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May 13, 2019
"Things My Mother Taught Me"
Every day is Mother's day at PowerToFly - but to celebrate, this year we decided to share the lessons our own mothers taught us, and how they've helped us become the people we are today!
Thank you to all the wonderful mothers out there - we appreciate you!
http://bit.ly/30fMaOn
October 26, 2020
Career Advice
The Most Interesting Technical Field You've Never Heard Of: Talking GIS and Geointelligence with NGA's MaryAnne Tong
If I asked you what GIS—geographic information systems—is, would you know where to begin?
MaryAnne Tong does: Google Maps.
<p>When MaryAnne, who is a Geoint Analyst Cartographer for the Maritime Safety Office at the <a href="https://powertofly.com/companies/national-geospatial-intelligence-agency" target="_blank">National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency</a> (NGA), finds herself needing to explain her role and the technology she uses to fulfill it—which is something she does on a fairly regular basis—she starts with the popular navigation app.</p><p>"Google Maps, Google Earth, that's all GIS. When you use navigational tools to get you from point A to point B, that's GIS," says MaryAnne. "GIS is the ability to represent all your data spatially. It can graphically show where you are on the earth; it touches everybody's life in one way, shape, or form."</p><p>MaryAnne would know; she has worked in GIS for her entire career, which has involved working with small engineering firms, city and Tribal governments, Native American land management, and more. As of 2018, MaryAnne has been employed with NGA, a major intelligence agency that provides geospatial intelligence (GEOINT) to the U.S. government and works with mission partners around the world.</p><p>We sat down with MaryAnne to learn more about her journey throughout her career, including what her day-to-day work with GIS looks like, the technical skills GIS is built on, and how she has learned to advocate for her own advancement in a male-dominated, highly technical field. </p><h2>Finding her way to GIS</h2><p>MaryAnne didn't always know she wanted to work in GIS. In fact, when she started at the University of Toronto in 1996, she didn't even know what GIS was. She went to college to study business administration, but "absolutely hated it." Instead, she followed her passion for the environment and conservation to receive an environmental science and geography degree. One of her professors suggested she look into GIS as a career prospect and MaryAnne was intrigued. She enrolled in a post-graduate diploma program that specialized in the subject at Fleming College, which was then the best GIS school in Ontario Canada. But, she found herself a bit out of her depth. </p><p>"That was probably the hardest thing I ever had to do," she remembers. "Back then, I was looking at DOS-based software, I had to use ArcInfo and AutoCAD. Now, you have ArcGIS pro and web interfaces that are a little easier to navigate." But MaryAnne learned programming, wrote a lot of scripts, and finished the program with her Geographic Information Systems – Application Specialist diploma. Shortly afterwards, she got a job offer in the States for the planning division at a local city government; she left her native Canada with, "two suitcases and no friends."</p><p>While in the United States, MaryAnne's first GIS job involving the strict use of ESRI products didn't pay very well. She remembers eating "oranges and cereal" for dinner and washing her laundry a friendly neighbor's house to save money. "It actually grounded me quite a bit," she says of the experience. "It made me realize what's important and what isn't, and it made me want to fight even harder to make sure that I kept advancing."</p><p>And advance she did. A few years later, MaryAnne received her Geographic Information Systems Professional License (GISP). This is an important certification license that MaryAnne must maintain, and she does so by keeping up-to-date with current GIS applications, and by volunteering her GIS knowledge with organizations like the National Tribal Geographic Information Support Center (NTGISC)—also known as Tribal GIS. On par with her volunteer work, MaryAnne soon found herself employed with the Seminole Tribe of Florida on a small GIS team that did a little bit of everything. Her team had to maintain all the tribe's GIS information for their seven non-contiguous reservations. "I would look at the parcel fabric, at assigning addresses for georeferencing, and I was working with different counties to try to establish a standardized way for reporting emergencies. I worked on utility networks and we did emergency management planning," she explains. One of her very important responsibilities was to keep both digital and physical versions of up-to-date maps in advance of Florida's hurricane season to ensure the national disaster response teams could get to people on the reservation who needed help.</p><p>That job eventually led her to NGA, where she began working with maritime GIS for the first time. In contrast to previous jobs where she was a 'Jill of all trades,' MaryAnne ended up establishing a specific set of responsibilities at NGA: Continuously reviewing GIS data on a 28-day production cycle to confirm that the agency is providing accurate information to its customers, including the Navy and the Department of Defense.</p><p>"We get information from different sources, including different countries, and need to guarantee accuracy so no mariner crashes into something—like an iceberg—that might cause their vessel to sink or run a ground, like a naval ships hitting docks or rocks," explains MaryAnne.