Latest / Drip Talk by Boshart / There's More Than One Way to Lead (S2.5)

Transcript

There's More Than One Way to Lead (S2.5) · Drip Talk by Boshart

• 0:00
  SPEAKER_00: All right, Karis, welcome to Drip Talk.
• 0:02
  SPEAKER_00: Thanks for joining us.
• 0:03
  SPEAKER_00: Well, thank you for having me.
• 0:04
  SPEAKER_00: You're welcome.
• 0:05
  SPEAKER_00: All right, so let's just start by maybe introducing yourself a little bit and sharing about your time here at BoSharp.
• 0:10
  SPEAKER_01: Mm-hmm.
• 0:10
  SPEAKER_01: So I have been at BowSharp for about seven years now.
• 0:13
  SPEAKER_01: Um it's been a great, great journey for me.
• 0:16
  SPEAKER_01: I am currently in the role of director of business strategy.
• 0:20
  SPEAKER_01: So I oversee the RD and the QA department.
• 0:23
  SPEAKER_01: And I also act as a project manager for various new product development.
• 0:28
  SPEAKER_01: And then my role really just touches a lot of other departments and a lot of projects within the company.
• 0:35
  SPEAKER_00: Nice.
• 0:35
  SPEAKER_00: So we're here to talk about leadership a little bit, as you are in a role of leadership, but you weren't always in a role of leadership.
• 0:43
  SPEAKER_00: So you started at Bochar.
• 0:45
  SPEAKER_00: Can you tell us a little bit about your journey here then?
• 0:47
  SPEAKER_01: So I actually started as a picker in the warehouse.
• 0:50
  SPEAKER_01: And from there, I was given the opportunity to come up into sales as a customer service representative to cover Matleaf.
• 0:58
  SPEAKER_01: And I never went back to the warehouse.
• 1:00
  SPEAKER_01: Um when the person who I was covering for came back, then I started into a support role, which was really good.
• 1:07
  SPEAKER_01: And from there I actually started supporting almost in a hybrid position where I was doing wholesale and retail.
• 1:13
  SPEAKER_01: So there wasn't anybody doing it that at the time.
• 1:15
  SPEAKER_01: So I just kind of organically started supporting retail.
• 1:18
  SPEAKER_01: And as that department grew, then they decided that a supervisor was required.
• 1:23
  SPEAKER_01: So I entered into that position.
• 1:25
  SPEAKER_01: And then from there, I was given the opportunity for this role.
• 1:29
  SPEAKER_01: So to become a director.
• 1:31
  SPEAKER_01: And then at the time, I wasn't overseeing any departments.
• 1:34
  SPEAKER_01: There was nobody reporting to me.
• 1:35
  SPEAKER_01: So I was almost in a supporting role.
• 1:38
  SPEAKER_01: And then eventually took on bigger responsibilities.
• 1:41
  SPEAKER_01: And then here I am today.
• 1:42
  SPEAKER_00: And how long have you been in this specific role now?
• 1:45
  SPEAKER_01: Would you say?
• 1:46
  SPEAKER_01: It's been, I think, probably three and a half years.
• 1:50
  SPEAKER_01: So the longest of any role.
• 1:52
  SPEAKER_01: But it's definitely the title has not changed, but the responsibilities and the job description has kind of, you know, evolved significantly.
• 2:01
  SPEAKER_00: So you feel like then you've had a little bit of time to kind of, you know, learn about leadership and your leadership style, then you would say then yes.
• 2:08
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 2:08
  SPEAKER_01: Because I really was actually in a leadership role as a supervisor, and then I stepped out of that and didn't have any kind of authority or there was no actual leadership over anybody, just more, you know, functions and ownership of things.
• 2:23
  SPEAKER_00: All right.
• 2:23
  SPEAKER_00: So maybe let's start with then.
• 2:25
  SPEAKER_00: How would you describe your leadership style in one sentence?
• 2:29
  SPEAKER_01: Um, I really would say I try to always have trust and respect, like mutually.
• 2:36
  SPEAKER_01: And I want to ensure that anybody that is um under me is feeling respected, feeling trusted, feeling equipped and supported by me for sure.
• 2:48
  SPEAKER_00: Would you say that that goes like you would say that's what good leadership means to you?
• 2:53
  SPEAKER_00: Like, is that how maybe you wish that, you know, the people that you work with would also be in a leadership position?
• 3:00
  SPEAKER_00: Yes, definitely.
• 3:00
  SPEAKER_00: For sure.
• 3:01
  SPEAKER_00: I would agree.
• 3:02
  SPEAKER_00: So then maybe like what is something that you focus on that most leaders maybe overlook?
• 3:08
  SPEAKER_01: Um, I think a lot of follow-up communication and really making sure that expectations are clear.
• 3:16
  SPEAKER_01: I think that's often where things can go wrong is when people just aren't really sure what they are expected.
