"The ability to rapidly learn, apply and execute is a common trait among high achievers," Jerry Bernhart summarized ina recently LinkedIn post. Amazon's Jeff Bezos has said that speed is the only sustainable competitive advantage of businesses, so why wouldn't this also be true of leaders?
If this is true, how do you demonstrate learning agility in your career? I contend that it might be best demonstrated by unconventional (and traditionally under-valued) career paths that spanned industries, roles and responsibilities, company sizes and types, locations, and different capital structures. When you see variety like this coupled with success, you see the results of learning agility.
I have wondered how my career might have progressed if I had stayed in one industry segment, one customer segment, one functional discipline, one company type (VC-baked growth companies or big enterprises), or even one city. But considering that it is impossible to A/B test, what I have concluded is that my diversity of background provides me:
- a more holistic strategic perspective to decision making and implementation,
- makes me a better business person, and
- has taught me to how to ramp up fast to make an impact.
Hopefully, it has also helped me create opportunities for others to grow as well as I strive to be a hospitable leader.
Thinking about your own career, where have you best seen your own learning agility develop?
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#wayfinding
Amazon is a very successful company and is admired throughout the world. In a few short decades, it became a top globally-recognized brand and has influenced countless other businesses to rethink their approach to innovation. Amazon Web Services (AWS) the cloud computing pioneer, is the fastest enterprise software company in the history of the world.
So, what lessons do Amazon’s Leadership Principles and daily mechanisms hold for those who are actively or passively looking for their next career move? A lot.
CUSTOMER OBSESSION: The foundational Leadership Principle at Amazon is a relentless pursuit of understanding durable customer needs and then driving solutions to address those needs. Anyone who has worked there or studied the company knows about the “flywheel” where connected customer needs (for selection, low prices, quick delivery) feed off each other to create customer loyalty. Would be job seekers should apply the same discipline to their search. Rather than applying to every role they see or trying to be “everything to everyone,” they should focus on their ideal customer profile, in this case, a hiring manager at a particular type of company that has needs they can best fill. When you read job descriptions, look for the problems they cite or imply in the description. What are they looking to accomplish? What are their barriers to success? What problem are they trying to solve with this hire?
For ideas on how to do narrowing down, I recommend professor Steve Dalton’s The 2-Hour Job Search (thank you, Gina Riley, for the original recommendation). For those who are in the thought leadership business, see David C. Baker’s The Business of Expertise (thank you, Drew Neisser for that recommendation) and The Thought Leaders Practice from Matt Church, Peter Cook, and Scott Stein (thank you, Marc Wolfe for that recommendation).
WORKING BACKWARDS: The most famous Amazon mechanism is the working backwards process. It is codified in a PRFAQ, which outlines in a fake press release format what you propose to do for that customer need you identified. You can do the same thing for your career. Sit down and write a press release announcing your appointment for your next job. As you might have been taught, start with the headline and the “customer quote” (in this case, the hiring manager’s quote) that outlines why you were such a great fit for their needs. This sounds easy but is very hard, and that is the point. It forces you to think deeply about what you bring to the table, what needs you solve, and why you are better than any alternative (including the “hire no one and try to do the work with the folks you already have” scenario, which is very common). This will give you confidence when networking, applying or interviewing for new roles as you can articulate your value proposition.
For more information on how to write out strategy in this way, see chapter 6 of my book, Well Made Decisions. I also recommend Colin Bryar and Bill Carr’s Working Backwards.
LEARN AND BE CURIOUS: If you find yourself out of work and considering the next steps, don’t forget to apply this critical leadership principle. Take the time to get a new certification, take a course, or learn a new skill. Build a website, start a blog, train for a 5k, dive deep into a technical topic, and add to your toolkit in a way that not only bolsters your resume, but gives you a sense of accomplishment. A job search, especially an active one, can drain your energy, and so many days, you can feel like you aren’t making progress. Focusing on learning daily gives you back that agency and prepares you well for what is next. When you do land your next appointment, you may find it was something that you were not qualified to do before you jumped into learning!
How else are you applying Leadership Principles to your career plan?
For Christmas, I received an amazing gift from my husband. It is leather-bound collection of poems from the poetess, Adelaide Anne Proctor published in 1888. The introduction to the book was penned by none other than Charles Dickens!
The volume contained poem that I have now re-read dozens of times and shared with so many already. It is entitled “Treasures.” Although the word choice is not modern, the message is timeless: blessings are not the opposite of troubles. Virtues are not gained without sacrifice. Doubt builds faith. I hope this an encouragement to you as you collect treasures in the new year!
TREASURES
Let me count my treasures
All my soul holds dear,
Given me by dark spirits
Whom I used to fear.
Through long days of anguish,
And sad nights, did Pain
Forge my shield, Endurance,
Bright and free from stain!