</p><h2>What a suite of responsibilities looks like at NGA, technical and otherwise</h2><p>MaryAnne says that the most important factor to succeed in a role like hers is having a familiarity of data; you don't have to be an expert in the field. For instance, while MaryAnne was well-versed in GIS when she arrived at NGA, she didn't have any geospatial intelligence or maritime experience. However, she emphasizes that you have to be comfortable looking at the data, analyzing information, and speaking up when you have questions.</p><p>These are just some of the factors needed to execute the role. But to enjoy it? MaryAnne stresses another important characteristic: Curiosity.</p><p>"What's great about working at NGA is that it is basically up to you how you want to shape your career," says MaryAnne. She determined that she wanted to learn more and develop her career in three specific areas: how geospatial intelligence relates to world politics; what collaboration and leadership look like across organizations; and how to support diversity initiatives.</p><p>With this goal in mind, MaryAnne raised her hand, asked for additional duties, and outlined why she was the most qualified person for the roles she was interested in. Her managers at NGA agreed and helped her to make it happen.</p><p>As a result, MaryAnne expanded her cartography responsibilities one of which is working as the Regional Data Manager Under Instruction for a region in the Asia Pacific that includes China, Japan, North and South Korea, Taiwan, the Philippines, Russia, Vietnam, and Macau.</p><p>"This region is significant for commerce and world politics," explains MaryAnne, "and the uncertainty with specific Asian countries makes the region extremely active and important." MaryAnne's responsibilities in this region also include ensuring that NGA's regional data is aligned to meet all mission requirements of the agreements the agency has with its partners. To enhance her skillsets for the role, MaryAnne has taken NGA classes on the politics and culture of the region. While she has yet to take any additional language classes, she says NGA offers those too.</p><p>In addition, to learn more about what international and cross-agency collaboration looks like, MaryAnne took on the NGA's Maritime International Officer Assistant role as one of her extra collaborative duties. In this capacity, she engages with NGA's international partners to build new relationships with foreign countries and collaborates with her peers in other NGA offices, the Department of Defense, and several foreign counterparts.</p><p>Aside from these duties, MaryAnne is also exploring her interest in how agencies can create more diverse workplaces. Upon joining NGA, she became the primary Recruiting Ambassador for the American Indian council; she also works with NGA's Human Development team on diversity recruitment as a whole. "My exposure with tribal government, as well as my volunteer work with Tribal GIS, is why I chose the American Indian Council as for my Special Emphasis Program council," says MaryAnne. "The ways in which tribal government operates is so unique to each tribe and different from what the majority of Americans have been exposed to."<br></p><p>It may sound like MaryAnne does a lot (and she does), but all of it is done with the backing and assistance of her team and NGA as a whole. "They're very supportive, and that's one thing that I absolutely love about where I work," she says. "NGA is actually an agency that really cares about their employees."</p><h2>Her advice for other women considering a career at NGA</h2><p>"NGA is a great place to further your career, or even to start it. The agency's opportunities are so above and beyond those of any other place I've worked before. The way NGA invests in you as a person, and encourages its employees to grow, is worth more than any dollar amount that you could put on paper," she says. </p><p>From furthering education for PhD programs to encouraging its employees to be the architects of their own career, NGA's opportunities have made MaryAnne happy to have landed there at this point in her GIS career. </p><p>For women thinking about following in her footsteps, whether at NGA or in another technical role somewhere else, MaryAnne has three pieces of advice:</p><ul class="ee-ul"><li><strong>Don't be afraid to speak up, </strong>even if that means asking questions when you don't know something. "You should never be embarrassed. No one knows everything," says MaryAnne.</li><li><strong>Foster your relationships</strong>, which means giving <em>and</em> receiving help. "It's a give and take. Find a mentor that can guide you when you have those difficult questions, and be open to having people ask questions of you as well."</li><li><strong>Advocate for yourself</strong>. "Statistically, men are more confident in putting themselves up for promotions; women need to take on that same attitude and be bold too. We're just as qualified, if not better, and there is no reason for us not to strive and conquer great things in our futures."</li></ul><p>MaryAnne is looking forward to her future at NGA, along with the future of GIS in general. "GIS is really only limited to your imagination. You can apply it to almost anything you want—everything from tracking COVID-19 to whale migration patterns!" she says.</p><p><em>If you're interested in working with MaryAnne at NGA, check out their open roles</em><a href="https://powertofly.com/companies/national-geospatial-intelligence-agency" target="_blank"> <em>here</em></a><em>.</em></p><p><br><br></p><p><br><br></p><p><br><br></p><p><br></p><p style="text-align: right;">Approved for Public Release, 21-001</p>
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October 22, 2020
Career Advice
5 Tips from VideoAmp's Kelly Metz on Learning to Listen, Seeking Out Discomfort, and Building a Career You Love
Kelly Metz was on her thirtieth rewatch of a video her team was producing when it hit her: creativity wasn't her strong suit.
