My First Quarter as a Leader

We spend most of our time working towards our dream jobs, and the milestone opportunities along the way that move us inextricably closer to them--but what do you do when you reach one?

After 3.5 years at LinkedIn, and six sales roles, I was recently given the opportunity to take on something new--a leadership role. Now, as a Manager in LinkedIn's Sales Development organization over the past four months, I have been doing everything in my power to do two things really well: listen & be genuine. The intent was, and still is, to simplify, learn, and position myself to make a meaningful impact.

Listening often feels like doing nothing, and at times, can be frustrating. When jumping into a new role and into a new challenge you will have a renewed energy and a laundry list of things you want to accomplish or change--it's that same excitement that makes doing nothing very hard. As for being genuine, this is a simple life value--to treat others with respect, and to be honest with them. Maybe you saw Bernie Sanders in the Democratic Presidential Debate, "the American people are sick and tired of hearing about your damn emails." Whether he's your front-runner or not, you have to love how genuine he was in that moment, not to mention Larry David's impersonation of it (pictured above). 

So as a self-reflection, and to others who may be in a similar position, here is what I have learned from listening:

1. Don't just listen, listen with compassion

As I mentioned, I came into the role with the intent of listening before doing. The goal was to learn the business, the people, and frankly, just to not overstep my bounds or rub anyone the wrong way. I found out quickly that listening without compassion was counterproductive and compassion without actively listening came across as misplaced sensitivity. Listening compassionately, or putting yourself in the other person's shoes, allows you to experience interactions in a much deeper & more productive way. The intent here is to lead through understanding and with that, to facilitate a meaningful dialogue that inspires others toward a shared objective.

2. "Have an authentic conversation, plant the flag, and take one meaningful first step"

I was given this advice by one of our senior leaders: he suggested that leadership starts with trust and that building trust requires facilitating open, honest, & constructive conversations. From those authentic conversations, if you can align the team around a shared objective, or "plant the flag," you will be able to create ambitious goals that are underscored by your team's needs. And last, it will be tempting to start tackling that laundry list of changes you wanted to make, but instead, if you focus on one big first step, you will not only be more likely to accomplish that goal and have an immediate impact, but you will create a cadence for getting sh*t done.

Our shared objective: to be the #1 team globally, to transform our careers, and to have fun. 

Our big first step: to simplify and shorten our calls, with the intention of going deeper on business challenges to increase the volume of qualified meetings for our business. 

3. Relationships matter, for you & for your team

Leaving what had become family over the past 3.5 years in our Talent Solutions business, I quickly realized how few people I actually knew at LinkedIn. As an Individual Contributor (IC), I knew how much I respected previous managers for their focus on their teammates' individual brands, and their ability to connect their IC's with leaders, mentors, and opportunities across the business. In an effort to replicate that for my new team, I spent the first few months scheduling 1:1's with anyone that would have me, and I have tried to remain focused on maintaining that sense of perpetual curiosity of others and their work. From this, I have not only broadened my personal network, but have begun positioning our team to have the meaningful conversations that will lead to their inevitable transformations. 

4. Optimize for passion, skill, & what someone will pay you to do

A few weeks ago, Brian Frank explained to me a framework for professional success and happiness. Brian explained the diagram below, and talked about optimizing for where your passions meet your skills, and where both of those align with what someone will pay you to do. If you can find that nexus, you will inevitably be happier and more successful. Though I'd love to take ground balls with Cal Ripken Jr. or Derek Jeter, there's probably no one out there that will pay me to do that, and if I did pursue that as a career, I probably wouldn't be all that successful.

Why has this become a theme in my first quarter as a leader? Between interviewing, holding 1:1's, and building those new relationships across my team & my business, I have discovered that this is not just an inward reflection, but something that can be projected onto others through coaching and feedback as they navigate their own careers. In these past few weeks since that discussion with Brian, my conversations have been more meaningful and more inspiring.

(PS, if you are out there, and you do want to fund my private lessons with some of the greatest infielders of all time, feel free to InMail me)

5. Ask Questions

Ask questions. Lots of questions. 

There are two reasons that I bucketed this as a key learning. First, you learn more when you ask questions--that one is pretty straightforward. The second is about perception and compromise. Going back to that laundry list of things you want to improve: almost anytime a new idea is presented to a group, it is usually met with some form of resistance--maybe that's the business application of Newton's Third Law? (See also: psychology of strip-lining for you sales buffs out there). However, as an intern, a previous manager once told me, when you pose your ideas as questions you are usually met with a more collaborative response. In doing that, you'll get more done and you'll increase your chances of being seen as a creative contributor and team player.

I hope you've found something meaningful here, and in the comments, I would love for you to share your best advice for taking on a new team!

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Like my profile says, I'm a passionate LinkedIn member (& employee), the Co-Founder of earhoox, and a big idea enthusiast. Thanks for reading, sharing, liking, and commenting!