Brent Hagan Puts His Stamp On Direct Mail Delivery
Success when joining an established organization like Lob, a technology-enabled logistics network for direct mail, requires balancing fresh perspectives with a deep respect for the people who built the business. I recognize the expertise of the team—they are the experts in our industry, our customers, and the culture that makes Lob unique.
At the same time, I believe a few leadership principles must remain constant. The first is maintaining absolute clarity on what must be true for us to achieve our goals and then aligning our actions accordingly.
Developing young leaders is one of the
accomplishments I am most proud of.
I never want our current circumstances to become a constraint on our ambition. Instead, we should start with the outcome we want to achieve, identify the critical conditions required for success, and then systematically close the gaps between where we are today and where we need to be.
Adapting Gemba Walks to a Virtual World
It all starts with creating a shared vision and ensuring the entire team is aligned around it. I encourage my teams to continually ask: ‘What went right? What went wrong? What did we learn? What are we going to do differently? And how will we measure whether it’s working?’ Over time, that discipline creates a culture of continuous improvement.
In manufacturing and distribution environments, I’ve always been a strong believer in Gemba—the practice of going to where the work is happening. I spend time alongside my teams observing processes, understanding challenges firsthand, and helping solve problems at their source.
At Lob, I’ve had the opportunity to adapt those same principles to a very different environment. Rather than walking a factory floor, I’m leading through a virtual organization and a third-party supply chain network.
The fundamentals remain the same—stay close to the work, understand the facts, solve problems at the root cause, and continuously improve. Applying those principles in a technology-enabled, distributed operating model has been challenging and incredibly rewarding.
Building a Problem-Solving Mindset
Even coming out of high school, I had a general sense of what I wanted to do, thanks in large part to the influence of my older brother and my dad. Both built careers in supply chain and manufacturing, and their experiences gave me an early appreciation for how businesses operate and create value.
I went to Purdue with the goal of developing my own approach to problem-solving. I was fascinated by the idea of taking something complex, breaking it down to its core components, and rebuilding it into something stronger and more effective. That mindset has stayed with me throughout my career, and my education provided the foundation for the work I do today.
Recently, much of my energy has been focused on the launch of PostalIQ. Its routing intelligence determines the most efficient postal entry point for every piece of mail, helping our customers improve delivery speed while reducing cost. Another significant milestone was executing the first dropship mailing—approximately 2 million pieces—through the Lob Logistics platform. The market response to these innovations has been incredibly encouraging.
More importantly, the success we’ve had is a direct reflection of the product, engineering, operations, and network teams that brought these solutions to life.
Defining Success
There was a period in my career when I was highly effective as an individual contributor. I consistently delivered results and met the expectations placed on me, but I underestimated the impact that others could have in making both the outcome and the journey better.
Today, my goal is to empower leaders to achieve exceptional results in a way that leverages their strengths and leadership style, while maintaining a relentless commitment to execution. I take tremendous pride in developing people. The leaders I help build and the impact they go on to create are the truest measure of my success.
What I Do
Lead the end-to-end strategy and execution of Lob’s logistics, manufacturing, and operations functions, bridging traditional supply chain disciplines with innovation to redefine how companies connect with their customers through automated and data-driven direct mail.
Top Secret Talent
Back flips. I learned how to do them when I was 16 or 17. There was a period of time when I couldn’t do them, because I was too heavy.
Now, I’m three years into a 60-pound weight loss journey. I did one back flip last year when I was 39. I just turned 40 and would love to do back flips in my forties.