"I just missed the things my peers saw," explains Kelly. "I was blind to them."
<p>It might surprise you to hear that from Kelly, who, now the VP of Product Marketing at advertising technology platform<a href="https://powertofly.com/companies/videoamp" target="_blank"> VideoAmp</a>, has worked in various advertising roles over the course of her long career. But she owns the fact that she's not the most creative person (and that she's working to improve in that space, eager to learn from the people around her). Part of that is because she's very comfortable taking feedback and recognizing her weaknesses. And an equally important part of that is because she's fully confident in her strengths, knows what she brings to the table, and recognizes that the strongest team is one that's diverse, full of people who think differently and have different strengths.</p><p>"When you surround yourself with people that are really, really talented, you start to recognize that they see things differently. They have a lens I don't have. But I see things differently than they do. And I will comment on things they don't notice," she says.</p><p>We sat down with Kelly to talk about her career path, why she left bigger advertising firms to join a startup, and what advice she has for other women looking to take smart risks and make the most of them. </p><h2>From dot-com startups to VideoAmp</h2><p>Kelly started her career in technology and advertising and found that her first few years on the job were rich in learning and development opportunities. "It's just exponential learning in your twenties; it's fantastic," she explains. "Even reaching the director level didn't seem particularly momentous because it was just constant growth up to that point."</p><p>Starting out in tech during the dot-com bubble certainly contributed to this steep learning curve and fast pace. "At one point I was driving my own car to ship packages because we were in ecommerce and just trying to make the Christmas deadline," she says, laughing.</p><p>One of the first turning points in Kelly's career was when she decided to leave the world of scrappy dot-com startups and join software giant Oracle. There she took advantage of all of the training and coaching that they offered.</p><p>"It was a game changer for me," says Kelly. "They spend a lot of resources training their people. At smaller firms, especially during the internet bubble, everyone was new. There was no guidance or mentorship and you kind of had to just go with it."</p><p>She learned a lot at Oracle, including how to grow through discomfort and be a good manager of people (a key tip: never, ever skip a one-on-one). When she left the company after five years, she took those learnings with her, continuing to develop not only her understanding of the ad space, but of people management as well.</p>
<p>After five years as VP, Business Development at StudioNow in Nashville, Tennessee, Kelly felt ready for a change. She realized that she wanted two things: first, to move back to her hometown of LA and reunite with the Pacific Ocean, and two, to work at a growing startup with strong fundamentals where she could have an impact.</p><p>Enter VideoAmp.</p><p>Kelly says that she knew VideoAmp was the company for her not when she found out their headquarters were in Santa Monica (though that helped), but rather when she genuinely enjoyed her interviews with the team.</p><p>"The more corporate and rigid the interview structure, the more the culture is like that," says Kelly. "I'd done many rounds of interviews like that. At VideoAmp, everything was way more freeform. They were very inquisitive in the questions they asked. They were clearly curious. I felt like I wouldn't be hemmed into one role. And I'm very pleased with the decision I made to join."</p><h2>Finding the right amount of risk</h2><p>VideoAmp hired Kelly as their Director of Sales Engineering, but not long after joining she became their VP of Product Marketing. "I'd always been on the business development revenue side, and I became interested in product marketing because you're able to work across teams and impact the entire revenue chain," she explains.</p>
