2022 Leadership Lessons Learned

The unsteady economic waters of 2022 may be best defined by their lack of definition, marked by brands and leaders seeking direction. Are we in a recession or not? Is the best strategy to have employees return to office or continue remote,?or is hybrid a solution? Is this an employer market or are workers still in a strong position? Do we lean into vulnerability and psychological safety, or look to disrupt like Elon Musk as a best practice? Will the economy and our workplaces stabilize, or should we continue to expect ongoing change and possible tumult? Whatever pulse reading you took, all answers were both right and wrong and you, your team, and your venture were rewarded or dealt with the consequences, accordingly and appropriately, to your company’s circumstances.

As a reflection of this year, I curated the 10 things I learned in 2022 as a VP and Chief of Staff of a high-growth, venture-backed company and a consultant/advisor to organizations nationwide:

• On People: Relationships are everything and survival means surrounding yourself with not just great people, but people that want to invest in your success. Everyone knows that we aren’t successful alone but want to challenge people to take that a step further and realize that we aren’t successful without someone rooting for us. In practice this looks like building a personal board of advisors/directors, those who are willing to root for you and humble you, those who keep you anchored. Your network is the greatest asset you have so make sure you continue to cultivate, strengthen, and nurture those who have been your biggest advocates.
• On Decision Making: Acknowledge there is a lot of power in pausing, stepping away, and reflecting. As a Predictive Index (PI) Maverick, I am naturally wired to make quick decisions and communicate based on just a few data points. Obviously, this can be very advantageous in some situations (think: crisis) but detrimental in any situation that requires nuance, thought, and a look four steps down the road. As a strategist, I am constantly making or guiding decisions and it was important for me this year to realize that the best decisions can only be made when you’ve put some space in front and behind it. Taking a walk, discussing with outside advisors for further perspective, journaling, or sleeping on it can be unbelievably powerful when making decisions and also helps take some of the emotion out of it, too.
• On the Bigger Picture: Great leaders understand that the first step to implementing any plan should always be casting a vision and providing context. Do not underestimate the “why” and story behind your plan. Oftentimes grand ideas are rolled out with the people who must execute them not fully understanding where the idea came from in the first place. The more time you can spend on the front end evangelizing your vision and getting stakeholders bought into the why, the less time you will spend trying to constantly make progress happen.
• On Expectations of Others: Stop lowering the bar and always remember that people will likely meet the expectations you set for them. Given the never-ending headlines about “quiet quitting” it was easy to forget that people want to work and want to be challenged. Early in my career I had a boss who talked about raising expectations to raise success and I keep that in mind when I approach management and goal setting. If you let people know you have high expectations and that you are counting on them to do well while also providing them the support and motivation they need, I guarantee they will hit every metric you put in front of them.
• On Scaling Capacity: The only way to scale is to build trust, give trust, and to delegate with authority. Type-A’s are notoriously bad at letting go but the only way to extend reach and expand impact is through collaboration and cross-functional leadership; working through other people. Trust your team, trust the process, and empower them to do what they do best. I am proud of the team I have built and in my role of Chief of Staff, also proud of coaching other executives to lean on and leverage the talent they’ve recruited and cultivated.
• On Your Own Expectations: Everything takes longer than you might expect … especially growth. This year taught me that the framework on paper may not pan out exactly how or especially when you planned. If I could go back a year, I would try to do a better job at checking my assumptions and thinking through the macro environment to understand that people, teams, customers, partners, vendors, etc. are all working within their own ecosystems that you more than likely have little influence over. Adjust expectations accordingly.
• On Constant Disruption: Chaos is steady state and the best way to get ahead of it is to focus on what you can control. In my role, I spend most of my time thinking about how to mitigate risk and the reality is that there isn’t much you can do but focus on contingency plans that are in your span of control. The better prepared you can be to prevent yourself from being knocked off kilter from something going awry, the faster you can course correct and point back to your original strategy.
• On Prioritization: Everyone struggles with strategic versus tactical, but in a world of finite resources, you will always be searching for the right mix. I am sure you hear from your team all the time “I just don’t have enough time for strategic work” and that’s a sentiment shared by startups and Fortune 100 companies. Why? Because every job requires a combination of both, but it is up to the professional and their manager (or you as a leader) to help provide the context, clarity and prioritization to understand when to be high-level and when to get down and dirty. Spending time with your team to help them discern between high priority and what can wait will help free up time to think about longer-term initiatives.
• On Vulnerability: I am flawed. So are you. Don’t just embrace it, talk about it. I have found the best way to galvanize people around you is to continuously show that you are human. Even the most renowned and “put together” leaders make mistakes, make bad decisions, let a small moment take over their emotions, and don’t show up the way they know they can 100 percent of the time. Not only are all of these instances okay, but they should be celebrated as a way of showing everyone around you that our curated lives are only for show and that everyone has their own issues to deal with. As long as we learn and grow from it all, then the world is better for it.
• On Joy: Always have fun! ?Work and life are challenging enough and the more we can remember to have fun with the challenges and not take anything too seriously, the happier we will be. We all have stressors and understand that what’s happening at home will always impact how we show up at work so why not try to bring joy, positive energy and more excitement each and every day you’re in the office?

Hope this list helps you in the new year and if you have anything to add, please do so in the comments.

#leadershiplessons #2022inreview