• 3:22
  SPEAKER_01: So I try to make sure that people know what my expectations are, but also leave room if they need to discuss that with me, then let's have an open conversation about it because then I find later on there's less confusion and there's less um chances that there is going to be misalignment in what the expectations were.
• 3:41
  SPEAKER_00: Right.
• 3:42
  SPEAKER_00: When you first started in this role, do you find that that was something you definitely were focused on, or is that something maybe that you've learned over time?
• 3:50
  SPEAKER_01: Something I've learned over time.
• 3:51
  SPEAKER_01: And sometimes you have to learn these things by um trial and error and sometimes experiencing it in a less efficient way.
• 3:59
  SPEAKER_01: And then you can kind of identify, okay, so next time, here's what I need to do to make this better.
• 4:04
  SPEAKER_00: Right.
• 4:05
  SPEAKER_00: So you said that you were you're kind of the the leadership of two different departments.
• 4:09
  SPEAKER_00: So um what would be in your perspective something that makes a team run smoothly?
• 4:14
  SPEAKER_00: Because you do have two different teams, right?
• 4:16
  SPEAKER_00: So would it be something different?
• 4:18
  SPEAKER_00: Does it work for both?
• 4:19
  SPEAKER_00: How would you kind of get that figured out?
• 4:22
  SPEAKER_01: Um, yeah, like it definitely looks different for different departments and even just different projects and different areas of the role.
• 4:28
  SPEAKER_01: So I think just being flexible.
• 4:30
  SPEAKER_01: And I think, again, just strong communication across the board because the departments that I'm working with on a daily basis, there's a ton of collaboration with all of them.
• 4:41
  SPEAKER_01: So yes, I kind of have to have it look a little bit different, but I also really want to maintain consistency, especially in how I lead, because I don't want somebody to experience my leadership in a different way.
• 4:53
  SPEAKER_01: Right.
• 4:53
  SPEAKER_01: And I think just being consistent when somebody comes to my office or comes to a meeting that I'm in, I want them to not have to guess on how I'm going to act or how I'm going to respond.
• 5:05
  SPEAKER_01: I want to be consistent no matter what.
• 5:07
  SPEAKER_00: Right.
• 5:08
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 5:08
  SPEAKER_00: That's a good so then I guess like, how would you encourage?
• 5:12
  SPEAKER_00: So you said communication, and that doesn't just mean communication from you to your team, but that also means within the team as well.
• 5:18
  SPEAKER_00: So how do you maybe encourage some of that communication or ownership within the teams?
• 5:24
  SPEAKER_01: Again, I think just clear communication, um, something that I've identified many, many times is when there are problems, it often is there's there's pu poor communication.
• 5:35
  SPEAKER_01: Right.
• 5:35
  SPEAKER_01: I think as humans, we communicate so much, but we don't always communicate really efficiently, respectfully, or just effectively.
• 5:43
  SPEAKER_01: And so for me, I think, yeah, when I want things to run well, really just how do we communicate well and to what degree?
• 5:52
  SPEAKER_01: And I think then for the ownership, when you have really good communication and you've set expectations, it's a lot easier for people to take ownership because they already knew what they were responsible for.
• 6:04
  SPEAKER_01: Right.
• 6:05
  SPEAKER_01: Um, and for ownership, I say it's really twofold.
• 6:08
  SPEAKER_01: It's when things go right, take ownership of that, recognize that that it went well.
• 6:13
  SPEAKER_01: But then when things didn't go well, also take ownership of that.
• 6:16
  SPEAKER_01: Like let's celebrate a little bit of both of it because when you take ownership ownership, there's not going to be criticism and criticism in that when things didn't go well.
• 6:24
  SPEAKER_01: It's gonna be a discussion of like, let's figure out how we could learn from this and do better.
• 6:30
  SPEAKER_01: So yeah, I think ownership is really both successes and failures or times where we can have some lessons learned.
• 6:38
  SPEAKER_00: Right, for sure.
• 6:39
  SPEAKER_00: So then do you have any tips for good communication?
• 6:42
  SPEAKER_00: Like I know, um, is it just, you know, meeting with the team or like how would you encourage to have that good communication?
• 6:50
  SPEAKER_01: I think just constant check-ins, um, not like every single day constantly.
• 6:55
  SPEAKER_01: Um, but yeah, just do a lot of follow-up.
• 6:58
  SPEAKER_01: And if the recently I experienced something where we were communicating through email with somebody on one of my teams, and I could kind of tell right away that as there was a bit of back and forth, one of us was kind of being misunderstood.
• 7:11
  SPEAKER_01: So it was almost like what I was encouraging as allowing somebody to make a decision on their own, it was like they were, they felt like I was challenging them.
• 7:20
  SPEAKER_01: And so almost immediately I kind of thought this email thread should not go on.