<p>She didn't have prior experience with product marketing, but she decided to reach out to VideoAmp's SVP of Marketing, Esther Maguire, who just so happened to sit across the office from her—in pre-pandemic days, that is—about an open spot on her team.</p><p>Now, as the VP of Product Marketing, Kelly is responsible for communicating what VideoAmp's technology can do to their clients and prospects. "You can't measure everything. So what are our clients' priorities and how are we delivering capabilities against those?" she says. That involves visualization, collaboration with designers and other creative types, and really strong communication skills.</p><p>Throughout her career, right up into that big switch from sales engineering to product marketing, Kelly has taken calculated risks. These risks have paid off for her, but they haven't been the result of indiscriminately saying yes to new opportunities. She has five key pieces of advice for anyone looking to embrace opportunity and advance their career:</p><p><strong>1. Seek out discomfort.</strong> "I was never comfortable at Oracle, not for a moment," says Kelly. "And ultimately, if I hadn't had those five years of experience, I wouldn't have gotten where I am now." She notes that "if you're not uncomfortable, you're probably not growing fast enough," particularly if you're early in your career. If you're mid-career or late career, don't stop taking risks, but do make sure they're things that feel in line with your "true north," that is to say, your long-term career and life goals.</p>
<p><strong>2. Set your comfort/risk ratio and live within it. </strong>Taking risks can feel like an amorphous challenge, which is why Kelly suggests spending some time reflecting on how much discomfort is right for you personally. For her, this ratio has fluctuated between 60-75% comfort and 40-25% risk. "I really do believe that positivity and confidence breed success," says Kelly. "Confidence comes from your experiences and what you've achieved, so, especially early on in your career, you need to say 'yes' to enough risks to actually build that confidence." The key takeaway? Confidence doesn't necessarily come from feeling comfortable—it comes from embracing opportunity and showing yourself that you're capable of meeting the challenge.</p>
<p><strong>3. Assume the best of people.</strong> Part of taking on risks means that you might fail. You might be wrong. You might do something your team doesn't agree with. Kelly highlights how important it is to be open to feedback and advice and never assume that your team is out to get you. "When you're in a new situation and you're not yet as confident, it's easy to be defensive, but in the end, everyone's on the same team," she says. "Even when you think someone's feedback is wrong, challenge yourself to consider the possibility that they might be right and see how that changes your perspective."</p>
<p><strong>4. Avoid "yes teams."</strong> When you're doing step three well, it makes it easier to have constructive disagreements and avoid groupthink or "yes teams—people who always say yes and do everything the same way." Kelly finds that truly diverse teams are much more successful: "It's teams that complement each other and challenge each other that make each other better."</p>
<p><strong>5. Be a good listener.</strong> "Those who listen advance the farthest," says Kelly. "People want to be heard. Make sure you're accountable to who is speaking. Take notes, repeat it back, make sure you're capturing their intent. That will speak volumes to your desire to be there, to learn, and to have an impact."</p><p><em>If you're interested in learning more about growth opportunities at VideoAmp, check out their PowerToFly page</em><a href="https://powertofly.com/companies/videoamp" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank"> <em>here</em></a><em>.</em></p>
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June 25, 2020
For Employers
How Leaders Can Support Their Black Employees
A five-step framework for addressing systematic racism at work
The world has changed in the past few weeks.
We're watching corporations and organizations across the world come out in support of Black lives in droves. Many of those organizations are doing so for the first time in their history.
