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Living Leadership Podcast | Scaling with Trust and Transparency

Susan Daimler, Board Director, C-level executive and entrepreneur with 20+ years of building, growing, scaling and operating companies at every stage, reflects on her journey from co-founding SeatGuru to serving as President of Zillow, where she helped scale the company from roughly 400 to more than 8,000 employees.

Living Leadership: Scaling with Trust and Transparency

Susan Daimler

Tech Executive and President, Zillow (Retired)

Susan Daimler, board director, C-level executive, and entrepreneur, reflects on what it takes to build and scale organizations across every stage of growth. In conversation with CIL Faculty Director Christopher Myers, she shares how leaders sustain entrepreneurial momentum while introducing the structure needed to support expansion, and why trust, transparency, and shared understanding are critical to high-performing teams. Drawing on her experience leading through rapid growth, Susan offers a grounded perspective on how culture evolves as organizations scale. She also draws connections between leadership and parenting, emphasizing the importance of creating environments where people can take risks, learn through experience, and develop within cultures rooted in open and honest communication.

 

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