• 7:25
  SPEAKER_01: Hey, do you have five minutes?
• 7:26
  SPEAKER_01: Let's chat in person.
• 7:27
  SPEAKER_01: And it was diffused immediately.
• 7:29
  SPEAKER_01: We actually identified that, yeah, there was some miscommunication there.
• 7:33
  SPEAKER_01: And it was like I was given the opportunity to say it wasn't challenging at all.
• 7:36
  SPEAKER_01: I was wanting you to be able to put up your hand and say, yeah, I don't have the time for this or I don't have the capacity.
• 7:41
  SPEAKER_01: But in somewhere along the line with the back and forth, then there was some miscommunication that was happening.
• 7:46
  SPEAKER_01: And I think if you can eliminate that immediately, then it just doesn't allow that it means that we're not going to be wasting time.
• 7:53
  SPEAKER_01: It doesn't mean that there's gonna be hard feelings.
• 7:55
  SPEAKER_01: I would never want a misunderstanding to cause someone to feel like there's less respect or to have less trust in that relationship.
• 8:04
  SPEAKER_01: So I think for communication, just um being flexible and adapting and identifying as soon as something might not be going well.
• 8:12
  SPEAKER_00: Right.
• 8:12
  SPEAKER_00: Because you know, email, text, anything like that, it's really hard to understand the other person's like emotions.
• 8:19
  SPEAKER_00: You can't you can't get that right.
• 8:20
  SPEAKER_00: And so we have a privilege when it is in the the whole company, yeah, that you could just walk and go see somebody, right?
• 8:26
  SPEAKER_00: And sometimes that does solve the problem.
• 8:29
  SPEAKER_00: And and I think Beauchark does that well, that we see people, you know, having those quick conversations instead of uh an email where maybe it could get um confused or you just wouldn't understand people the same, right?
• 8:41
  SPEAKER_01: So yeah, and I've had previous leaders who have really encouraged that to me.
• 8:44
  SPEAKER_01: Right.
• 8:44
  SPEAKER_01: So I take that serious.
• 8:46
  SPEAKER_01: Like just get up from your desk and go have a chat with it.
• 8:48
  SPEAKER_01: And go have a chat.
• 8:49
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, you can resolve it in five minutes instead of a day's worth of emails and it saves everybody.
• 8:54
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, for sure.
• 8:56
  SPEAKER_00: So then I think you kind of maybe talked about this, but do you feel like you have different communication styles for different people within your department and maybe even just people within the company?
• 9:05
  SPEAKER_00: Do you feel like I always say, like, I feel like sometimes you have to wear a different hat.
• 9:09
  SPEAKER_00: Do you feel like that is something you've just learned over time with your team?
• 9:14
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, and it takes time to learn, but everybody does have almost like their own language.
• 9:20
  SPEAKER_01: And so each person is gonna process information differently.
• 9:23
  SPEAKER_01: Each person is gonna approach a problem or a project differently.
• 9:28
  SPEAKER_01: And so understanding that is really important because it's also gonna give you keys to why they're behaving a certain way.
• 9:35
  SPEAKER_01: And so once you get familiar with different people's communication language or personalities, then you can adapt that.
• 9:41
  SPEAKER_01: Um, I heard a quote a while ago that was leadership should adapt to the individual, not the other way around.
• 9:47
  SPEAKER_01: So I don't want other people to have to adapt themselves to me.
• 9:51
  SPEAKER_01: It's really just that the leadership and the relationship can adapt to each person.
• 9:55
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 9:56
  SPEAKER_00: Wow, I like that.
• 9:57
  SPEAKER_00: I like that quote.
• 9:58
  SPEAKER_00: Um, maybe what's one simple thing then that leaders can do that would make a big difference in morale, in your opinion?
• 10:05
  SPEAKER_01: Recognition.
• 10:07
  SPEAKER_01: Like I think that is a big one.
• 10:09
  SPEAKER_01: And again, with people's different communication styles and different personalities, people are gonna want to be recognized in different ways.
• 10:16
  SPEAKER_01: And that takes time to learn as well.
• 10:18
  SPEAKER_01: But once you're aware enough of which team members really respond good to recognition and in what form of recognition, then it really is not a hard task.
• 10:28
  SPEAKER_01: And I think when people feel recognized for not only those big wins, but those everyday small things, those simple little extras when somebody goes above and beyond, whether you walk over to their office or whether you give them droplets or publicly, whether you just say in a meeting, hey, thank you for what you did during this project.
• 10:47
  SPEAKER_01: That was great.
• 10:49
  SPEAKER_01: That is incredibly value valuable.
• 10:51
  SPEAKER_01: And it really doesn't cost us anything.
• 10:53
  SPEAKER_00: No.
• 10:54
  SPEAKER_00: And especially the small things you mentioned there, because sometimes that makes them feel like, oh, I didn't even know you saw that, right?