<p>But supporting Black people goes beyond sharing a mission statement or putting out a press release. It requires dedicated, ongoing work and resources.</p><p>As leaders in the Diversity and Inclusion space, PowerToFly has been getting questions from business leaders on what else they can do. How can they make Black employees feel supported at work? What kind of analysis should they be doing on their own processes and policies to root out systematic racism they may be perpetuating? And how can they keep these conversations about race and racism going even after the media coverage has died down? </p><p>A few weeks ago, in my role as PowerToFly's Director of Global Diversity and Inclusion, I held a chat-and-learn two weeks ago focused on how individuals could be better allies to their Black colleagues and friends. (You can watch a recording of our conversation <a href="https://powertofly.com/career/live-chats/276535-being-an-ally-to-black-colleagues-and-peers" target="_blank">here</a> and read my summary of takeaways <a href="https://powertofly.com/career/webinars/277594-how-leaders-can-support-their-black-employees" target="_blank">here</a>.) Two weeks ago, I held another webinar, this time focused specifically on what leaders—whether CEOs, executives, HR managers, or frontline team leads—can do to support their Black employees. You can<a href="https://powertofly.com/career/webinars/277594-how-leaders-can-support-their-black-employees" target="_blank"> watch a replay</a> or read on for my summary of key points and advice on the subject. </p><p>A reminder: none of what's going on right now is a Black problem. This is an American problem and even a global problem. Black people cannot end systematic racism or white supremacy, and we need white Americans and other allies to work together to end it. We need everyone in the boat with us, rowing together, if we're to see any real change. I know that fighting for that change isn't always comfortable or easy, but it's vital that we do it. It's especially important that all of you leaders, who have seats at the table to change policy and be actively anti-racist in your organizations, do it. </p><p>Thank you for joining the fight.</p><h2>A five-step framework for addressing systematic racism at work</h2><p>Most of us were taught not to discuss race, politics, or religion at work. But times are different now, and ignoring how race and racism impact work is the wrong thing to do. It's vital to address racism in the workplace not just for your employees, but also for the general public, who are noticing which companies are speaking up for what's right and which companies aren't. It'll be increasingly important in the future for leaders to commit to this change as workers and consumers alike seek to align themselves with organizations that share their values. </p><p>To aid you as you start doing that work, here are five steps you can take to start addressing racism at the workplace.</p><h3>1. Get comfortable with having candid conversations about race.</h3><p>There's no such thing as being colorblind. Saying so is problematic. We can't address the things that need to be fixed if we don't see color. Start by acknowledging that there are certain groups of people who are treated differently or haven't had the same opportunities. Start by accepting that you don't have all (or even any) of the answers, but that you're committed to working towards them.</p><h3>2. Do regular, mandatory training on inclusivity, sensitivity, and other race-related topics.</h3><p>Most workplaces have certain courses that are required, at least for managers and leaders, like sexual harassment courses or compliance training. If you want to make it clear that race is important and that racism won't be tolerated at your workplace, you need to invest in mandatory inclusivity training.</p><p>It has to be more than just a check-the-box activity. Your approach can't be, "Oh, everybody took unconscious bias training, we're good to go."</p><p>Just like anything else in your business that you really care about, you'll need to devote money and time to actively dismantling systematic oppression. That looks like monthly or quarterly workshops, having a speaker series where you invite SMEs to take on diversity topics, and investing in a D&I leader or in a resource group and partnering with them to regularly train and educate your workforce.</p><h3>3. Address systemic issues in how you hire, pay, and promote employees.</h3><p>A Black Lives Matter press statement is necessary but not sufficient when it comes to addressing racism at your company. It's a great first step, but if you don't start addressing and making changes beyond the company values section of your website, it's all for naught.</p><p>Start by looking at your salaries. Is there equity in what you're paying Black employees compared to white employees? Don't assume that there is without taking the time to analyze the situation.</p><p>Do the same for employee promotion rates. Who is moving up into bigger management jobs—and who isn't?</p><p>Look at project allocation, too. Are the same people getting the same chances to appear and present in front of executives? Are your Black employees getting opportunities to work on stretch projects?</p><p>Once you understand where the inequities are in your business, address them. These issues have deep-rooted causes and won't go away overnight. You'll need to come up with an action plan and start working against it.</p><h3>4. Review your employee referral program.</h3><p>While employee referral programs can be great, they are often not the best way to attract diverse candidates. If you have a mostly male white workforce, then your employee referrals are going to reflect that. The majority of companies don't have diverse workforces, which warrants a closer look at how these programs are implemented.</p><p>Consider running specialized referral programs through employee resource groups for underrepresented minorities. If you have a Black or Latinx group, for instance, work with your HR or Recruiting teams to source referrals from those pools.</p><h3>5. Create executive sponsorship opportunities for Black employees.