Confluent Champion: Alex’s Leadership Journey in the Workplace

Excited by the possibilities offered by Confluent’s data in motion technology, Alex Lamy joined our company five years ago. Now, as Regional Sales Director in France, Alex heads up a sales team that stretches across Belgium, France, Luxembourg, Switzerland and Maghreb.

Let’s learn about Alex’s career journey and how he’s developing his leadership role at Confluent.

What made you interested in working at Confluent?

Before joining Confluent I worked at MongoDB, where I could see how important Kafka was going to be in the future for companies looking to take control of their data. Confluent was an emerging technology at that time, but I recognized its huge potential to transform how organizations could work with Kafka.

I have a lot of experience working with companies starting out in Europe and there was a great opportunity to come into Confluent early and lead the go-to-market approach in France.

Tell us about your journey in the last five years

What drew me to Confluent was seeing the trust and autonomy given to others and that’s something I’ve experienced continuously since I joined. It’s lived up to my expectations as a healthy and positive environment to take the next step in my career.

I started as a sales representative and as the Confluent business grew in Europe we set up a new sales team in France, which I’ve led since July 2021. My responsibilities now are very different from when I first joined and my priorities have changed as a result. Empowering everyone on my team and enabling them to be successful is my focus, rather than personal sales targets.

What does a typical day look like for a Regional Sales Director?

As a sales leader, my role is much more about supporting, than leading. I’m here to empower my team to succeed and that involves working with them to secure sales, deliver the right experience to customers, and convey our value to companies that are new to Confluent or Kafka. 

The customer experience is really important to me, so a lot of my input is in advising how we can bring the greatest value to our customers.

Moving away from being in control of individual sales to supporting a team of salespeople has definitely required a shift in approach and thinking. My success is now defined by the collective success of my team. 

How would you describe Confluent’s company culture?

What makes Confluent great is the people. We trust each other, we go the extra mile to help one another, and people care and want you to be successful. 

As we have grown, we have had to be more structured but people aren’t afraid to ask for support or step in when colleagues need help. We’ve been able to foster a culture of autonomy and trust between one another and that’s really empowering for everyone. 

Can you tell us what it’s like to be a leader at Confluent?

Being in leadership is both hard and exciting, and I’m constantly learning on that journey.

Throughout my career, my criteria for taking on a new role has always been about three aspects. The conditions – can I perform at my best? The opportunities – are there enough ways to grow and learn? And the environment – is it healthy and motivating?

Now that I am leading a team, I’m committed to ensuring these three aspects shine through for the people I work with.

Everyone needs to feel they can be successful and thrive in the environment I’m creating. I’m creating a diverse team, which brings different perspectives and experiences, with varying ways of thinking and ways people express themselves. I’ve learned how valuable this is in making a successful team.

Tell us something great about working at Confluent.

I take my team on off-site days throughout the year, to learn from each other but also to have fun. Confluent is a remote-first business, which is great in supporting a good work-life balance, but getting together in person is a great way to build team spirit and motivation.

During the pandemic, I moved to Annecy with my family, near the Swiss and Italian borders, which has been amazing. I’ve been able to bring my team to Annecy to wakeboard on the lake in the Summer and paraglide down the mountains in the Winter. It’s been a great way to bring the team together and get to know one another outside of work.

Finally, what’s the best decision you made in your career?

Never settle for being too comfortable in a role – always strive for more! 

Interested in finding out more about Confluent France? Come join us today!