Managing Your Career In The New Normal

Rocky Lachman, Head of Marketing

In celebration of International Women’s Day + Women’s History Month, I reached out to women leaders across our Tribeca Venture Partners portfolio to ask for advice on career management in this new normal. The pandemic has posed a series of challenges for tech and startup professionals, and career management (while a priority) may have felt impossible. This new year presents an opportunity to get back on track with professional development, and career management strategies. I’m thrilled to share insights from women leaders who are navigating this process successfully.

Amy Holtzman, SVP Marketing at AlphaSense

It’s important to acknowledge that we’re still in uncharted territory, and many people are still struggling to find and adapt to their ‘new normal.’ Career management during this time can mean something drastically different depending on how the past year affected you. For some, it may mean finding balance and/or stability. For others, it may mean career advancement and taking on more or different responsibilities.

No matter what career management means for you right now, don’t assume your manager or leadership team always knows. If they’re not appropriately helping you navigate your desired path in regular conversations, schedule dedicated time to make them aware of where you’re at and how they can support you. And don’t be afraid to update them as frequently as your outlook or situation changes.

It can be more difficult to assess employee needs and readiness for advancement in a remote setting, especially one that’s changed so drastically and is still evolving. I’m always appreciative of employees who take the time to update me on where they’re at and how I can better support their journey. When we share the same context, we’re in the best position to help.

Kathleen Booth, VP Marketing at clean.io

The last year has been a time of unprecedented change, and with that have come both opportunities and challenges. For so many people working remotely, finding a healthy balance between “working from home” and “living from work” has been elusive. I’ve found it helpful to set clear boundaries for myself when it comes to the time I spend working versus my time with my family, and I’ve worked closely with my team to make sure they do the same while also watching for signs of burnout. At clean.io, our employees have unlimited time off. We make a deliberate effort to ensure they take it by working with team members to confirm they’re scheduling breaks and modeling the behavior at the leadership team level.

When it comes to career management, relationships are key, but they can be hard to build and maintain in a remote work environment. It’s important to be deliberate about making connections within your organization. This goes beyond your direct team, and it means doing more than simply attending meetings. I’ve gone out of my way to schedule virtual happy hours or lunches with coworkers, attend team-building events, and get to know other team members on a personal level, and I strongly encourage the people I manage to do the same.

That same kind of effort is needed for internal communications. Recognize that everyone communicates differently and make an effort to meet them where they’re at, whether that means sending a Slack, writing an email, or scheduling a video call. And when you attend virtual meetings, make sure to have your webcam on. Having that face-to-face interaction, albeit virtual, is critical to effective communication.

While COVID has had far-reaching impacts on the ways we interact within our organizations, it has also made it harder to network, build connections, and interact with peers outside of your day-to-day work environment. One of the silver linings of the past year for me has been the emergence of so many online professional communities. I’m a member of several Slack communities for CMOs and revenue leaders, and the connections I’ve formed there have been invaluable in furthering my career and providing mentorship opportunities. Find a group focused on your profession and invest the time in becoming meaningfully involved. The relationships you’ll build and the knowledge you will gain will deliver incredible, long-lasting value.

Patty Montagno, Head of Brand & Creative at Firstleaf

The role of leaders in helping employees navigate their careers during uncertain times is one of their most important tasks.

It’s no secret that meeting new people in a virtual world makes establishing connections a challenge. It’s more difficult to build rapport with someone through a computer screen, especially when there’s no shortage of work to be done. Sometimes we forget about the “warm and fuzzy” and how important relationships are in contributing to success. Learning what your colleagues are passionate about and what’s important to them outside of work lends to an environment that authentically fosters trust. Trust to be yourself, trust to make mistakes, and trust to ask for help.

Establishing expectations and outlining goals are also crucial. In a culture where everyone wears multiple hats, defining and aligning your responsibilities is key. At Firstleaf, knowing how you contribute to the larger picture helps keep everyone focused and provides the emotional energy to stay the course.

Mentors can also play an important role in helping to excel in your career. Everyone needs a confidant, a support system, and someone who is in their corner. A mentor can provide guidance on how to navigate a new organization and give feedback on how to strengthen your skill set and position yourself for success.