</h3><p>Sponsors can make or break a career path. They can fast-track someone to a leadership role, create opportunities, and give an employee cover to try something new. But if Black employees haven't had a chance to get in front of executives—if they aren't playing golf with them, going out to dinners and lunches with them, or working with them on high-priority projects—they won't get those benefits. Add an explicit diversity focus to current sponsorship initiatives, and if none exist, create them in partnership with ERGs.</p><h3>Tips and guidance to inform your approach</h3><p>In implementing the above five steps, you may find yourself feeling unsure or uncomfortable. That's natural, especially if discussing race is something you haven't done before. Remember that to do this work well, you need to be willing to listen and to learn. Below, I've provided answers to some community-sourced questions on how exactly to do that.</p><p><strong>How can I navigate a conversation with Black employees in a way that makes them feel supported?</strong></p><p>As business and HR leaders, you might be wired to be very solution-oriented and to want to fix things for your employees. But you can't immediately fix racism or fix an employee's experience with it at work.</p><p>When talking about race with employees, do not make it about you. If an employee is talking to you about what they're feeling or going through, you can say things like, "I'm so sorry you're going through that" or "I hate that you're feeling that way" or "I care about you." Do not say "I know what you're going through" if you don't. Do not apologize on behalf of the white race or in any other way make it about what you're feeling, whether that's guilt or frustration or anything else. Just listen.</p><p><strong>How can I—or should I—check on Black employees without disrupting their privacy?</strong></p><p>Keep in mind that Black people have been taught to assimilate and blend in as much as possible, especially at work. Being called out at work specifically for being Black is not going to be a comfortable thing for many people. Do not zero in on the one Black person on your team in a meeting, for instance, and ask them how they're doing with everything that's going on.</p><p>If you are going to do a check-in, do it in a one-on-one setting. Give your employee an opportunity to give you cues. Are they bringing up what's happening in the news? Are they sharing that they went to a protest? If not, maybe they don't want to talk about it.</p><p>If you decide to check in anyway, don't direct the conversation. Tell them that you're there to help if they want to talk and that you want to know how they're feeling. But if they don't want to engage, let it go. Remember, this is not about you and what you think you need to do to be a good or inclusive leader. This is about your Black employees and what they are feeling.</p><p><strong>How can I address colleagues who have implied or explicitly stated that they are not allies?</strong></p><p>Be conscious of your energy. There are policies to create at work. There are protests to attend in your neighborhood. There are kids to raise and jobs to do. Investing time in someone who does not care or opposes who you are or what you believe in is not good for you, so minimize those debates and focus on what you can change.</p><p>That being said, don't change your message to make people comfortable. Now is a time to take a stance. If your colleagues aren't willing to do that, it might be time to leave them behind. </p><p><strong>How can a primarily white team or organization support the Black community right now, especially if financial levers like expanding hiring aren't available?</strong></p><p>It's important to move towards creating a more equitable workplace and culture even if you don't have a Black employee on your team. It's the right thing to do. Remember that allyship is essential, and that white allies can have huge influence within organizations and communities. So start with the five steps above. If you have a budget beyond that, invest it in additional D&I training. Provide resources for doing anti-racist work in-house. Dedicate time every week in your team meeting to talk on topics relevant to the Black Lives Matter movement, whether that's defining what being an ally is, learning about systemic oppression, or brainstorming ways to get involved in your local community.</p><p><strong>How can I use levers to make sure my internal and external recruiting is as diverse as possible without being discriminatory?</strong></p><p>First of all, there's nothing discriminatory about asking for a diverse slate of candidates, whether you're asking an external recruiter or an internal team. You're not promising anyone a job based on their identity; you just want to make an effort to see a range of candidates. Hiring diversely doesn't happen by chance. You don't post a job and then just see a flood of resumes that perfectly represent all races and identities. That's called the "post and pray" approach and it's destined to fail.</p><p>If you're hiring internally, start by going to employee groups and encouraging group members to apply. Ask if they have anyone they'd recommend for the position. Make an effort to ensure that people know about open opportunities and what you're looking for.</p><p>If you have a recruiter or sourcer working with you, tell them that you want to look at a diverse pool of candidates.</p><h3>Going forward</h3><p>These are tough subjects to tackle and doing so will require sustained focus and resources. Thank you for doing this work. If there's anything we at PowerToFly can do to help as you continue down the path towards becoming an actively anti-racist organization, please feel free to reach out to me and my team at answers@powertofly.com!</p>
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October 14, 2020
Career Advice
Unlocking the Secrets to This Senior VP's Success: Discomfort, Impact, and Intrinsic Motivation
A Conversation with Bounteous' Jen Spofford
Jen Spofford would tell you that she never had her sights set on becoming a partner at The Archer Group, an advertising agency acquired earlier this year by digital transformation agency Bounteous.