Doubt, in misty caverns
‘mid dark horrors sought,
Till my peerless jewel,
Faith to me she brought.
Sorrow, that I wearied
Should remain so long,
Wreathed my starry glory,
The bright Crown of Song
Strife, that racked my spirit
Without hope or rest,
Left the blooming flower,
Patience, on my breast.
Suffering, that I dreaded,
Ignorant of her charms,
Lead the fair child, Pity,
Smiling, in my arms.
So I count my treatures,
Stored in days long past —
And I thank the givers,
Whom I know at last!
Appreciated this useful personal framework from Dr. David Weiss aboutdecision making that was shared with me on LinkedIn.
I would add another dimension playing off the bottom link ("Will I do it?") and that is the plan for implementation. This step goes beyond good intentions. After all the results (not to mention most of the investments, resources, etc) of a decision happen AFTER the decision is made. This is especially true in organizations where whole teams are mobilized against strategy.
You can read more about this in my book Well Made Decisions.
Here are five pieces of advice that I have for women succeeding in the careers of their choice, no matter who has gone before them.
Speak the Language of Business: Imagine learning to play softball. You learned to throw, catch, and run. But you never learned how to keep score. How good of player would you be? Not very good. The same is true in any pursuit and in business the score is kept in financial terms. Every aspiring leader should learn how to read and interpret financial statements. They should understand how their work impacts not only expenses, but revenue and ultimate enterprise value. They should lead with that in conversations with leadership as at some level of the organization you will no longer be reporting to a creative or technical professional, as perhaps you were early in your career. You will report to a businessperson and will need to speak their language. The more you speak it, the more you will be ready for larger influence.
Mine for Gold: You open your eyes to a dim light. You feel around your surroundings which are cold and hard to the touch. Once your eyes adjust however, you realize that you are in a mineshaft. A glint on the wall tells you that you are in a gold mine. You have the tools you need, if you choose to use them to mine for gold. A lot of professionals don’t realize that they are in a goldmine. That their employer, their colleagues, their college classmates, and even their neighbors or fellow parishioners can open doors for them and help their learn and grow. LEARFIELD is a leader in media, data, and technology in college sports and between my 2500 colleagues and our network of connections, there is probably no one in the sports landscape more than a few degrees of connection away. Not that getting to them would be easy in all cases, but the gold is there. You are the same. Even if your personal network doesn’t inherently a lot of potential for your chosen career path, you have access to reporters, industry influencers, and academics. Thanks to social media, these friends-you-have-not-yet-met have never been easier to access, especially for those who know what they want and can offer mutual value.
Be (Your Best Version of) Yourself: As Oscar Wilde apparently said “Be yourself, everyone else is taken.” I have seen of late this adage being used to describe selfish and disrespectful behavior or those who act as if the world revolves around them and everyone must change to accommodate their sensibilities. That is not what I am talking about. I think each of us should reflect deeply on who we are when we are at our best, how we want to contribute, and what we want to be known for and live into that future version of yourself. Academy Award winning actor, Matthew McConaughey, recently spoke at our company conference. He describes his hero as himself 10 years from now. I think we all have that hero and if we can pull them into focus, it helps us prioritize and make good choices today. He joked that his “tomorrow me” would appreciate if “today me” programmed the coffee machine. What else might your “tomorrow you” appreciate? Staying out of debt, maintaining a relationship, getting an education, and the like all require delayed gratification. It may require managing the expectations of your “today friends and family” to what your “future self” needs and wants. Billie Eilish’s title song on her new album speaks to this. The chorus explains how she has changed her mind about a relationship because “I’m in love with my future. Can’t wait to meet her.” I am sure that if you get your future in focus, you will feel the same.
Learn to Write: Take a business writing class. Write often. Have others critique your work. Read books and articles that in your field that give you a sense for the vocabulary and culture of your industry. Practice, practice, practice. Writing is the single-most important thing a leader should be able to do to think deeply and communicate clearly.
Marry Wisely: I know this sounds like retro advice, but I can tell you without a doubt that the most successful leaders of any gender or persuasion that I have had the pleasure to work with closely or admire from afar had spouses or partners who made sacrifices, took on disproportionate responsibilities at home, and allowed for a degree of career flexibility that made upward mobility possible. In short, they had a home community that provided them security and practical support. I am not the only one who has spoken about this. My husband, Tony, has been instrumental to my success in countless ways. I am not alone in this. Ruth Bader Ginsberg, the late Supreme Court Justice talked of the support she got (and gave) to her tax attorney husband. Jeff Bezos, founder of Amazon, spoke of the power of having a resourceful spouse. Indra Nooyi, former PepsiCo CEO who serves on Amazon’s board, has spoken to it when she said that balancing work and family is a “constant juggling act” and it’s often “the people around us — like our life partners — who make this juggling possible.”
