I find Q&As are great ways to learn more about someone and dive deeper into little corners of their lives. I recently was asked to complete a leadership-themed survey as part of Women's History Month (March) for my organization. I enjoyed the chance to reflect on certain topics or memories that matter to me but that don't come up in everyday conversation. I thought I'd share them with you here. I hope you enjoy!
When did you know you wanted to lead a team and why?
Always! Both of my parents are teachers, so I grew up admiring two role models who dedicated their lives to coaching others toward success, and that had a big impact on my career. In kindergarten I organized a little "union" - I collected union dues (one dime!), drafted contracts, scheduled and ran meetings, and choreographed dance routines (because that's what all unions do, right?). In everything I did, I naturally emerged a leader - captain of sports teams, president of school clubs, editor-in-chief of newspapers, student ambassador, and even a role aptly called "peer leader." In whatever setting I was in, I knew I could easily understand the mission and translate vision into strategy, then into execution, and then into the management of others' execution, but it wasn't until I formally joined the workforce that I was able to synthesize and make sense of what I was experiencing. When I was 16 I got a job at Dunkin' Donuts and within 6 months I became shift leader & assistant manager. I learned SO much about leadership at that job - resource allocation, upskilling and L&D, emotional intelligence, working styles, verbal & nonverbal communication, trust-building, consistent messages vs. inconsistent messages, strategy vs. tactics, internal vs. external perspectives, professional vs. personal connections, managing up/down/across, conflict resolution, and so much more. Since then, I dedicated my career to studying and honing leadership skills, through my MBA in Leadership and across every job I've held over the last 15+ years.
Did you have a mentor in college or in your early jobs that impacted you?
My first job after college was in marketing and development at a professional theatre company in Boston. I worked my way up to running the marketing, development, and patron services functions, and I was lucky enough to have an Executive Producer (in theatre, that's the equivalent of a CEO) who took me under her wing and taught me her principles, coached me through situations, and provided me with opportunities that set me up for success. She believed in me and supported me and took action on my behalf, which is a rare and beautiful thing.
Later in my career, when I went back to school to get my MBA in Leadership, my Emotionally Intelligent Leadership professor became a sort of unofficial mentor of mine. He had me take the EQ-i 2.0, the official emotional intelligence assessment (like the EI equivalent of an IQ test), and when he went over my results with me, he helped me see how I could use my EQ for good. He pinpointed something I had felt but never articulated--that no matter what my job was, I always had to be teaching someone something in order to feel fulfilled. And that's true--I love teaching others about messaging angles, communications strategies, content plans, process documentation, and how to grow their skills in communication, management, and leadership. It was extremely validating and eye-opening to have a mentor finally express what I had been looking for and trying to understand for years.
Lastly, I also enjoy structured mentorship programs (and have been a mentor to several wonderful bright young women!). Over the years, I have been formally matched with two incredible mentors who have helped me grow in myriad ways--one is Gini Dietrich (creator of the PESO Model of communications) whose perspective and support have been invaluable, and the other is Jake Miller, an L&D expert who I am working with now through the L&D Collective as I am a lifelong learner and am always looking for new ways to help others develop their skills too.
How have you grown in your role over the last two years?
I have grown immensely in my current senior leadership position by thinking strategically, connecting the dots from vision to action, coming up with ways to elevate programs and make processes more efficient, developing team members' skills, empathizing with others' needs while articulating my team's goals and successes, organizing complex ideas into concrete structures, and looking for new ways to add business value. If you can add deep, strategic value to the business, you will become indispensable.
What is a quote or piece of advice that resonates with you?
I have two. Well, I have many, but today, I’ll share two.
In a community event I attended a few years ago, former Chairman & CEO of IBM Ginni Rometty said, "Growth and comfort do not coexist." This advice was invaluable because of its harsh truth. You cannot grow if you are only doing what makes you comfortable. As a leader, you are going to have to do difficult things. You're going to have difficult conversations, you're going to have to deal with conflict and go up to bat against strong personalities and defend your strategy and throw out assumptions and start from scratch and tell employees things aren't working and so many other uncomfortable things. But if you remember that a) through the discomfort you are growing, b) you aren't doing this for you - you are doing it for the other person, and c) the vision is bigger than you, you can put your personal feelings aside and do what's right.
John Dewey once said, "We do not learn from experience. We learn from reflecting on experience." This was important for me to learn because I thought that simply amassing decades of experience would make me a better worker year after year. But the truth is that I had to do hard work in between. I had to reflect on that experience and choose areas to work on and try new things. I had to be intentional and focused and deliberate. I had to take time to think about strategy and reflect on my approach and be critical about tiny things that I knew added up and were important. Remembering to reflect is a key leadership trait that I recommend for anyone who wants to grow humbly and authentically.
What’s one moment from early in your career that stuck with you?
