“A large part of my focus is to make sure everyone in our partner ecosystem is successful and managing the big picture,” says Collins. “A career in the channel is a commitment to the long-term and to people.”
It’s a commitment that Collins takes very seriously. Throughout his flourishing career, Collins has held positions in product management, business development, and marketing. Collins joined Cisco in 2000 and was an integral part of Cisco’s current branding and demand generation strategy. Mark attributes his success to vision and people.
“Create a vision and bring people on board,” says Collins. “In the channel, you must have a strong sense of urgency and you have to win the hearts and minds of the people within your channel partners.”
That passion and the love of helping others is what drives Collins each day.
“My favourite days are the ones where I’m with my team and we’re helping the customer grow their business,” says Collins. “As we’re working with people we are literally helping them build their dreams. That’s powerful.”
Collins has held various senior leadership positions at Cisco Canada and modestly attributes his successful leadership to the people on his team and less to himself.
“Leaders are at their best when they are a leader among leaders,” says Collins. “You have to allow people to lead with you.”
That strategy has helped make the difference as Collins continues to successfully grow Cisco’s partner community across Canada.
As a member of the Canadian Channel Chief Council Collins shares his insight and expertise with a wide variety of channel leaders. Aware that there’s a much smaller community of channel leaders in Canada compared to the US, he knows growing requires a team effort.
“There’s plenty of business for all of us,” says Collins. “Working together on something meaningful just makes sense because truly we are better together.”