The Art of Balance
Since starting this Lieutenant series nearly five months ago, we've interviewed people across many roles -- from the Chief Customer Officer to the Chief of Staff. My next two interviews will focus on leaders from the HR or People function, which I believe is one of the most critical functions inside a company especially during times of transition.
To kick things off is Jennifer Taylor, whom I had the pleasure of meeting in 2004 at Borland Software where she was an HR director and my business partner for the Global Services team. She joined us at Appirio not too long after we started the company to lead the HR function, and took a leap of faith when I asked her to leave HR and start Appirio's Workday practice. Today, Jennifer leads the Global People Team at ThousandEyes, a 400-person network intelligence company that was just recently acquired by Cisco for nearly $1B. In this interview, Jenn talks about what it's like to lead the HR function through the perfect storm of a global pandemic, a social justice movement and a fast-paced acquisition, and why balance is more important than ever (but not always easy).
How would you describe your role at ThousandEyes, and do you see yourself as more of a lieutenant to your CEO or the broader leadership team?
I describe myself first and foremost as a business partner. It's my job to understand what the CEO and the business are trying to achieve, and then help navigate the people and talent elements to achieve those goals.
In a high growth company like ThousandEyes, I absolutely serve as a partner to the broader leadership team. On a given day, I have to alternate being in the weeds working on tactical operations like getting offer letters approved, while also contributing to overall business strategy like leading workforce strategy discussions. When it comes to being a lieutenant in a high growth company that balance is important. You won't be successful if you spend all your time in one bucket or the other. You can't get so focused on the day-to-day minutiae that you forget your responsibility to understand and drive the broader business goals.
You can't get so focused on the day-to-day minutiae that you forget your responsibility to understand and drive the business.
How do you successfully manage that balance between strategy and execution?
My first step is to get really clear with the CEO, and the broader leadership team, what the biggest priorities are and what is going to drive the business forward. From a talent perspective, you have to understand how the company wants to differentiate itself and where you should invest your time and resources. For example, at Appirio we focused on building a strong company culture that celebrated and rewarded teammates formally and informally. At ThousandEyes, we focused on investing heavily in creating opportunities for teams to work and innovate cross-functionally. We also have some pretty awesome company tee-shirts! We consciously chose not to try to compete or differentiate on the fringe perks you often see in our industry.
You've just gone through a perfect storm. You're growing fast, navigating a global pandemic and social justice issues that require every leader's attention. Then you throw in an acquisition. What has been the hardest part?
The hardest part to be honest was realizing our dependency on face-to-face interactions with our teammates. Coming from Appirio where it was primarily a virtual workforce, I took this for granted. When your company is not designed for 100% work-from-home, it's easy to lose sight of how much information gets transferred in those casual face-to-face conversations people are used to. Even if you are a remote sales or service employee and don't come into the office every day, you would still see your teammates and leaders at customer sites or company events. It's been an adjustment to be more transparent and more consistent with communication, both formal and informal, when you don't see each other on a regular basis.
I'm also more worried about the mental health of our team and their families than I have in the past. The isolation and toll on family structures have had a serious impact on people personally and professionally. Young singles that live in tiny 300 square foot flats that all of a sudden have their entire entire social life shut down. Dual-income families trying to work and home school their children or care for elderly parents. While this is happening, our team is navigating a new conversation on supporting the Black community and trying to educate ourselves on how to be allies and build a stronger, more diverse team. This last season introduced new and exciting opportunities with Cisco, but with change comes anxiety about the future amidst all the chaos. People are working through some serious things personally. You can't say "oh, we're good, we have video chat" and forget what people are dealing with right now.
I'm also more worried about mental health than I ever have in my career...You can't say "oh, we're good, we have video chat" and forget what people are dealing with and ‘feeling’ right now.
As the people representative of an organization, how do you coach a leadership team through times like these?
The most important thing is to get your own house in order. As a leadership team, we had to get a lot more connected with each other and make sure we left space for those tough conversations about what was happening with our teams. In fast moving companies, it's easy to lose that communication discipline. When COVID hit and the acquisition started to move forward, we doubled down on our commitment to each other to stay really connected through the process, to talk openly with each other and make our weekly meetings a priority.
