#3 The power of purpose in your career with John Rocker

In this episode, Sue Quackenbush sits down with John Rocker who is Director of Social Media at Dynatrace.

John talks about how finding purpose for his work has helped him go from his first days at Dynatrace to big moments like launching an Employee Advocacy Program and even being part of the company going public in New York. He also gives tips on how anyone can find purpose in their jobs.

Episode links:

• Sue Quackenbush's LinkedIn
• John Rocker's LinkedIn

Discover the opportunities at Dynatrace and take your career to the next level: careers.dynatrace.com

Transcript

Sue Quackenbush

Hi and welcome to Real Talks. I'm Sue Quackenbush, Chief People Officer at Dynatrace and your podcast host. I'm inviting Dynatracers from around the globe to have real conversations about their experiences shaping our vibrant global culture. 

Welcome to this episode of Real Talks. I am thrilled to have John Rocker as my guest today. John has been managing Dynatrace's social media for the past six years and this episode will go beyond the day-to-day tasks and dive into the why behind the work, really the purpose that drives us. Let's get started. John, how are you feeling today?

John Rocker

I'm doing excellent today. How are you?

Sue Quackenbush

I am doing really well, speaking to you from Austria. So it's beautiful here. Can you tell our listeners a bit more about yourself?

John Rocker

I am located out of our U.S. headquarters in Waltham, Massachusetts . Just a little bit of west of Boston. So, I am currently a FLEX worker here at Dynatrace, which means I am in the office part-time working remotely. Others. The experience has been truly fantastic too. To be honest, I love the flexibility of being able to go into the office for days when we have big meetings or these things happening there. And being a parent with two children, it's also very nice to have that flexibility of being home for school events, after school, sports, and stuff of that nature. So it's been a really great dynamic for me, really great for my family and  appreciate the flexibility it's been offered here for us.

Sue Quackenbush

I totally agree. And I know that having raised two young daughters who are now young adults, but the flexibility is tremendous. So with joining Dynatrace and love at first sight for you.

It was "What is Dynatrace, actually?". So it will be six years for me here and can't believe when I say that out loud. It still almost feels like I joined about a week ago. But at the time I was working for a financial services organization and I was contacted by a recruiter from Dynatrace about a role here on social media. And I was like, wait, what is what is Dynatrace? What is this thing you're talking about? But had an opportunity to come and meet the team, talk with a few folks, kind of really felt the energy and kind of the vibe from everyone that I was speaking with. And it seemed like a great opportunity for me to take the next step in my career. So it was maybe not love at first sight, but it was. I'm very curious to see where this can go. And six years later, it's going very well.

Sue Quackenbush

Well, I love that. And so, for six years now, what excites you about your role at Dynatrace?

John Rocker

In the time that I've been here at Dynatrace, one of the I think reasons why I stay is because you're you know, you're empowered to to make recommendations, to make choices make decisions and you know push the reasons why you feel that way. So you have that seat at the table to say, I think we should be doing this because it will lead to X, Y, Z. and one of the things that I was feeling very fortunate to have brought on board was an employee advocacy program for our Dynatrace this year across the globe. So an employee advocacy program is a way that a person like me, you know, in social media has a platform you want to call it, where we just have this array of a curated library of content that we're able to push out to all of our users there. So individuals who might be a little bit hesitant to be on social media don't really know what to post, and don't maybe have the time because they're there. Often, meetings are traveling, etc.. This is an avenue where they can go into this platform, and review some stuff about Dynatrace news. Maybe there's things in talent acquisition, or we're hiring for roles that we can have our employees push out things about thought, leadership, whatever it may be, a number of different topics, but they can go there, and they can know that this is safe material for them to be sharing on their social media. And it gets them active, it gets them engaged. It's kind of an introduction where long term the goal is they'll get into a regular cadence of using social media. They'll know how to speak with their audience, to know the content that resonates with them. So at the end of the day, maybe they can do this on their own, but they've found their voice and they can see how it's impacting them professionally and building their personal brand. But also we tie that into how it's having an impact on business. So all of the activities that they're doing, we know that it's driving brand visibility for Dynatrace. We know that it's potentially bringing in new business for the company. So enabling a program like we have here at Dynatrace and having leadership say we believe in that. John, go ahead and do it and let's let's prove the value. And just being a trusted to do that and build it out and grow it and see that the success that it's had and being able to empower lots of folks from from from sales, product engineering, R&D, talent acquisition, so many different folks from different groups around the globe, administrates use this program to just enhance their their social media exposure. You're an experience and it's a it's a great learning for them. It's a great asset for us as a company. And it's something that I that I really love doing. I think the innovative work that goes on within the card as a dynatrace is something that just gets me excited to get up every day and just wonder how can we make this more social for our audience and how are we going to get this message out there?

Sue Quackenbush

And was there ever a specific moment when you realized the importance of your role at Dynatrace?

