Leading a team without learning every Skill
I hesitated to set up a Market-research department where I didn’t exactly have subject matter expertise. This is my story of overcoming imposter syndrome as a leader by embracing inexperience.
Do you know that feeling when life throws you a curveball? Instead of “A” which you were preparing for, you get “B” about which you have little idea. Well, that's exactly what happened to me in 2021. I was asked to set up a new customer research department to service 10+ global business units.
At first, I felt a wave of imposter syndrome wash over me. I questioned whether I had the skills needed to take on such a challenge. But then I thought, if the founders of the company trust me, why shouldn't I trust myself?
In the startups I worked for, customer research was an essential part of my daily routine. I have gone for home deliveries in mini-trucks as part of an online grocery team. I have spoken to 10 customers per week as a category manager for online vitamins. I have spoken to at least 100 customers about their chronic illness challenges as part of an e-pharmacy team. However, talking to customers is just one part of a research project. The other parts are usually skipped in small startups. The bigger market research projects are generally executed by professional agencies.
Although setting up departments from scratch is my specialty. Still, the idea of setting up a department dedicated to just research in a company with 40,000 employees spread across 15 countries, felt overwhelming. The scale was huge. I had a chance to make a big impact or a big mistake.
Finally, this quote from Richard Brosnan in his memoir, “Screw It, Let's Do It: Lessons In Life” made me confident enough to take it up
"If somebody offers you an amazing opportunity but you are not sure you can do it, say yes – then learn how to do it later!"
Did I have all the technical skills required for this task? Not entirely. But I knew that my marketing experience wasn't too far from the field of market research. On the other hand, when it came to my leadership skills, I was confident in my abilities.
As we progress in our careers, we will increasingly get projects where we will be the most senior person. No single person can know every skill, and the same is true for the leader. Does the president know how to cure diseases or when to increase interest rates in the economy? He leads a team of experts, enables them, empowers them, and brings their expertise to his nation's common man. That's the true mark of a leader.
Imposter Syndrome, Meet Your Match.
I made a plan to address my lack of technical skills and play to my strengths as a good program manager.
Talk to experts in the network:- Luckily, my mentors came to the rescue and gave me a crash course in customer research. They told me about their own experiences, case studies, and what challenges they faced the first time.
Talk to experts outside the network:- Here, I did two things. I cold emailed experts from Linkedin requesting their time to guide me. Second I started meeting a lot of companies that provided research-as-a-service. They taught me crucial threads of research work up to a point where I could take decisions on taking their services. It is a win-win for the agency-client relationship.
Take courses:- I searched Google, youtube and Udemy for such short courses and took several of them over the weekends. The subject is closer to my function and hence it was easy to pick up from courses.
Treat the work as a program to be managed:- I noted down the blocks that build the project. We can make a flowchart or steps by breaking down the project delivery into smaller tasks. Then I see which skill is required at which stage. I made the team hiring and agency-onboarding plan as per this task-level requirement of skills, rather than getting an agency for end-to-end execution.
Motivate the team instead of frightening:- Ensure that the team is excited about learning a new skill themselves. One thing I did was to divide the team into experts and Project-managers. Both can team up on the stages of the project where their expertise will shine. Plus, once they realise they didn’t have a particular skill set, they were determined to learn it from the designated expert. And designated experts loved teaching what they knew. Win-Win.
Finally, when I need a boost of confidence in myself and my team to do something new from scratch, I take help from these inspiring quotes:
"The only source of knowledge is experience." - Albert Einstein
"Success is not final; failure is not fatal; it is the courage to continue that count." - Winston Churchill
"If you're not embarrassed by the first version of your product, you've launched too late." Reid Hoffman, co-founder of LinkedIn.
I learned, once again, how to step out of my comfort zone and trust myself with learning. This time, as a senior leader also.
In a year, my team successfully delivered 250 projects, leading to significant changes in product roadmaps and marketing strategies based on customer insights and data. Overall, our team had a fulfilling year. We significantly contributed to the organization's progress and our individual career growth.
I will be sharing my takeaways, practical frameworks to decide on the research type, and the budget allocation process next week. Watch this space to see how my learnings on customer insights, and market research work. Till then, keep growing with Growth Garage.
I always appreciate how timely and practical your pieces are, Charu! There's absolutely no fluff in your writing, everything is weighed carefully and spoken with confidence and humility. This is the kind of leadership that we need the most, and I applaud you for sharing your wisdom!
This article came into my inbox at the perfect time. I am going to share with the team I’m currently working with and in the midst of similar situation as you described. It’s fun to be uncomfortable for certain parts and feel supported by leaning on others a few steps ahead to crush the doubt.
Thank you for writing and sharing this experience and I will be looking forward to the next ones!