• 11:01
  SPEAKER_00: Like big things, you know, maybe they're so public that that makes sense.
• 11:04
  SPEAKER_00: But it's the small things that I think sometimes really people go, oh my gosh, you not only saw what I did, but then you told me that that was something that um you found really helpful and enjoyed.
• 11:17
  SPEAKER_00: So like that does go a long way.
• 11:18
  SPEAKER_00: So that was a good one to mention.
• 11:20
  SPEAKER_00: It's not always just the big things, but you can recognize the small things as well, right?
• 11:24
  SPEAKER_00: So then maybe what is a daily or weekly habit that helps you lead effectively.
• 11:31
  SPEAKER_01: Well, I mean, for me, if I'm wanting my team to be organized and to say stay on track to meet deadlines, I have to do that myself.
• 11:39
  SPEAKER_01: And I can't be asking them to meet a deadline and then not even know what the deadline is or not do reminders or be aware of whether the deadline is met.
• 11:48
  SPEAKER_01: Um, definitely time blocking is something over the years, in many of my positions, I have put into practice and really benefited from.
• 11:57
  SPEAKER_01: And I mean, time blocking is one of those things where there's a fine balance because you have to time block, you have to safeguard that time block.
• 12:06
  SPEAKER_01: But in some roles, especially this one, you also have to be flexible.
• 12:10
  SPEAKER_01: So urgent things can come up, sometimes on a weekly basis.
• 12:13
  SPEAKER_01: And then you really have to decide where does that time block now get moved?
• 12:17
  SPEAKER_01: Can it be moved?
• 12:18
  SPEAKER_01: Or actually it can't.
• 12:20
  SPEAKER_01: Like if I have a hard set thing that I have to do today, it almost doesn't matter what comes up.
• 12:25
  SPEAKER_01: It would be detrimental to me and to my responsibilities if I allow other people's priorities to kind of take over that.
• 12:32
  SPEAKER_01: So that's a big learning curve.
• 12:34
  SPEAKER_01: And I'm definitely very far from perfect in it, but it is something that I have found when I do it and really just schedule and prioritize accordingly, the week goes a lot better.
• 12:45
  SPEAKER_00: Right.
• 12:45
  SPEAKER_00: You have to find that perfect balance, right?
• 12:47
  SPEAKER_00: And it's hard when every week is very different.
• 12:50
  SPEAKER_00: Yes, things change very quickly, but it is important, you know, especially at the beginning of the week.
• 12:55
  SPEAKER_00: I find if you can plan a little bit of your week, then that really does help keep everything on track.
• 13:01
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, well, otherwise everything's gonna shift.
• 13:03
  SPEAKER_01: And then on Friday, you are gonna have a long day.
• 13:06
  SPEAKER_00: Yes, you're gonna go, what happened with my week?
• 13:10
  SPEAKER_00: Yes.
• 13:10
  SPEAKER_00: Um, so maybe what would be your approach to developing future leaders?
• 13:16
  SPEAKER_00: So I definitely feel like I was given a lot of chances to, you know, spread my wings a little bit, try different things and and then move into different positions.
• 13:24
  SPEAKER_00: So, what is your approach to helping feed those uh people who are interested in becoming a leader uh so that they can grow?
• 13:31
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 13:32
  SPEAKER_01: One thing I have really learned is involving people in decision making.
• 13:36
  SPEAKER_01: So there's so many people that are involved in projects and they don't have the authority to make the decision.
• 13:42
  SPEAKER_01: They might not even be involved when that final decision has to be made.
• 13:46
  SPEAKER_01: But when you give them exposure to what that feels like, it already gets them thinking about different things at a much different level.
• 13:54
  SPEAKER_01: So if somebody is responsible for helping to gather quotes or lead times or just data and information, and all they need to do is provide that to me, that's where it ends.
• 14:04
  SPEAKER_01: And they're not really gonna think about what's done with all that information next.
• 14:08
  SPEAKER_01: Right.
• 14:08
  SPEAKER_01: But if I spend 10 minutes sitting with them and saying, okay, so now that we've learned about this, what do you think?
• 14:13
  SPEAKER_01: Like if these are our two options, yeah, they don't have the authority to make the decision.
• 14:17
  SPEAKER_01: But if you ask them, then it goes beyond them saying, Oh, yeah, all I did was provide you with this.
• 14:22
  SPEAKER_01: But if I had to decide, what would I even do?
• 14:26
  SPEAKER_01: Right.
• 14:26
  SPEAKER_01: And it builds confidence.
• 14:27
  SPEAKER_01: It also just gets them a little bit out of their comfort zone.
• 14:30
  SPEAKER_01: So I do try to go back to people and if they provide me something, well, what would you do?
• 14:35
  SPEAKER_01: And often now I think people know that I'm gonna ask them that.