John Rocker

I would say I think the like, whoa, kind of all fit for me as a few years ago when we were invited back to the New York Stock Exchange, I believe it was the second anniversary of the Dynatrace IPO. And I was actually invited to join the closing ceremony to actually go up on the platform to ring the closing bell. And I was like, You got to be kidding me, right? Guy does like social media. I mean, there are so many more people that I felt could be deserving, been here longer, have contributed more to the product, but just to, you know, be be nominated by our leadership team and asked to kind of join them and be a part of, you know, a pretty historic day for the company, really just kind of cemented. You know, like I said, the value of the respect that people have for the work that I do and still kind of just talking about it, I'm a little bit like, well, did that happen? I always say kind of just felt like Forrest Gump, one of my favorite movies, and somehow I've stumbled my way through history and and found my way. You know, being out there with a number of great colleagues up there to bring the closing bell. So that was really okay. This is this is pretty cool. I guess I'm doing an okay job here.

Sue Quackenbush

You know, sometimes the little things make the biggest difference. Can you recall a seemingly small task that had a ripple effect?

John Rocker

Oof! And just put me on the spot here. A seemingly small task. It had a big ripple effect. Well, if I can if I can just even talk about maybe one of the cool things that we got to do as a team was around Outperform conference last year where we were very fortunate to have the legendary kind of Tony Hawk be there, join us for Main Stage for a conversation during the event. And we actually had a virtual participant joining us over in Australia, actually. And her son happened to just be an up-and-coming  skateboarder, was really excited that his mom was attending an event virtually where Tony Hawk was going to be a keynote speaker. So immediately Dynatrace just had the cool factor for for a child in grade school. But this company is great. They've got Tony Hawk. I can go up and work for them someday. And through, you know, working with our field events team who are really awesome, we were kind of able to procure one of those skateboards to send off to this young kid, just as a reminder, Hey, anything's possible. Keep working toward your dreams. Keep working hard, whether you're going to be the next Tony Hawk or whether you're going to be the next bear and resonator; you know, the future is still there and up for yours. Thank you for being so adamant about Dynatrace being a cool company. Wanted to get interested in tech, wanted to get interested in that stuff. Thank you, Mom, for kind of committing to attending this event. Joining us just as a as a cool like thank you in a way to like pay things forward. You know we work in B2B so there's maybe not a great opportunity that you might have is like a consumer company to do those kind of things across social media. But when you do, it's really great to just make that connection, hopefully build some great brand affinity and just spread the name of John and Trace. You know, we've got a great platform, we've got a great product, but hopefully people also think that we've got great people that work here.

Sue Quackenbush

You know, you're absolutely right. You never know how a small, small act of kindness or just the thought of being able to produce something like that, the impact that it has on an individual and their community and whoever they tell and their ambassadorship or the organization. So I love that example. Thank you. Know, we work really hard to stay ahead of the market and focus heavily on our technology. Yeah, every team member contributed significantly to our success at Dynatrace. What advice can you offer to those listening who are struggling to find their meaning in their work?

John Rocker

Just take it day to day. I know a lot of times we think of, you know, long term, particularly as these things have to come together. There's a new product permutation happening, something with the platform evolving, and you just always thinking in and sprints, you know, maybe it's weeks, maybe it's months, maybe it's years. Focus on the day-to-day. Think about what you're going to do that's going to have an impact, you know, and don't have to think so broadly. Is it going to have an impact on our investors or customers? But is it going to have an impact for my colleagues? Is going to have an impact for the person working next to me. Is it going to make their job easier? Is it going to give them some sort of an idea that spark something else? So just kind of thinking in micro-moments, then day after day, week after week, month after month, you can kind of look back and really say, Hey, we've made some progress here. And I was a part of that.

Sue Quackenbush

You know, as we wrap up, what would you share about working at Dynatrace with someone who is considering to join this great organization? 

John Rocker

I would say everyone is just really enthusiastic about the work that they're doing in their job and wanting to collaborate and it's like really a contagious kind of feeling. You know, when people feel good about what they do when they're happy to come to work - you feel the same way about you're doing. It creates just a positive environment and you can really feed of that. In the six years  I'm continually blown away by how far we come and how far we get to go. Because we're always looking to raise that bar and step it up. We do a great job of looking back and reflecting on our successes but are not satisfied with them. We're always thinking of ways how can we improve, how can we get better, and that chases fun, it's exciting. We're in it to win it but we're gonna do things the right way and that's something that really resonates with me. So, you wear this Dynatrace T-shirt you kind of entail a lot of values, kind of like proud to work. So if that's something that you can really sink your teeth into, it and excites you, you don't wanna do something that's mundane, boring day to day. This is the company for you. Cause you're gonna be challenged and you're gonna have a great time doing it. 

Sue Quackenbush

Great answer and you've been here six years and I've been here a little over one year. And I can totally agree with that because you're absolutely always innovating and moving forward. And there's so much that you can add value for the organization. Thank you so much John for you're insights

John Rocker

Hey Sue, great to be here today. Thanks for having me. 

Sue Quackenbush

If you like to continue this conversation or learn more about John's journey, reach out to him on LinkedIn. Thank you for tuning in for today's episode of Real Talks. Join us next month for another engaging conversation. Keep chasing what makes your life meaningful and fuels your passion.