At my first management job at Dunkin' Donuts way back in 2007, I was young and new and focused on doing everything right and being extremely efficient. While I was proud of my successes, there was so much I didn't know and I was so excited to learn it all. One teachable moment came when I had to reallocate a slow worker away from the drive-thru lane and over to sandwiches where he could work at a more leisurely pace. I was defending my 100% rating, fulfilling my manager's expectations to serve the customer effectively, and doing what was best for the team. It was hard for me to have that conversation but I had to do it in the moment to stay agile and effective. I was upset that he had ruined several orders and that our smoothly-run operations had hit a blip. Afterward, the slow-moving employee that I had moved to the sandwich station (who was actually on drugs the entire time, which I was unaware of) came up to me and just stared directly at me. He suddenly shouted out, "Damn!" as though he was offended by something. I was bewildered. I said, "I didn't say anything." He said, "It wasn't what you said with your voice. It's what you said with your eyes." In that moment I learned the importance of nonverbal communication. Teachable moments like that can stick with us if we embrace them and reflect on them. And in reflecting on that experience, I learned about work culture and filtering everything through a professional lens and regulating our emotions so we can do our best work together. And I realized that even though I was uncomfortable, I did what I believed was right in the moment, because that’s all any of us can do. Then later, when you know better, do better. And keep that virtuous cycle going as long as you can.
What skills are necessary for success in your current role?
If you are looking for more detail about being Head of Brand and Communications Strategy, here are some key skills to hone:
Business value. As a general rule, match your skills and interests to business needs and find ways to add value.
Brand-building. Understand the breadth of what goes into building a brand. It's not one-dimensional, and it is both an art and a science. It is the culmination of everything everyone at the company does every day. A brand identity is a high-level, seemingly abstract thing; find ways to make it concrete and actionable and meaningful for everyone involved.
Storytelling. Whether you are crafting a narrative for a promotional package, understanding analytical trends, working to garner buy-in on a new initiative, convincing others of your project's success, or training teams on new materials or skills, stories are the ways we connect. Stories improve understanding and resonance. Use them (authentically) to your advantage.
Change management. Every new thing you do requires a bit of skill with change management. When you want prospects to think about your brand differently, or you want other teams to use a new content asset or messaging angle, or you want your peers to approach a project differently or contribute at all, use change management techniques to inspire more constructive and sticky behavior changes.
Strategic content creation. If your content is not strategically aligned, it will not perform well, if it even gets greenlit at all. Content needs to serve a purpose. It has to roll up into a strategic initiative. Always know your audience, your hook or lede, and your goal or call to action. Find ways to both empathize with your audience and assert your brand's position. Add value. Vary promotion with thought leadership with interactivity.
Content organization and coaching. Organize systems then train teams on how to use them properly so everyone knows what's available to them and how to use it. Do this for both concrete materials (content assets) and topics (messaging angles). Keep these practices up-to-date and collaborate openly with any teams that also act as key distribution channels. Think about the user experience, ease of accessibility, others' behaviors and personalities, and your goals and skills. Find out how to make these things work for you rather than against you.
Functional knowledge. Know the PESO Model of communications so your strategies address paid, earned, shared, and owned media. Know the marketing mix. Know content strategy. Know how to write, how to format, how to pitch, how to edit, how to complement copy with design, how to repurpose content, how to analyze metrics to tell a story, how to understand your audience, which data matters most. Know what success looks like. And if you don't know, as we can't all know everything, then learn. Practice. Ask questions. Read. Attend webinars. Be hungry. Marketing, branding, and communications are broad fields. Find what appeals most to you, but knowing at least a little bit about a lot of things will make you more marketable and impactful and will make your work more holistic and richer.
Know what you don't know. Be curious, be open to others' perspectives, foster vocalization of others' thoughts, and then find out how to fill in the blanks in better ways than you could have done alone.
Management. Know how to balance your employees' individual contributions with the overall progress of the team. Know how to delegate, to empower, and to adjust. Be structured in your foundation and flexible along the way. Celebrate achievements. Nip issues in the bud. Be open and clear. Communicate more than you think you should. Take pulses. Ask questions. Test delegation and reflect on experiences. Trust and believe.
L&D. Cultivate a growth mindset across your team and create constant opportunities for learning and development. Find ways to engage your team members and motivate them to want to become just a little bit better every day.
Emotional intelligence. If you are looking to be a leader in any capacity, practice emotional intelligence when making decisions, setting strategies, allocating resources, talking with team members, collaborating across teams, adjusting plans, analyzing metrics, dealing with issues, assigning projects, connecting with coworkers, writing vs. emailing vs. talking over phone or video, scheduling meetings…pretty much all the time. Emotional intelligence is the key to being a strong, empathetic, responsible, collaborative, growth-nurturing, success-driven leader.
Here's the short list:
Brand-building and brand identity strategy
Storytelling and narrative development
Messaging strategy and coaching
Strategic content creation
Business value-add and skills alignment
Change management
Audience empathy and alignment
Professional filter and strategic lens
Content organization
Functional knowledge
Curiosity and respect
Team management and engagement / personal coaching
Balance of creativity and structure
Project management
Growth mindset/L&D opportunities
Solution-oriented approach
Emotional intelligence
Any other questions you'd like to have answered? Let me know in the comments below!
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