Background:
Pradeep joins HelloAB, a series C startup as VP of Products. He was brimming with excitement to solve some of the important problems facing the startup. In a couple of weeks, he understood that customer focus was broken. He created a plan to bring back the focus and showcased the same in a town hall. However, even after many weeks, his own team didn’t amend the way they worked. They continued to execute business priorities without any visible shift in their customer focus. This reaction from his team frustrated Pradeep, and he even contemplated replacing some of his product managers and bringing in a fresh team that can quickly align with his vision.
Revelation:
One fine morning, one of his direct reports came to meet him, and Pradeep inadvertently expressed his frustration about the team. The Director understood Pradeep’s dilemmas and shared some historical context about the team. He mentioned that there were 3 VPs before Pradeep who all left the company in a total span of less than 2 years. These VPs joined the startup with a similar vision and enthusiasm as Pradeep. This initially excited the team members, but as months went by, the VPs didn’t quite succeed in changing the status quo as business priorities continued to be pushed from the top. The VPs eventually left the company out of frustration.
Pradeep realised that, in light of the previous VPs’ failures, the team thought that he too could face a similar fate. It became evident to him that he has to build his team’s confidence in his ability to bring change rather than just pushing them to change. To achieve this, he needed to first demonstrate his influence on senior management and business leadership.
Solution
Pradeep did the following –
- Secure & Demonstrate Buy-In: Pradeep organized another town hall. This time rather than he talking about his customer-centric vision, he made business leadership acknowledge and commit to his vision in front of everyone.
- Active Intervention: He closely monitored key projects and whenever he observed compromise on his vision or customer values, he promptly intervened (using public channels such as Slack and group emails) and created enough visibility. These interventions demonstrated his conviction, leading to greater alignment among team members.
Outcome:
Pradeep’s solution yielded positive results. After seeing him convince the stakeholders of crucial decisions, the team members started to embrace his ideas. Their attitude towards Pradeep shifted, and they became proactive in safeguarding customer interests, aligning with his vision.
Key Learnings:
Influential Leadership: A Team, in general, expects two things from a leader – a) How much they learn/get mentored from the leader, and b) How much influence the leader has, across the organization, especially on people above him/her in the hierarchy. While there is enough emphasis on the former, the latter isn’t debated as much. Winning the team’s confidence not only requires providing mentorship or empowering the team but also the ability to exert influence across the organization’s hierarchy effectively.
Demonstrated Influence: By actively monitoring projects and driving their successful execution, Pradeep kept reiterating his stance on customer focus and gained the team’s confidence. Demonstrating influence through action is more effective than mere communication.
