David Bradford

David Bradford wakes up early in the morning to catch a flight out of Salt Lake City to attend a series of six meetings with corporate giants Apple, Cisco and LinkedIn, among others, in California’s Silicon Valley. He then makes a quick trip to Texas to attend a board meeting. Then, without a breather, it’s back home to Salt Lake for more meetings and work assignments.

            It’s just another typical week for Bradford.

            In early November, Bradford became CEO of HireVue, after holding the same position at Fusion-io. Bradford still maintains a footing at Fusion-io as a member of its board, but it’s his vision and work at HireVue that occupies his greatest attention. Bradford says assembling a strong leadership team has helped his transition from Fusion-io to HireVue.

            “One of the primary goals of a CEO is being the chief talent officer,” he says. “It’s not the what—it’s the who. In order to create a great organization you have to have great people. Some companies have innovative products but not a team that helps drive revenue.”

            Bradford has also benefitted from strong relationships maintained through the years. “Life is the accumulation of relationships built and nurtured over time,” he says. “People love to do business with people they like.”

            HireVue, a Utah company that provides on-demand online interviewing for job candidates, has experienced significant growth recently. Now as CEO, Bradford wants to continue the upward trend.

            “I want to triple sales in the next 12 months,” he says. “I want people to know and recognize HireVue as the definitive leading brand of digital video interviewing.”

            In order to accomplish these daunting goals and maintain his rigorous schedule, Bradford has a simple way to stay in top form. “I’ve been blessed with a tremendous level of energy,” he says. “I keep myself in good physical condition. I exercise four to five days a week religiously.”

            And, of course, Bradford has learned there are no shortcuts to success and achieving goals.

            “I make good use of my time,” he says. “You have to understand in any organization that you want everyone outworking their counterpart. You have to be a better worker than the competition.”