Leadership Spotlight: Eric Norton

For Eric Norton, life’s an adventure. Whether he’s mountain biking in Colorado or leading his team through complex and challenging deployment projects, no one knows better than him that the road can be full of twists and turns. Fortunately, Eric has learned to navigate the peaks and valleys and shift gears when necessary, which is one of the reasons we’re glad to call him a Maven. Learn more about Eric in this month’s leadership spotlight!

Tell us a little about yourself. 

Hello! I’m Eric Norton, a Principal here at Maven Wave. My leadership skills were picked up during my years of service at a global semiconductor manufacturing company where I managed the IT engineering team. Before this, I managed a large team at a successful ski resort in the Massachusetts Berkshires. My journey with Maven Wave started in 2014 when I hired them to migrate my company from Exchange 2013 to Google Workspace. At that time, my company’s migration was the largest Maven Wave had ever tackled. My experience working with the Maven Wave team is what led me to want to join their ranks. The culture here is intoxicating!

I was born in Albany, New York but didn’t stay there long. Due to my father’s job, our family moved around a bit but I spent most of my childhood in Lanesboro, Massachusetts. It’s a very small town, nobody knows it’s there! Currently, I live on a small flower farm in Saratoga Springs,  New York with my wife and son. If I’m not working at Maven Wave or for my wife’s farm, there’s a good chance I’m out mountain biking and exploring new places.

What’s your role at Maven Wave?

For the last year, I’ve served as manager for the Google Workspace technical deployment leads. My team is responsible for leading clients through the technical aspects of a Google Workspace migration and ensuring they know we have their back and we’ll get them over to greener pastures. Therefore, I have the pleasure of leading a team that has a high degree of both soft skills and technical expertise. In addition, I’m leading the charge to establish our Google Workspace Managed Service Provider offering as I feel there is a huge untapped market for this type of service.

What are the top highlights of your career so far?

I’ve been in a management position for a long time. The best part of my job is helping others find their potential and watching them grow! It’s invigorating to see someone discover a hidden passion within themself.

What is your favorite part of working at Maven Wave?

The culture and the people. I know that’s two things but they go hand in hand! Maven Wave has always had an incredible culture and it comes from the people we hire. Our people are down-to-earth, honest, highly skilled, dependable, and courteous. Additionally, if I could sneak in a third thing I love about Maven Waven, it’s the absence of corporate lingo. Too often companies get lost in their own conversations due to the use of corporate euphemisms. At Maven Wave, we tell it like it is and use everyday language!

Which of the 7 C’s is most meaningful to you and why?

This is a tough one, but I’ll go with Communication as it’s the conduit for many of the other 6 C’s. Encouraging and practicing open communication is critical to success at any level. This applies to an individual, a team, and a company. Whenever my career takes me to a new manager or I have a new employee I tell them the exact same thing: “Communication and honesty are key. If things are wonderful, tell me they are wonderful. If things are on fire, tell me they are on fire so we can work together to put it out.” The best practice is to communicate openly, encourage healthy conflict, and always be honest with each other. 

What makes the work at Maven Wave meaningful? 

Simply put, we care about what we do here. Each and every one of us puts our all into every project or assignment we tackle. Not only do we want to see the project be successful, but we want to see that client thrive due to the improvements we helped design and facilitate. I’ve been in numerous meetings here where we’re reviewing an SOW and then we ask each other, “Okay, this is what the client wants, but what do they need? What are they really trying to accomplish and how can we help them get there?” That is the sign of a company that truly cares about its clients.

What goals do you have for your team for the rest of the year? What are your long-term goals?

Expand and learn. The Deployment lead team as it stands today is small but mighty. I’d like to see us expand so we can handle more projects at a time and increase our efficiency with our active clients! Additionally, Google has released newer migration technology that could change the way we do migrations. Our entire team should become familiar with this so we can use it on future migrations.

What is something about you that always surprises people?

Back in the day, I had hair down to my shoulders and was a drummer in a rock band that traveled up and down the east coast. We played hundreds of shows with some larger bands. Right as we were about to “make it big,” we had some troubles within the band that eventually led to our demise. Regardless, it was a great experience!

Most people at Maven Wave know I am heavily into biking, but another thing that might surprise people is the fact I do most of my biking at night! Often this is because of work and spending time with my family, so the free time I have is usually at night. At around 8 PM, you can often find me getting suited up (365 days a year) and heading out for a night ride.

How do you like to spend your time outside of work?

I am an avid cyclist. My love for biking started with mountain biking and quickly rolled into road cycling as well. Biking has taken me to some incredible places in nature and is something that I hope to share with my son when he gets older. Aside from that, I really enjoy hiking, watching movies, and playing video games.

Rapid Question Round

• Brand new or vintage? Brand new
• City or countryside? Countryside
• Introvert or extrovert? Both
• Music or podcasts? Music
• Karaoke: Singing or spectating? Spectating
• Comedy or drama? Comedy
• Art, science, or history? Science
• Early bird or night owl? Night Owl
• Fiction or nonfiction? Fiction
• Planning it or winging it? Winging it…every time.
• Favorite vacation spot: Breckenridge, CO, or Moab, UT
• Favorite season: Spring
• What you’re currently listening to: Nickelback…yeah, I said it!

Recommend one movie, TV show, book, or podcast: Yellowstone