• 14:38
  SPEAKER_01: But at the beginning, they're kind of surprised because they hadn't really even thought about that.
• 14:43
  SPEAKER_01: So I think just getting them comfortable and exposed to what's beyond just giving information or what's beyond their current role, it already gets them feeling um confident.
• 14:56
  SPEAKER_01: And they also can tell whether they like the feel of that or not, right?
• 14:59
  SPEAKER_01: Like if somebody is asked that question and later they think, if I had to make that decision, I would be so intimidated.
• 15:05
  SPEAKER_01: I would be stalled out, right?
• 15:06
  SPEAKER_01: I would be fearful.
• 15:08
  SPEAKER_01: Then you either have to really grow in that or maybe another role isn't what's right for you.
• 15:12
  SPEAKER_01: Um but if somebody really loves that and their responses are excellent and you really can tell that they're asking good questions, you're gonna see that potential, which I think is great.
• 15:22
  SPEAKER_01: Yes.
• 15:22
  SPEAKER_01: Who who's already showing that they're asking great questions and they're understanding it.
• 15:27
  SPEAKER_00: Right.
• 15:28
  SPEAKER_00: And it might reflect their their job.
• 15:30
  SPEAKER_00: They might go back and say, well, now I'm gonna think about the end goal.
• 15:33
  SPEAKER_00: I never did before.
• 15:34
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 15:35
  SPEAKER_00: So then maybe all of a sudden you're getting the end goal with everything else.
• 15:39
  SPEAKER_00: Yes.
• 15:40
  SPEAKER_00: And you're realizing that it's just kind of shifted their mindset.
• 15:43
  SPEAKER_00: And so that is a great stepping point into that leadership position.
• 15:48
  SPEAKER_00: So uh I'm gonna shift gears just slightly a little bit.
• 15:50
  SPEAKER_00: So um maybe like what kind of environment do you feel like people do their best work in?
• 15:57
  SPEAKER_01: I think when you have an environment where you're allowing people to be creative and be really curious.
• 16:03
  SPEAKER_01: So when you want people to ask those, you know, often people say stupid questions, but they're not, they're silly, or they're inexperienced questions, asking those questions are really beneficial.
• 16:16
  SPEAKER_01: And I want an environment where people can walk in a room and they don't feel intimidated by asking that.
• 16:21
  SPEAKER_01: You know, I've heard people who have been with a company for 20 years ask a question that I think, oh, I wanted to ask that, but I didn't.
• 16:28
  SPEAKER_01: And the fact that they didn't know, and now we've learned together, I I love those kinds of environments where anybody can talk, anybody can ask questions.
• 16:37
  SPEAKER_01: Nobody's expected to be the smartest person in the room.
• 16:40
  SPEAKER_01: And um, yeah, so I think just really create creativity and trial and error.
• 16:46
  SPEAKER_01: Um I think it's Brene Brown says something about the messy first draft.
• 16:51
  SPEAKER_01: And I really like that because when we come to the table, yeah, like what can we create right now that, you know, seven steps later might look closer to perfection, but let's just start somewhere and it needs to be messy and it needs to draw out those silly questions and it's gonna look nothing like the end result.
• 17:08
  SPEAKER_01: But I want people to come to the table and feel comfortable doing that.
• 17:12
  SPEAKER_00: And sometimes those silly questions are where you get your idea from.
• 17:15
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 17:16
  SPEAKER_00: Because it leads to maybe somebody else's silly question that then feeds off of this.
• 17:20
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 17:20
  SPEAKER_00: And then eventually you get there, but it started with that one that maybe somebody didn't think they felt comfortable saying, and it's like, oh, well, good thing you did.
• 17:28
  SPEAKER_00: Yes.
• 17:28
  SPEAKER_00: So it's nice that you're creating an environment where you feel like you can get those out.
• 17:32
  SPEAKER_00: So I feel like I've seen a lot of good ideas come from those concepts, those you know, quote unquote silly ideas.
• 17:40
  SPEAKER_01: Well, one of the best follow-up statements to a silly question is when you hear somebody who says, Well, I never I never thought about it that way, or I've never thought about that option.
• 17:50
  SPEAKER_01: Because then you know that that silly question that almost didn't get asked because you might be intimidated, that actually created a much better conversation or so much better learning, or it made up people think who you thought, well, they probably learned as much as they possibly could.
• 18:06
  SPEAKER_01: It makes them think totally outside the box.
• 18:08
  SPEAKER_00: Totally.
• 18:09
  SPEAKER_01: That is where this creativity is great.
• 18:11
  SPEAKER_00: Yep.
• 18:11
  SPEAKER_00: And you could take sometimes a whole different direction.
• 18:14
  SPEAKER_00: And then you realize, like, wow, if we would have stayed here, we would have stayed inside that box and we wouldn't have got to all of this.
