👩🏻‍💼 The 3 commitments Biz Ops leaders should make

On the occasion of the Coronation in the UK, a reflection on the commitments Biz Ops leaders should make

“Good things come to those who wait,” goes the saying. It is true of our newly minted King Charles: in the UK we are wrapping up 3 days of official celebrations for the coronation of King Charles III, who is the most prepared monarch for that job. Watching (some of) the ceremony, and the commitments he, the Archbishop of Canterbury, and the Duke of Wales made in front of the millions of viewers, made me think of the parallels with the commitments a senior leader makes.

Photo by Samuel Regan-Asante on Unsplash

Biz Ops leaders who get into a company they love, also probably had to wait. Probably not decades, but who am I to assume. No matter how long you had to wait, don’t waste the opportunity! I have given this a lot of thought over the over the years: What is the the right balance between familiarity and performance culture, fun and formality, analytics and vision? “Knowing” the “right” answer gets harder the higher up you go. Things seemed clear and simple once upon a time. Now you see the grey areas, the smudges of edge cases, the complexity of contexts, people, and timing. And decisions you make have repercussions.

People say you should learn from your mistakes. Fail fast and fail often. I think that’s wrong. While experience is valuable, I think learning from other people’s mistakes and gaining the experience working through success is much better. Again, not negating the value of experience. Experience > Theory. But great experience + theory of failure > the experience of failure.

Ok, we got our math straight. Now onto the meaty bits.

With this, based on experience, reading, and of course conversations over some colour of wine, here are the 3 commitments I have made, and will continue to uphold through my work.

1. To our Customers: no business exists without customers. My commitment is to meet often, listen attentively, and action on what they say.

   1. Meeting often - this is the easy part. No matter how crammed my calendar might be, every senior leader should spend time with their customers. So I do it. I have put a simple calendar sign up system for us so anyone can do it.

   2. Listening - this goes to the dynamic in the meeting. I have a list of 3-5 questions which I continuously revisit. I ask a question, but I purposefully let the conversation flow from the customer’s own point of view.

   3. Actioning on what they say - there would be 0 point in me doing the first two tasks if I would not do anything with the information. I have now designed a whole framework for how we absorb feedback into the business and turn it into Insight. (Stay tuned for Part II of this post).

2. To my CEO: I have three commitments in working with my leaders, which after a number of years are now tried and tested. Immediate feedback, pushing smart, keeping us grounded.

   1. Immediate feedback - it means if you see something, say something. This goes both ways. Especially if something needs changing. Assume people have positive intentions. But if their intentions are causing undesirable side effects, say it, course correct, and move on.

   2. Pushing smart - I commit to always pushing smart on a priority. Be that ploughing through an analysis, negotiating commercial deals, or working as an SDR for the afternoon. If it is a priority, I will give it 110%.

   3. Keeping us grounded - especially as a Biz Ops leader, sometimes your role is to say No, and to remind of the physical (time and space) constraints of our desired vision. I will do my best, but I will say No if I have to.

3. To my Team: recruiting smart, driven people is the first part of building a team. But how you treat them, mentor them, and evolve them, is what ultimately is how you should be judged as a leader. And I like to have straight A’s in my book!

   1. Treat people kindly - I have high standards, and will push the limits of what we work on. But always kindly, and humanely. Those who know me, know I like a good argument, but that intellectual sparring is there to make us smarter, and prepare us better for the intricacies of the market.

   2. Mentor often - Biz Ops is a spacial function, where the business demands a special concoction of people to come together and unlock growth. Where people sit one day may not be where they want to be next. Mentoring through their progression, makes not only for a more robust Biz Ops engine, but for happier people.

   3. Evolve responsibility - I will always give my team more responsibility than they probably ask for. And in 99% of the time, they will take it, and run with it. If you ever thing “they can’t,” if they want to try, let them surprise you.

This is it. The three commitments I make (explicitly, or else) to customers, leadership, and team. I certainly don’t have millions of people watching me make those, like Charles III did, but I have those written in a document, alongside my top leadership tips. Making a commitment publicly is one way to keep yourself accountable. The other way, is to stick it in a doc, and read it once in a while.