This article is an excerpt of an article originally in Authority Magazine written by Ming Zhao.
I was asked recently what three character traits that have contributed most to my success have been strategic thinking, a sense of urgency, and positivity.
Strategic Thinking: I can see around strategic corners and find ways to maximize or improve anything we are attempting to do. This was well illustrated recently by a rebranding exercise I led for one of our business groups. We were all in agreement that the current way we talked about and positioned the business offering was slowing down adoption, but it wasn’t clear the path forward. Through facilitated discussions, we arrived at a common view of a new for a new business name. I called it giving the business a “handle” that was easier to pick up and carry and share. This led us to a structured naming exercise that resulted in a new brand approach, well received by our stakeholders. I was able to facilitate this by asking questions and broadening the view of the group to the range of challenges we were facing and how best to optimize our outcomes.
Sense of Urgency: I am not naturally patient person, which is something I am working on. But in a business context, I think this “fire in the belly” has helped me set the pace for our teams, pushed teams to experiment more (with incomplete or imperfect information so that we can learn faster), and helped shape the industries of which I have been a part. I served for several years for the Avixa board of directors on their Leadership Search Committee. This trade and industry association, like the industry it serves, has been predominantly male for a many decades. There was a lot of energy about getting more gender, racial, and experiential diversity on the board, but the question was often one of timing. Is this the year to put forward this female candidate over her male counterpart? Together with others on the board (both women and men, I am proud to say), the sense of urgency was contagious and we started making changes. I recently saw a picture of the ribbon cutting ceremony for Avixa’s largest trade show of the year and among the board members holding big scissors were as many women as men and the pipeline for chairman of the board now include several women. Truly, this is a career highlight for me. This is how a sense of urgency can lead to long-term change.
Positivity: I am not always happy (as my teenage children will attest), but I am always hopeful. I can see the silver lining in the clouds on my best days, I can be an encouragement to others who might focus on problems so much that they can’t see possibilities. I recently was talking to someone who experienced a disappointing loss at work and after talking it through she saw it as a “making room for something better.” In business there is a lot of failure and loss. If not, you are doing it wrong and not experimenting enough or taking enough risks. How you deal with that failure and loss, personally and on teams, is critical to the resilience of the organization and how well you take care of customers over the long haul. I consider feedback a gift, even if it is hard to take, as we are all on a journey of growth.
This article is an excerpt of an article originally in Authority Magazine written by Ming Zhao.
I am thrilled to announce that Hashtag Sports has selected their Creators of Color cohort for 2022. I had the honor of serving as a judge, looking at all the impressive applications and providing feedback. I do not envy the tough decisions that the organizers had to make to take all the feedback and make the final selections, as every application I looked at was very strong.
Checkout this year’s cohort at https://creators.hashtagsports.com/cohort-2022.
The past 48 hours have been a big one for me. I had an op-ed piece on the anniversary of Title IX featured in AdAge, I was quoted in an Adweek article, I was a featured executive on Titan 100 (after being honored earlier this spring in their inaugural Georgia awards program), and a CMO Spotlight podcast also dropped.
It is such an honor to be able to advocate for topics like equity in sports, career development, and decision making and to be able to draw attention to the amazing work of my colleagues at LEARFIELD. I am hoping that these pieces are useful to the readers and listeners and help inform their own plans!
It was a pleasure to chat with Peter Mahoney and Kelsey Krapf from The Next CMO Podcast about college sports marketing. Check it out on all the streaming platforms like Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Stitcher, etc.
In my recent interview with Thrive Global, I was able to share some career advice that I have found useful. This included the advice to not wait for permission to get the experience that you want for your own development and that of your career.
Have you ever witnessed “analysis paralysis”? A lot of business leaders are faulted with cautiously procrastinating decisions until the “best” choice is in full view, and in doing so they become a competitive follower, miss the market opportunity, or create other cultural challenges in their organization.
Leaders will delay letting go an employee who is struggling, wreaking havoc on the company and customers, demotivating other high-performers, and delaying the chance to get someone in that role who will help create real growth and advancement.
Leaders will delay investing in a new market or technology for fear that the return will not materialize, only to find someone else beat them to market forcing them to a play a game for which they did not dictate the rules.
Leaders will observe things about the culture that when replicated at scale will keep the organization from achieving its highest performance (eg, things like lack of honest candor, lack of accountability, misaligned priorities). Letting it go until it demands correction (or takes the sacrifice of the leader themselves to regard).
Leaders might be hesitant to delegate to their teams and employees, communicating a lack of trust and throttling the capacity and velocity of the organization as they are personally involved in too many decisions. I have seen leaders of multi-billion-dollar corporations get involved in picking out the color of lobby furniture, selecting the IP telephony system, or the brand of copiers in the offices, to the detriment of the decisions that only they could make.
