Pressing fast forward — An interview with Applied Data Incubator Team Coach Sarah Needham
We were delighted to recently interview Sarah Needham on her role with Applied Data Incubator and gather her insights from working with the data-driven startups as they have grown. Below Sarah shares her thoughts on the journey they are taking in Berlin, what makes for a successful team and much more. There is even a glimpse into the some of her ideal dinner party guests! We thank Sarah very much for her time and for sharing her thoughts.
Please briefly explain your role and your company.
I am the Founder and Tech Leadership Coach for Unique-U Coaching.
How did you come to specialize in your field?
I spent 17 years in industry and had been aware for a few years that something was wrong but I had no idea what it was. I spent a lot of energy trying to fit in and meet others expectations. This put a lot of stress onto me and meant that I was not contributing my unique value to the success of the business. I was hiding in plain sight! Scared of being rejected for who I was. It went so far that I believed my strengths were weaknesses rather than honoring them for what they were! I ended up ultimately with burn out and when my mother died I went on a journey of reawakening by taking my coaching qualification and started my business to serve Climate-KIC Accelerator as their Tech coach!
As a team coach for the Applied Data Incubators, you have seen the teams grow! What stands out the most during the first couple of months?
The extraordinary journey the teams are all on. It is like pressing fast forward. This is a great learning experience for the teams and the individuals in how to come together and in a short space of time.
How important is getting team dynamics correct?
In my eyes, the most important is that the teams are built on respect. Each and every team member is on their own personal journey and even just moving to Berlin to participate has brought a lot of challenges for most of the individuals. Therefore understanding what is important to each member individually and being compassionate with one another is critical at this stage of their journey. I am helping the teams with these elements and starting to clarify company values and behaviours to support them with this!
What role does motivation play for any successful team?
It is one element that none of these teams are lacking is motivation! Motivation or as I would put it, being passionate to make their ideas come to life, is critical otherwise a lot of them would likely give up fairly quickly. In an incubator phase there is a lot going on all at once and so helping the teams set healthy boundaries to support themselves is important so that they do not get overwhelmed.
You have previously outlined how important it is to be clear on who we are and to understand ourselves better — why is this essential in your eyes?
If individuals cannot speak about what is important to them and why, then the teams will not benefit from the diverse perspectives, ideas and thoughts of the individual team members. They are all working on complex products with uncertain outcomes and goals at this stage. This, coupled with the fact they are all passionate means disagreements will occur. Disagreements and having courageous conversations are critical to the success of the startup and need to be seen as opportunities for learning so that they can refine their products quickly and make progress.
If you were hosting a dinner party, who would be your dream guests and why?
Oh that’s hard! I think Simon Sinek, Brene Brown, Tarana Burke, Mahatma Gandhi, Nelson Mandela, Marie Curie, Frida Kahlo and my grandad (I could probably name at least another ten!). I believe we can create a better world by listening more and hearing different perspectives. I am consciously trying to broaden my understanding of different cultures and different bias that are affecting equality in the world we live in. I believe there is so much healing we can do by connecting with people more deeply and listening to different perspectives that may support or challenge our version of reality. We cannot create equality unless we are willing to listen and interact with diverse groups of people. Diverse in terms of age, race, gender, cognitive and political differences to name but a few! We can create solutions to the worlds biggest problems if we are willing to meet other humans at eye level and listen and exchange with curiosity and with a willingness to learn!