• 18:21
  SPEAKER_00: So it's, you know, it sparks that.
• 18:23
  SPEAKER_00: So you have to create an environment where people do feel comfortable or you will never get those things out, right?
• 18:28
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 18:29
  SPEAKER_00: So that's really important.
• 18:30
  SPEAKER_00: So let's go back to your leadership a little bit.
• 18:33
  SPEAKER_00: This might be a very loaded question, but what part of leadership do you enjoy the most?
• 18:39
  SPEAKER_01: Um, I think when you see a team reach a shared goal, especially when it is cross-collaboration between many, many departments, and you can tell that a lot of time and effort is put into it.
• 18:52
  SPEAKER_01: And at the end of the day, when you feel like you can celebrate because you all got there, even if it was really messy in the middle, when you have a shared goal and people are celebrating, that's really awesome.
• 19:02
  SPEAKER_01: And that goes kind of back to the recognition because then when you can recognize somebody and say, I don't think we could have got here without what you gave to this, and people feel pride in that, and you can feel you can see that they're taking ownership and that they've grown in that, there's not much better than that feeling as a leader to say you did that.
• 19:20
  SPEAKER_01: I just kind of stood here and watched you and I'm celebrating with you, but it was really all on you.
• 19:25
  SPEAKER_01: You did great.
• 19:26
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, because especially in this company, there are a lot of departments that have different phases of something, right?
• 19:32
  SPEAKER_00: And so you might not be a part of the end goal, but it is still you paid played a very valuable part in it.
• 19:38
  SPEAKER_00: So I think like we have something like Beauchar Wave, you mentioned the droplets, where we get to recognize people within the whole company.
• 19:44
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 19:45
  SPEAKER_00: And I think that's a great way to make sure that everybody who had a part in it gets included in that recognition, right?
• 19:51
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 19:51
  SPEAKER_00: It's not just the department, which is important, but it's also everybody who played a role, whether it was a small one or it was the person that took it over the finish line.
• 19:59
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 19:59
  SPEAKER_00: It all played a very valuable role in it, right?
• 20:01
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 20:02
  SPEAKER_01: And as a leader, when you get to look at that recognition platform and you see people on your team getting recognized by other managers or other coworkers that aren't even in their department, you feel a sense of pride for them, whether you were involved or not.
• 20:15
  SPEAKER_01: Because then you're seeing, wow, they they did a good job.
• 20:17
  SPEAKER_01: This is a great person.
• 20:19
  SPEAKER_01: This company's lucky to have them, and I love that other people are recognizing for something.
• 20:24
  SPEAKER_01: Yes.
• 20:24
  SPEAKER_01: That's excellent.
• 20:25
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, for sure.
• 20:26
  SPEAKER_00: So then I asked you what you enjoyed the most.
• 20:29
  SPEAKER_00: So what do you find then the most challenging?
• 20:32
  SPEAKER_01: Um, probably some of that prioritization and really just safeguarding my time.
• 20:38
  SPEAKER_01: That's really hard because on any given day, I don't really know what's gonna come up.
• 20:42
  SPEAKER_01: Right.
• 20:43
  SPEAKER_01: Um, things can change.
• 20:44
  SPEAKER_01: But I would also say a big challenging thing would be the decision making.
• 20:48
  SPEAKER_01: Because sometimes at the end of the day, it will fall on me or me and a few others to make the final decision.
• 20:54
  SPEAKER_01: And most of the time, the outcome is unknown.
• 20:58
  SPEAKER_01: And so you have to be comfortable or comfortable with being uncomfortable with making that hard decision.
• 21:05
  SPEAKER_01: And you really don't know, nobody's gonna tell you that's definitely the right decision.
• 21:09
  SPEAKER_01: You don't have a crystal ball to see into the future, and so you take a risk, but it's your responsibility to make that decision.
• 21:16
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, and you have to be comfortable with that because no one else is gonna do it.
• 21:20
  SPEAKER_01: That's just part of the role.
• 21:22
  SPEAKER_01: So it's challenging because you have to take it on.
• 21:26
  SPEAKER_01: Um, and yeah, you have to know that if you made the wrong decision, you take ownership, yeah, and then you learn.
• 21:31
  SPEAKER_01: And yeah.
• 21:32
  SPEAKER_00: And you go from there.
• 21:33
  SPEAKER_01: Yes.
• 21:33
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 21:34
  SPEAKER_00: Do you have any tips maybe for making that a little easier that you've maybe learned over the years, or do you find that everyone is different, right?
• 21:41
  SPEAKER_01: So it's hard to kind of find that I definitely just think asking other people for their opinion.
• 21:47
  SPEAKER_01: And again, like even just people who have very little involvement in it, they might ask those questions just to help you walk through it.
• 21:54
  SPEAKER_01: Using people, people who, you know, it's a safe place for you to talk to them, ask, use them as a sound.
