3 Takeaways I Learned From Executives
Have you ever noticed that LinkedIn names the resume section of the user profile to say “experiences” instead of “jobs”. I have had 11 experiences in the last 10 years. It started with jobs in college, then internships and jobs that led to careers. In all of those roles, across multiple industries, they could definitely be described as an experience. Some great and some not so great. I have been fortunate enough to report directly to the CEOs, executives or owners of a company in more than half of those roles. Even in the jobs that weren’t so great, I realized that I had the opportunity to learn. In every meeting with executives, I started asking specific questions like “tell me how you got to that decision” or “walk me through what you were thinking”. By doing so, it helped me to develop my own way of critical thinking. I was able to take those learnings and apply that into my day to day role which over time prepared me to make bigger decisions within the company.
Below are the top 3 takeaways I learned from the leaders I worked alongside.
Takeaway #1: Compassion
I had a boss that used to say “What if everyone is doing the best they can?” He had endless compassion for the human condition. As a business owner, he showed compassion for both his customers and his employees. At a company level, this meant we treated each employee as an individual. We didn't have strict policies that got in the way of doing our best. There were best practices and general policies but for the most part it allowed employee flexibility. For the employees that were client facing, it meant that each person on the team had the authority to make decisions that were best for the customer. For the customer, it meant that our door was always open and we wouldn’t let something like money or hard times get in the way of them experiencing the service we provided. We would work with everyone to create an experience that was tailored to their needs. Most of the time, it was a beautiful company to be part of. It softened my own heart to realize that no matter what we see on the outside, we have no clue what people are dealing with on the inside. By using compassion as our true north, it instilled a responsibility in us to remember that even in business, we are dealing with humans. As we began to scale the company, this core value remained in place. Our customer loyalty remained strong over time because of the care and compassion we instilled every time they interacted with us. We trusted and trained our employees at each new location to act as if everyone was doing the best they can and gave them examples of what that looked like. We put communications in place to protect those values and provided a space for questions about how to carry out the business goals.
How do we practice this?
What would it look like if you operated from a place of “everyone is doing the best they can?” Would you be more curious instead of accusatory? Would you take a second to slow the stories you are creating in your head about what everyone else’s motives are or what they are doing in the day to day? Try going into your next meeting with that statement in mind and see what changes.
Careful of: Compassion can’t be in place of accountability. Sometimes, people aren’t doing the best they can. You must have a standard of what is ok versus what is not, and hold accountability to your team.
If you need help creating a standard for your team or company, let’s chat!
Takeaway #2: Don’t just make a seat, prepare them to take the mic
I had one leader in particular that would bring me into as many executive meetings as he could. He didn’t point it out or even tell me why, but I started to notice, he wasn't just saving me a seat at the table. In the first few meetings, he would have me listen in and at the end he would explain how and why he responded the way he did. Eventually, he would start calling on me to deliver updates to the other executive members in the room. From there, he would ask my opinion on marketing strategies for the company. After about 6 months, he started handing off meetings for me to lead entirely. I loved the feeling of trust and ownership from those moments. His actions were the difference between a manager and a leader. I learned how to become a decision maker and ultimately that would lead to growth in my career. He prepared me to take the mic which in turn reminded me to do the same for my team. Instead of telling people what to do, I started explaining why. It changed the way I thought about leading a team and it was one of the best teams I ever worked with.
How do we practice this?
Next time you see potential in an employee, bring them into a meeting or a call. Let them listen in or invite them to sit with you ( virtually or in person), while you brainstorm a challenge. Give them some insight into how and why you think about the business and see how far it goes.
Careful of: Not every employee is ready to take on a larger view of the company or their role. You have to identify the people that are both trustworthy and high potential. They need to be ready to take on the next level of leadership otherwise you could leave your employees feeling overwhelmed or underperforming because they have yet to fully grasp their responsibility within their role.
Takeaway #3: Operate as if you are going to sell tomorrow
Most of the companies I join are small businesses that are looking to scale. There is a growing pain that happens between the start of a business and the 50th new hire. As your business grows, it starts to take on an identity of its own and suddenly you dont have as much control over the little seedling you were growing on your own. Once the team grows to a size where you can’t have 1on1s with everyone, you have to to ask yourself the following question: What needs structure and what do I need to release control over? I once had an executive that told me nothing should live inside one person's head. His motto was to act as if we were going to sell the company tomorrow. This meant that everything had to be documented. For those first few months, every process, strategy, and software was on paper( digitally, of course). I wrote hundreds of Standard Operating Procedures and was ruthless about nothing being in one person’s mind. It was critical for that company to create a structure for how to operate because too many people had different ways of working the business and half of the employees were remote. As we continued to grow, it was necessary to get people quickly aligned on what we use and how we use it. Documenting our business helped us bring on new hires and train them quickly. It gave us a starting place for their learning and gave them a place to return to if they forgot how a process worked. While only half of those SOPs were necessary to the company’s overall success, we did eventually sell that company and all that documentation added value to the new team.
How do we practice this?
If your company is growing and you are finding yourself repeating the same process over and over or wondering how to establish a better structure, start with identifying which processes you are doing every day. Who needs to know about them? Is there one person that handles a lot of tasks and if they were to leave tomorrow, would you know how they do their job? If not, start getting them to write it down. Make sure the documents leave out names of people to make everything more standard and evergreen. Example: Instead of saying “Send all of your timesheets to Ariel”, you would write “Timesheets are due every other week to the accounting manager”.
Careful of: Like anything in life, there is a balance. Not everything needs to be documented or even have a strict process. Before going on a documentation rampage, think about what actually needs more structure and how it will benefit your employees. You need room for innovation and change while still creating a standard that everyone can easily find and follow.
Bringing curiosity and intrigue to every job allowed me to takeaway so much wisdom as I built my own leadership skills. I am so grateful for the people that cared enough to share their business philosophies with me. Recognizing both what works and what can sway too far to the extreme, has helped me become the leader I am today. Whether you feel that your job is a great experience or not, It’s important that we stay curious enough to learn from each other and identify what our own actions may be teaching our colleagues.
Need help bringing one or all of these to your team? Let’s connect!