Why? Why can leaders behave in these ways that sabotage their businesses?
Ironically, it is because of a false sense of self-preservation that leads to these acts of self-sabotage. Let me explain.
Every business decision, above a certain scale and level of complexity, is a career decision. If you are the one allocating resources and setting priorities (which I would argue is every leader’s responsibility, starting personally and expanding to teams and organizations), then the pressure is on to make the “right decisions.”
All eyes are on you, it would seem, and the organization, shareholders, communities, and customers are counting on you!
That kind of pressure can narrow your focus, can dial up fear, and can cause leaders to try to control what they can. But this is generally the opposite of what is called for in these situations.
The role of the leader is to enable their team to be successful, satisfying the needs of customers. This means having the right talent, making the right resources available, and building a culture of high-velocity learning that differentiates your business long-term.
In my new book, Well Made Decisions, I hope leaders find the tools and most of all, the confidence, to lead their organizations in different ways. By focusing on the process and anticipating and monitoring implementation, only then can they achieve success for their teams, their organizations, and ultimately their careers.
This article originally appeared on wellmadedecisions.com.
You may have seen that my book, Well Made Decisions, has been published by New Degree Press. As a thank you to everyone who supported me in my author’s journey, my publisher let me offer the first ebooks for 99-cents (for 30 days or 500 books, whichever comes first). I am alerting my friends, colleagues, and all those who supported me by sharing about the book, liking my posts along the way, and otherwise encouraging me in the writing of this book. I could not have done it without you!
I’d love to hear what you thought about the book! It is my goal to have 200 reviews in the first 100 days and I’d love for you to be one of the them! I would be so appreciative if you noted what you thought useful and your honest star rating or recommendation on Amazon, Barnes & Noble, GoodReads, or Reddit. The discounted ebook will allow you to leave a verified purchase review.
Although I do not have grandiose commercial expectations for this book, I do believe in the lessons that it includes. I am STILL not tired of talking about decision making even after a year of deep reflection, study, analysis, interviews, and writing and rewriting that the book required. In fact, I would love to have more business leaders like yourself engaging with the content and finding ways to make their businesses better. I have already found it so useful as my beta readers and author community have shared their experiences and can’t wait to set a larger table for future discussion and engagement.
For every review received on Amazon, I plan to donate $1 to the Well Made Scholarship fund, the first two of which will be awarded this Fall to assist students with their decision of going to college.
Thank you for helping me spread the word about this book and for helping me reach my goal for 200 reviews in the first 100 days!
Jennifer
P.S. No special code is required to take advantage of the special price. The response to my pre-sale was so overwhelmingly positive, I wanted to give back to the community who blessed me with their support. If you did pre-order signed copies of the paperback edition, these will be shipping out in early September as planned!
I get asked the following regularly, especially since I started writing my book:
How do I make good decisions?
The answer to this question might surprise you. According to research and my own experience, the judgmental labels of “good” and “bad” can only be attributed AFTER a decision is implemented and results are achieved. You have no way of knowing with 100% confidence the outcome, especially of a high-stakes or complex decision, before you implement.
So, does that mean you can be impulsive or flip a coin because decisions don’t matter?
No. You should make decisions informed by as much insight, data, and expertise that the timeline and scope of the decision justify (which might be less than you think). Perhaps more importantly however the focus should be on what will it take to make this decision right, rather than in making the right decision. The results happen after the decision and the better you and your team or organization can be at anticipating that, the better.
My book, Well Made Decisions, which will be published later this month by New Degree Press, is packed with pro tips to help you think about decision making, problem solving, organizational culture, and strategy development and execution in a new frame.
Learn how Netflix and Schoolhouse Electric and Supply Company build talent density
Learn how Square and AWS obsess about customers
Learn how Amazon’s writing culture helps drive high-velocity innovation
Learn how Ann Sack’s commitment to experimentation created a global brand
I look forward to sharing these insights and many more and engaging with you on how they are working in your business or team!
To learn more about the coming book and to subscribe to hear more about the launch, visit WellMadeDecisions.com. It was originally published on LinkedIn.
“The way you step up your game is not to worry about the other guy.” – Oprah Winfrey
“If you don’t believe your story ain’t nobody else going to.” – DeVon Franklin
“Some people want it to happen, some wish it would happen, others make it happen.” – Michael Jordan
“No person is your friend who demands your silence, or denies your right to grow.” – Alice Walker
Ask yourself: “Did you come this far to only come this far?”
No one wants the words “she tried” on her tombstone.
“I have learned over the years that when one’s mind is made up, this diminishes fear; knowing what must be done does away with fear.” – Rosa Parks