• 22:00
  SPEAKER_01: Board and just say, here's the decision, you know, here's kind of the background of what I'm trying to decide on.
• 22:05
  SPEAKER_01: Here's my options, here's my worries, here's the unknowns.
• 22:09
  SPEAKER_01: What do you think as a as an outsider?
• 22:11
  SPEAKER_01: What does it sound like to you?
• 22:13
  SPEAKER_01: Um, but definitely going to people who have experience, right?
• 22:16
  SPEAKER_01: My leaders, they're great resources for me to say, at this time I don't really know.
• 22:20
  SPEAKER_01: Here's what I think, here's what I think I know, here's the direction that I think I'm gonna go with this decision.
• 22:26
  SPEAKER_01: Do you have any concerns?
• 22:28
  SPEAKER_01: Um so, and sometimes it is just building confidence.
• 22:31
  SPEAKER_00: Yep.
• 22:32
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 22:32
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 22:33
  SPEAKER_00: Sometimes you only have so much information in front of you, right?
• 22:36
  SPEAKER_00: And you have to, you know, decide one way or the other.
• 22:38
  SPEAKER_00: And at the end of the day, that's the decision you need to make, right?
• 22:43
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 22:43
  SPEAKER_00: To move everything forward.
• 22:44
  SPEAKER_00: So um, is there something that keeps you motivated in this role?
• 22:49
  SPEAKER_01: Um, again, I think seeing people recognized, seeing people grow, seeing people rise to a challenge.
• 22:56
  SPEAKER_01: So if I give them an opportunity um to try something different or to step a little bit out of their role or out of their comfort zone when they rise to that occasion and it they do really well, or even if they don't do well, if they're willing to grow, I think that keeps you motivated.
• 23:11
  SPEAKER_01: And then getting to that shared goal goal with other groups.
• 23:14
  SPEAKER_01: You know, when we finalize a project and it went well and we can identify, you know, maybe where we could have done better or where we did really well, it's motivating looking at that big picture, because sometimes all those little daily things, you don't see a lot of progress.
• 23:30
  SPEAKER_01: But then when you step back and you look at what you did over the month, then you're thinking, wow, well, things are getting done.
• 23:36
  SPEAKER_01: We are making progress.
• 23:37
  SPEAKER_00: It might not feel like it in the time, but eventually you'll get there.
• 23:41
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 23:41
  SPEAKER_00: Patience.
• 23:42
  SPEAKER_00: Patience.
• 23:43
  unknown: Yes.
• 23:44
  SPEAKER_00: So um if there's somebody who wants to become a leader in their at their current role right now, where would you say they should start?
• 23:51
  SPEAKER_00: What should they start doing to build that?
• 23:54
  SPEAKER_01: Yep.
• 23:54
  SPEAKER_01: Getting curious, asking questions, those silly questions, right?
• 23:59
  SPEAKER_01: And just really getting feedback.
• 24:01
  SPEAKER_01: And if you hear people make comments and you don't fully understand them, ask.
• 24:05
  SPEAKER_01: Ask for what they're talking about, you know?
• 24:07
  SPEAKER_01: And even just joining, if there's meetings or projects or various things that you don't um have any experience with, just ask if you can participate.
• 24:18
  SPEAKER_01: You know, there's always opportunities, even just for job shadowing, not that you want to step out of your role, but if you want to learn more about all aspects of the company, right?
• 24:27
  SPEAKER_01: It's amazing what you can what you can learn from sitting beside somebody.
• 24:30
  SPEAKER_01: And you might actually realize how your department or your role and your decisions are impacting another department that you may have never known about.
• 24:39
  SPEAKER_01: So yeah, I would just say really be creative, be um curious, ask for feedback.
• 24:44
  SPEAKER_01: If you've done something new that you've never really done before, pull somebody aside and say, like, how do you think I did in that situation?
• 24:51
  SPEAKER_01: What went really well?
• 24:52
  SPEAKER_01: What could I do differently next time?
• 24:54
  SPEAKER_01: Because people are usually really willing to provide you with that.
• 24:58
  SPEAKER_01: And it's not going to come from a place of judgment or criticism.
• 25:01
  SPEAKER_01: It's going to come from a place of just supporting each other in growth.
• 25:05
  SPEAKER_01: Yep.
• 25:05
  SPEAKER_00: For sure.
• 25:06
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 25:06
  SPEAKER_00: So then maybe what is one last thing you'd like to say to maybe summarize leadership or give a quick tip or anything like that?
• 25:13
  SPEAKER_01: I would say for me, I've learned almost right from the start that there is no perfection in leadership at all.
• 25:20
  SPEAKER_01: There's a lot of vulnerability and there's a lot of room for growth, no matter how long you've been in a leadership role.
