Marlene Bockler, BRM with a Black Belt

by Larissa Pienkowski

I’ll let you all in on a little secret: out of all my responsibilities as the Managing Editor here at BRM Institute, interviewing one of our incredible members for the monthly member spotlight might be my favorite one. Every month, it’s a fresh chance for me to be blown away by how inspiring, committed, and multi-dimensional you all are—as if you all don’t make that clear in your day-to-day lives already.
To be honest, when I first interviewed Marlene, I didn’t know whether I wanted to work with her, train with her, or just listen to her talk forever about her passion for BRM (or D) all of the above). Yes, she’s that cool.

In short, Marlene is married to her college sweetheart, is mama bear to two amazing kids, works as a relationship manager at a Fortune 16 company, and has a 1^st degree black belt in Taekwondo. Oh, and did we mention how cool she is?

 

 

 

 

Marlene, how did you get into business relationship management?

Honestly, I’ve been a BRM for quite some time but just didn’t know it. As a project manager, I spent a lot of time building bridges between account/business teams and development teams. I have a passion for building and maintaining those bridges and it’s always been a part of my professional profile—I even considered becoming an independent consultant as a “bridge builder” before I discovered that BRM existed. Helping developers understand where the account teams were coming from and how their work made their lives easier (or harder!) and vice versa has been essential to my passion in this role. Over the past six years, I evolved my role of project manager into being less about projects and more about relationships, and I even wrote a blog post for a previous company about the need for project managers to evolve before I knew what BRMs were!

 

That’s incredible! It sounds like BRM really “found” you, which just goes to show how BRM is often so much more than just a career. What do you love the most about the practice of BRM?

Aside from building bridges, I love the challenge of bringing both teams together in order to level the playing field, so that they can be successful as one team. Once my business partners view Enterprise IT as a partner in the same way that they view HR, finance, and operations, I’ll know I’ve made a difference and have been an asset to the company.

 

As someone who is so highly accomplished, your CV must be such a source of inspiration for aspiring BRM professionals. What are some of the sources of your own professional inspiration?

I was lucky enough to listen to Dr. Stephen R. Covey’s 7 Habits of Highly Effective People very early in my career, and I refer to it on a daily basis. Additionally, Sir Richard Branson (founder of Virgin Group, author, and entrepreneur) and Marie Forleo (founder of MarieTV and B-School, author, and entrepreneur) have shown me that once you put your mind to it, you can accomplish anything. Sure, I first heard that on “Back to the Future” with Marty McFly, but Branson and Marie have lived it.

 

Although you recently moved into your new role as a BRM, what is a way in which you’ve added business value to your organization?

First and foremost, I’m working to humanize Enterprise IT, so that they aren’t just a cost center.

 

I think that goal epitomizes so much of what BRM Institute as an organization and BRMs across the world are trying to achieve on a daily basis. To date, what have been some of your biggest successes and challenges in the BRM capability?

I’m working to bring clarity to the needs of Enterprise IT by communicating and explaining projects, outages, and financials to our business partners, along with learning about our business partners’ needs and how they run their business in order to see how EIT can assist. There are so many opportunities for success, one just needs to look around.

I spent the first 90 days of my new position listening—a lot. I spent countless hours sitting in meetings with many different people, and when I met with service managers and business partners, I sent the following questions to them ahead of time so that we could discuss their answers in our meeting:

• What are the biggest challenges the team is facing or will face in the future?
• Why is the team facing these challenges?
• What are the most promising, unexploited opportunities for growth?
• What would need to happen for the organization to take advantage of the potential in these opportunities?
• If you were me, what would you focus your attention on? (Pain points, goals, challenges, etc.)

I found these questions in an amazing book, The First 90 Days by Michael Watkins (which I recommend for anyone going for a promotion or interviewing for a new job). The information I gathered through the service managers’ and business partners’ answers allowed me to better understand and appreciate the dynamics of the current relationship between EIT and the business partners.

Also, I haven’t been shy about asking to join meetings, or asking questions at all. I’ve learned that if you are ready to accept the word “no,” then you really have nothing to lose—you might never know if you can join a meeting or distribution list or conference or even a job unless you ask. I like to minimize regret.

 

You’ve only been in your new role for a few short months, yet I feel as though you’ve learned years’ worth of knowledge in that time. Do you have any words of advice for someone who is new to the BRM role?

Just listen. Spend time listening and asking questions, and then listen some more. I’ve learned there are three sides to every story: he said, she said, and what really happened. Make your own judgements and opinions about people versus what others tell you. Above all, it’s important to keep an open mind, be patient, have passion, be authentic, and be humble.

I also recommend the following four books:

• Just Listen by Mark Goulston
• The Five Dysfunctions of a Team by Patrick Lencioni
• The CIO Paradox by Martha Heller
• Crucial Conversations by Kerry Patterson

If you don’t have time to read, I highly recommend audible.com. I’ve spent countless hours learning while I sit in traffic or on the train. That’s my last piece of advice for now: never stop learning.

 

You come across as someone who has passion for all areas of their life, not just BRM. When you’re not working, what do you like to do?

I study martial arts. In December, my 13-year-old son and I earned our 1^st degree black belts
in Taekwondo. Last year, my 7-year-old daughter also joined us on the mat, so we are a family of artists and athletes who compete at a local, national, and world level. My favorite aspect of Taekwondo is sparring—it challenges me at a mental and physical level because you have to be “in the moment,” it’s all about control, accuracy, speed, agility, endurance, and discipline. Not only is it good for the soul to be challenged, it’s also a wonderful way to bond with my family, because a family that kicks together, stays together. 🙂