basis. 

Chessy Michel: I want to go back to something you said earlier, because I think it's so important. You are known for building strong cultures and driving followership. How do you create and maintain a strong team culture that drives performance, drives engagement?

Matt Carter: So, I always say the star of the team is the team, and it's only about me to the extent that it's about us. It's only about me to the extent that I'm doing my part to make sure that I'm creating an environment that allows my team to be successful.

I never understood leaders who go out of their way to not help their teammates be successful. Maybe it's just an old sports guy in me, but I want everybody on my team to do their part to be successful because it helps us to be successful. So, it's a philosophy that I have: the star of the team is the team, and everybody on the team needs to be doing their part, making their sacrifice. You have to do your job to help the team to succeed. 

Part of my job as a leader is to make sure that I'm creating an environment that allows that. That ensures there's trust and collaboration. I view myself as a player-coach: I'm not just a guy you come in and just give an update to, but I'm in the game with you.

Jess Gentile: Building on that idea of being in the game with the team: in addition to your CEO role, you're also on the board of two public companies, JLL and NRG Energy. When you think about these board roles in addition to your executive role, how has that shaped your thinking as a CEO? 

Matt Carter: That’s an excellent question. So, I think the first thing is that most people who get on public company boards have shown some kind of track record of success. You find yourself surrounded by really talented, smart people. 

And then, if you're open-minded, you embrace that and think “Hey, I can learn, I can grow.” They may work in different industries, they may have grown up differently. I grew up in marketing. They may have grown up in finance or product or whatever it may be, and they bring a different perspective.

And so, as a leader, it’s really about growing. Yeah, we get paid for what we know. But what makes the biggest difference is taking that path of what you didn't know. What you find in a lot of companies and lot of people is that they stay with what they know.

For me, and for the kind of team that I want, I want people who want to explore. I'm not just interested in what I know—I already know what I know! Tell me something that I don't know that helps me and helps us to be better. 

Chessy Michel: That's excellent. Well, Matt, thank you. As we wrap up here, looking ahead, what trends do you foresee in the digital infrastructure sector? How should teams prepare to stay ahead of all those changes? 

Matt Carter: You know, things are moving at a rapid pace. Your mind is overloaded with all types of information. Data is increasingly becoming the currency to engage, to get smarter, to inform, to anticipate. AI is playing a big role. 

And so, I think that for organizations and people, staying informed is crucial. You have to make sure you're not standing still, because if you are, something's going catch up to you and bite you. You have to keep moving, keep growing, keep learning. 

When I look at the trends ahead, I think this whole thing with AI is—we're seeing it on our end—it’s going to have massive impacts in terms of how we serve customers, how work sets get done. Understanding that is really top of mind for all of us here at Intrado. 

Chessy Michel: That's great. Keep moving, keep growing. 

Matt, thank you so much. This was so much fun. 

Matt Carter: Thank you. Appreciate it. Take care everybody.

Chessy Michel: Thanks Matt. 

Matt Carter: Bye-Bye.

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About the interviewers

Jessica Gentile (jgentile@heidrick.com) is a partner in Heidrick & Struggles’ Chicago office and a member of the Financial Officers Practice, the global CEO & Board of Directors Practice, and the global Technology & Services Practice.

Francesca Michel (fmichel@heidrick.com) is a principal in Heidrick & Struggles’ Washington, DC, office and a member of the global Technology & Services Practice.