• 25:27
  SPEAKER_01: And so don't come at it as I need to already be a strong leader and have all the skills to even consider getting into a leadership role.
• 25:36
  SPEAKER_01: If you're willing to be um open to growing and to trial and error and to learning, that's where it starts.
• 25:44
  SPEAKER_01: It does not ever start from a place of, oh, I'm a perfect leader, so I should find that role and step into it.
• 25:49
  SPEAKER_01: Right.
• 25:49
  SPEAKER_01: It's that willingness and just really taking opportunities to show the potential that you think you have.
• 25:55
  SPEAKER_01: Right.
• 25:56
  SPEAKER_00: Because is there ever really a perfect leader?
• 25:58
  SPEAKER_00: I feel like that always is changing and growing and you're learning new things, right?
• 26:02
  SPEAKER_00: So you should never shoot to be perfect.
• 26:04
  SPEAKER_00: It should be that you're willing to grow, you're willing to learn.
• 26:07
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, definitely.
• 26:08
  SPEAKER_00: Okay.
• 26:09
  SPEAKER_00: So we're gonna do some rapid fire uh questions, really quick, really simple.
• 26:13
  SPEAKER_00: I have a cool little envelope Madison created here.
• 26:17
  unknown: Okay.
• 26:19
  SPEAKER_00: So these are just supposed to be the first thing that kind of pops into your head just to get to know you a little bit better.
• 26:25
  SPEAKER_00: So, first one coffee or tea?
• 26:29
  SPEAKER_01: Oh, coffee for sure, in large quantities.
• 26:33
  SPEAKER_01: But I'll take a tea if you don't know how to make good coffee.
• 26:35
  SPEAKER_01: Okay.
• 26:36
  SPEAKER_00: That works.
• 26:37
  SPEAKER_00: Um, early bird or night owl.
• 26:39
  SPEAKER_00: Early bird.
• 26:39
  SPEAKER_00: Work from home or in the office?
• 26:41
  SPEAKER_00: Office.
• 26:42
  SPEAKER_00: Standing desk or sitting?
• 26:43
  SPEAKER_00: I know the answer to that one.
• 26:44
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 26:45
  SPEAKER_00: Standing desk.
• 26:46
  SPEAKER_00: Meeting or email?
• 26:48
  SPEAKER_00: Meeting.
• 26:49
  SPEAKER_01: Oh, I don't know.
• 26:50
  SPEAKER_01: That's a tricky one.
• 26:51
  SPEAKER_01: It is.
• 26:51
  SPEAKER_01: Because I've also been to meetings that could have been just an email.
• 26:55
  SPEAKER_00: So when it's appropriate.
• 26:57
  SPEAKER_00: A meeting.
• 26:58
  SPEAKER_00: Yep.
• 26:58
  SPEAKER_00: Okay.
• 26:59
  SPEAKER_00: Written notes or typed.
• 27:01
  SPEAKER_00: Written.
• 27:01
  SPEAKER_00: Favorite office snack.
• 27:04
  SPEAKER_01: Like a honey crisp apple.
• 27:06
  SPEAKER_00: Ooh, that's a good one.
• 27:07
  SPEAKER_00: Yep.
• 27:08
  SPEAKER_00: To-do list or a calendar?
• 27:10
  SPEAKER_00: To-do list.
• 27:11
  SPEAKER_00: Office supply you can't live without.
• 27:15
  SPEAKER_00: A pen.
• 27:16
  SPEAKER_00: I was, I was, I thought you would say pen.
• 27:18
  SPEAKER_01: It seems simple, but like I write a lot of just handwritten notes.
• 27:22
  SPEAKER_00: Yep.
• 27:23
  SPEAKER_00: Um, cat or dog?
• 27:24
  SPEAKER_00: Dog.
• 27:25
  SPEAKER_00: Okay.
• 27:25
  SPEAKER_00: Pineapple on pizza?
• 27:27
  SPEAKER_00: Yes.
• 27:27
  SPEAKER_00: Always.
• 27:28
  SPEAKER_00: Excellent.
• 27:28
  SPEAKER_00: Good answer.
• 27:29
  SPEAKER_00: Summer or winter?
• 27:30
  SPEAKER_01: Summer.
• 27:31
  SPEAKER_00: Book or movie?
• 27:32
  SPEAKER_00: Book.
• 27:33
  SPEAKER_00: Okay, and then if you had one extra hour each day, how would you spend it?
• 27:39
  SPEAKER_01: It sounds cliche, but with my family.
• 27:42
  SPEAKER_01: Or just exercising and being outside.
• 27:47
  SPEAKER_01: That's a good answer.
• 27:48
  SPEAKER_01: All right, well, Caris, thanks for joining me today.
• 27:51
  SPEAKER_01: Well, thank you again for having me.
• 27:52
  SPEAKER_01: It was great.
• 27:53
  SPEAKER_00: Thanks.