Expanding my Personal Network #1
Marketing Director, CPG Industry
1. How would you describe yourself as a leader?
I would consider myself driven, focused and collaborative. I challenge my team and have high expectations but I believe in challenging the status quo as well. I allow my people to get in whenever they would like, I don’t make them be in here at 6:30 because that is what we have always done. I think it is important for my people to be able to drop their kids off at school if they would like to. I trust my people I know that even if someone has to leave here at 3:00 if I email them and need something by the next morning they will get it to me if they have to stay up all night.
I am very passionate about making sure that women in this company don’t have to go through what we did and because of this I believe people want to work for me because I understand this and still deliver results.
2. What has challenged you as a leader?
Well, something my mentor told me once was that “you are not here to make friends, but you need to make sure everyone likes you”. We manage a lot of cross functional teams and it is important that when they are looking at their to-do lists that they want to do your tasks first, if they don’t like you they may skip yours.
3. How have you handled ‘sticky’ situations with a coworker?
Asking questions. I always ask “Help me understand” or “ How is this going to impact your business”. This helps you get the answer you want without coming off as defensive. It also brings up any other beliefs that may be holding something up that you will need to investigate.
4. What is your most rewarding accomplishment?
I have managed a key brand for the last 6 years (2010–2016) and grew the business by 10 MM pounds while the category has remained flat.
I managed one of our smaller brands and created this brand from 125,000 pounds and today it is at 13 MM pounds.
From a people standpoint I managed the first all-female marketing team in company history.
5. What do you wish you would have known at my age?
I wish I would have known /understood the financial side of the business at a detailed level. I wish I would have asked questions about the stock price, understood wall street, how the analysts talk about us, what they are asking and why they are asking certain things.
6. What advice do you have for me?
Understand the stock price and have conversations about it. Ex. Stock price is up due to exports, etc. Add it to your weekly resume and discuss it with Eric. (my manager)
Be sure to tell your story in numbers. Make sure you have your elevator speech ready.
Hallway conversations are just as critical as meeting room conversations. Be sure you aren’t just asking how their family is, lead with business, and then get to the family.
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I have been meaning to sit down with this individual for the last couple months and this exercise was a great excuse to put something on the calendar. I loved getting to know her a little better and to understand her leadership style. She is a leader that many people want to work for and this was a great opportunity to understand why. (she is wonderful!). I enjoyed hearing all her advice about telling my story in numbers and the piece about hallway conversations. I can definitely improve in this area and will look into improving my pitch after this interview. Following this interview I asked her if she would be willing to meet with my quarterly to discuss key projects and feedback on certain situations I may have. After this interview I feel great about adding an additional person to my personal network.