Lastly, many of us at some stage have felt replaceable in our careers. If the pandemic has taught us nothing else, it’s that life is precious. Each of us is unique and unrepeatable. We all have something special that is entirely ours to offer the world, personally and professionally.

Denada Ramnishta, SVP of Partner & Lender Strategy at Lendio

The last year has left few of us unscathed, and we’re all relying on coping mechanisms to guide us through the unknown. In this new normal, I find myself leaning on my personal mantra more than ever before. I refer to it as the three Gs: Grit, Grind, and Gratitude. This mantra has helped me balance work and home life in the middle of a pandemic. It has also helped me identify more opportunities for happiness, fulfillment, and growth throughout my life.

I’ve found that by building this muscle memory of “grit, grind, and gratitude,” I grow closer each and every day to achieving holistic success. I’ve found this approach works well for the team I lead, too.

One of the first things I did when the pandemic arrived is shift the focus of the team meetings I lead. Now, we spend more time on building raw confidence and showing up authentically. We agreed to express our full selves, doubts and fears included. As we have focused more on helping one another, we’ve created more accountability across the team. We immediately began to show up for each other in ways we hadn’t previously done, yet we desperately needed. With eyes wide open to each other’s struggles, we have forged ahead stronger than before.

Weekly, I ask my staff to take an oath that encompasses a commitment to healthy conflict and disagreement. This allows us to proceed through conversations with smart discourse about what we’re doing well and what we should be doing differently. Every team member picks a stretch goal they set with the possibility of failure — I measure their failure rate just as much as their success rate — and we close our meetings by listing something we’re grateful for.

Having a platform for sharing our hopes, dreams, and failures and expressing gratitude along the way has inspired greater confidence in each of our team members and led to greater successes for my team as a whole.

Isabella McKeon, SVP of Sales at Suzy

This year has undoubtedly been a challenging year for many employees and created even more stressors for those in sales. The general uncertainty of the world can exacerbate feeling a loss of control in your work. The one silver lining is that employees now have an opportunity to experiment with more flexible ways of working that may fit more closely with individual needs. Removing some of the constraints of being in an office has allowed employees to explore their work/life compatibility.

It’s also important to recognize that this year didn’t provide the same level of flexibility for all in the workforce. Many employees unexpectedly took on additional roles and responsibilities at home that they may not have otherwise. But for those who did gain some mental and/or physical bandwidth, you may have the opportunity to level up on some of your skills. If your personal situation allows, use the time you would have spent commuting or on other social events to take on new responsibilities or over-achieve your goals.

As for remote working relationships, make an effort to put yourself in your colleagues’ shoes and always assume positive intent. So much can be lost in translation over Slack/Email, so it’s important to make time to discuss larger, more nuanced topics on calls or Zoom when possible. Most importantly, keep yourself and your team organized. Make agendas for meetings, send follow-up items and recaps whenever possible, and practice direct and concise communication to your teammates and/or manager.

Through all of this, remember to celebrate the small wins, find time to connect with coworkers about non-work-related things, and always make sure you have something on the calendar to look forward to!

Lauren Gill, Head of People at Vivvi

For anyone who’s looking to bring their career goals back into focus following this period of uncertainty, I would advise first shifting from a mindset of surviving day-to-day to one of growth and development. Two ways anyone can do this are:

• Celebrating wins big and small: At Vivvi’s Friday team meeting, we each share a “win from the week,” which gives us all a chance to identify something concrete that we’ve done well that week and recognize our colleagues for their great work. If you can incorporate this kind of positive recognition into your one-on-one with your manager or team meetings, you’ll build confidence and put your best foot forward more publicly. If not, find a more private way to keep track of where you’re excelling, and add/refer to it often (especially before a review or feedback conversation with a supervisor pops up).
• Growing your skillset: We’ve implemented quarterly group professional development sessions, and we also encourage employees to seek out other skill-building opportunities and bring learnings back to the team. If your company offers a formal learning program or budget, take advantage of it! If not, seek out low or no-cost opportunities to gain or deepen expertise that will set you up for success in your next step.