It's also important to be there for the organization. Whether that's showing up for virtual happy hours, finding ways to keep up on things that are a big part of company culture like celebrating employee anniversaries, or doing more and more skip levels. Pre-COVID, our CEO, Mohit Lad would walk the halls on a regular basis and randomly chat with folks. When that wasn't an option anymore he had to create a way to do that virtually, make it a priority and that takes discipline. Every week you can look at your calendar and say, "okay, where are the 30 minute windows to connect with team members" or just pick up the phone and randomly call folks to say hello.
How do you manage your stress levels personally? Any tips or tricks you can share?
I'm not always great at this but I've learned first-hand how important it is to take care of yourself. When all of this started I'd been running hard for two years. When I wasn't traveling or at events, I was up at 4:30am and on a train to San Francisco to get there by 7am. Then back out the door at 4pm to pick up my kids from school, and then back online when they went to bed. I wasn't taking care of myself. I wasn't exercising regularly, keeping a balanced diet or getting enough sleep. I didn't feel good, period. I didn't see it at the time, but being on that course was affecting my productivity. When COVID hit and we shut everything down globally, I took it as an opportunity to pause. I said to myself, "what are you going to do with this time?" I decided to stop drinking, get my diet in check, and start walking for 30 minutes a day.
At the beginning I thought of it as a four-week commitment to myself, but as things wore on, it's become a lifestyle. I realize the time and opportunity I had to make this shift is a privilege in this environment, but it's been eye opening to see how having that balance helps not just in my personal life but how I show up at work as well. I'm more present for my family and it's given me the stamina to help the team through this process. When your head is in the right place, everything else comes together.
It's been eye opening to see how having that balance helps not just in my personal life but how I show up at work as well...when your head is in the right place, everything else comes together.
What do you believe are traits of great lieutenants?
Empathy is critical. The CEO job can be very lonely sometimes, and having empathy for the person you're supporting and the team they're guiding is really important. Humor and levity is also a non-negotiable for me. I don't know how to work in a team without humor, and having it can get you through some really tough times.
Great lieutenants also have a command of the business and the details. If you don't have that, you can't be a good partner or a good lieutenant.
Last, but certainly not least, you have to be able to hire well and develop talent. In my role especially, but for any leader, that eye for talent is critical. Not only to build a great team around you, but also because you have to be able to coach others to do the same.
When we were at Appirio together, we talked a lot about the three dials in an organization -- customers, team and financials. Where do you lean on which dial is most important?
Fundamentally, I believe if you build and hire the right team, everything else will follow. But I also know those dials are constantly in motion, and priorities and investments change. There are times when an organization has to emphasize the financials to meet its fiduciary commitments, and there will be times when you have to crank the dial towards the team or customers. When you are part of a senior leadership team you have a responsibility to understand all the functions and priorities of the business. There is no room for Us vs. Them thinking on high performing teams when making these tradeoffs. As the people leader, I need to understand and support when we need to make adjustments for the financial success of the business and when we're facing a talent crisis, I look for that same support to invest in our teams. Our job is to make trade offs every single day.
Fundamentally, I believe if you build and hire the right team, everything else will follow. But I also know those dials (customers, team, financials) are constantly in motion, and priorities and investments change... Our job is to make trade offs every single day.
Do you aspire to eventually move into the number one role? Why or why not?
That's a tough question. My first reaction is to say no, but I guess never say never. I draw my energy and excitement from being on a team, being a coach to my peers and customers. I have genuine appreciation for the weight that is carried by people in the number one or head coach role and at this stage of my journey, I am still learning and growing as a lieutenant.
In a sentence, what would you like your professional legacy to be?
I want my legacy to be about the people I've positively impacted, both personally and professionally. Whether that's the people who I've worked with, the people I've coached, or the people who I know personally outside work. Whether I've helped support them through a personal situation, or given them the confidence to take that next step in their career, it's those personal connections that I'm most proud of in my life.
