5 tips for being a better leader in performance marketing

Performance Marketing Lead, Wendy Tai, explains how she made the mindset switch from driving team results to driving team development. Read about her leadership growth as well as the growth of the team.

Looking for something new

Before coming to Taxfix, I had built my career in vendor-based digital marketing companies. My duties teetered between business development and client relationship management, and my sole ambition was to acquire more clients and marketing budgets. Though exhilarating for a time, this superficial goal eventually got old. I wanted to be part of something more meaningful that re-ignited my passion for marketing.

I was looking into a few different opportunities when a headhunter reached out to me about a team lead role at Taxfix. To be honest, I wasn’t sure I was a fit. Although I had led teams in the past, my experience was mostly around projects and results. I had never been responsible for long-term topics like employee engagement or career development. I told the hiring team up-front that this would be a fresh start for me. Luckily, they saw that I had the drive to get myself where I needed to be over time.

Falling short

When I first joined the team, only two people were working in performance. On the one hand, this was extremely impressive because they handled such a high level of work and some massive budgets. On the other hand, as we were gearing up for our busiest season, there was a big need and expectation for me to make life easier for them.

My first instinct was to fill in the gaps by taking on extra work, so I started digging into our channel performance myself — sometimes late into the night. My strategy was to catch up as quickly as possible and become an expert in every dimension of performance marketing. I mistakenly feared that if my team members knew something better than I did, that would mean I had failed as a leader.

Every team discussion was about action points and deliverables. Even one-on-one meetings with my direct reports, which should have centered around personal challenges and growth, became a checklist of what had and hadn’t been accomplished. In short, I was running myself ragged, and my team wasn’t too happy either. The feedback I received in my first performance review reflected this. Despite my good intentions, I was dubbed a “micro-manager.” Something needed to change.

Five ways I’m becoming a better people leader

Becoming a better leader is an ongoing process. It takes conscious effort and humility to recognize where you need to put in the work. Here are some of the tips that have helped me on my journey:

Finding a mentor

I’ve been lucky enough to find a few great mentors over the past years. Our CGO, Alex Beresford, is a particularly outstanding coach for both company and individual growth topics. When I first received my micro-manager diagnosis, I had some serious doubts about my leadership abilities. Rather than dwell on the negative, Alex told me, “you’ve got all the soft skills that you need. Now you just need to put them together.” He didn’t sugar coat his advice. He simply wanted me to stop worrying about where I was lacking and start focusing on my development to serve the team. In addition to our regular coaching sessions, he suggested a few books to guide me along the way, including High Output Management, by Andrew Grove and The Leader’s Guide to Managing People, by Mike Brent.

Being the coach, not the top player

My next big learning came from a conversation I had with our Head of Talent Acquisition, Rob Krzyzaniak. We were discussing an issue my team was facing, and he just stopped me and said, “you shouldn’t do this for them. This is their job. You can help them by challenging them.” A lightbulb went off in my head. Just like a basketball coach knows where each player can perform their best, I had to take a step back from the court to better assess my team. I went from waking up every morning, thinking, “how can I make the performance better” to, “what does my team need from me today to deliver their best?” This change in approach has helped me better understand my reports’ strengths as well as their potential. I also have a better idea of what the company needs and where we need to grow as a team to support that.

Asking the right questions

One way I try to support my team’s development is by facilitating problem-solving. When I first joined the company, I thought I had to have all the answers. However, admitting when I don’t know something has actually sparked some very fruitful hands-on learning opportunities for the team. And now, even when they come to me with a straightforward question, I resist the temptation to give an easy answer and instead ask, “How would you approach it? What have you tried?” This motivates the team to take ownership and build confidence in their work. They have their budget, they know the targets, and they are the experts within their domain.

[Read more about growth in the Performance Marketing Team here]

Encouraging the team to speak up

Helping my people work through challenges is largely made possible by the mutual trust we have for one another. As a team, we’re big believers in asking questions and trying to understand “the why.” When my team asks for clarity on a specific decision — as they should — it forces me to look deeper into my own understanding.

We had a recent example of this when our registration targets for a new region were suddenly cut. In response, I hastily adjusted our budgets and acquisition metrics, which set off a frenzy of questions from my team. As there wasn’t a lot of historical data for this region, I had to go back to our product stakeholders to get more information to justify my decision. It was a great lesson in the importance of gathering and providing context to my team.

Being human

Lastly, it’s important to be authentically yourself with your team. We all have days when we’re not 100%, and we fall short. We get tired or sick or have too many meetings, and that’s ok — showing that vulnerability opens the door to honest communication. I love that my team feels comfortable giving me candid feedback and vice versa. We see it as a way to show care for one another and support our mutual growth.

Moving forward

Of course, this is just the beginning of mine and my team’s story. I’m excited to say that Performance Marketing will be looking for a few senior members to join our ranks. These people will take ownership of the strategy within their specialized channels alongside our more junior teammates. I’m hopeful that they will push me to be better while up-skilling the team with their expert knowledge.

Building a team can be difficult, but if this experience has taught me anything, it’s to be excited about the unknown. Taxfix is one of those environments where your day is never dull. If you really wish to stretch yourself, if you want to have new problems to solve, and if you see challenges as an opportunity to grow — this is the place for you.

Interested in joining our Performance Marketing Team? Check out our open roles.

A special thank you to our Head of Marketing, Michael Korkia, for giving me my start here. Without your trust, this story and my journey wouldn’t have been possible. — Wendy