Her former boss would beg to differ.
<p>"He likes to tell the story of my interview," says Jen. "I had studied the website and seen pictures of the leadership team, and one of my questions to him was why were there no women in leadership. He responded with 'you know, there just hasn't been the right opportunity.'"</p><p>While the specific role of partner may not have been on her mind, Jen did have her sights set on changing that.</p><p>And she has. Seven years into her career at Archer, Jen made partner. Three years later, she and her four co-partners architected the firm's acquisition by Bounteous, where Jen is now the Senior Vice President of Client Service—and where Jen's picture on the<a href="https://www.bounteous.com/about/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank"> company website</a> is joined by pictures of two dozen other women in leadership.</p><p>We sat down with Jen to learn about her professional journey, her leadership philosophy, and why she thinks intrinsic motivation is the best path to career fulfillment.</p><h3>Seeking discomfort to find growth</h3><p>Jen was born in Delaware and now works out of Bounteous' Wilmington office (well, she did, in pre-pandemic times), which is just a few miles away from where her dad worked for 40 years. "I felt a little mad at the universe for returning me back exactly where I came from," she jokes.</p><p>She didn't start her career there, though. After studying advertising at Penn State, she worked for several big agencies in New York City, putting in the hours and honing her account management skills.</p><p>"I worked my way through the big guys, and that's kind of how New York felt—you had to constantly be on the move to grow," she says. She got into digital advertising and loved it, and took a role at a boutique firm that specialized in digital in order to learn as much as she could. "It was amazing, but emotional. I had 16 hats and I wasn't always wearing them well," remembers Jen. </p><p>She was looking for a slightly bigger agency that still had digital focus, and that's when she found Archer, which just so happened to be in her home state.</p><p>She came on as an account manager and within a year was leading the whole account management team. She credits her quick advancement to her drive to improve: "My goal was always to continue to better orchestrate the impact of our work, and that happened to lead to another title." She became a partner at Archer in 2016, and now at Bounteous, Jen manages nearly 20 team members and is responsible for all of the agency's business east of Chicago.</p><p>"I know if I push myself to get into uncomfortable situations, those are the places where I'm going to grow the most personally and professionally," says Jen. "Out of those uncomfortable experiences, you forge yourself into something better."</p><h3>Points of impact</h3><p>As she moved up the ranks, Jen wasn't tracking her title changes—she was tracking her scope of impact. "Being in the C-suite of a company was never a long-standing dream, but the idea of contributing meaningfully and of making an impact in whatever I am doing, that's something I have to have," says Jen. "If I'm not making an impact, then I need to find a place where I can."</p><p>Seeking to make a positive impact instead of plotting a way up a career ladder has let Jen focus on what she actually loves to do, which is partnering with her clients to achieve their goals and building a strong team underneath her and helping them to grow. And while yes, the titles and the raises have come, too, and aren't completely irrelevant, Jen credits her success to not chasing them. "I don't think about my next promotion. I think about how I'm going to be able to either keep making an impact or what am I going to have to change so I'm able to make the impact I want to make."</p><h3>3 tips to unlock your growth, at Bounteous and beyond</h3><p>As a manager of a big team at Bounteous, Jen seeks to apply her philosophy of internally-motivated career growth with her direct reports, aiming to understand where each person on her team wants to grow and to create the conditions for their success. That does come with promotions and raises, but she's much more focused on helping her team find career fulfillment than she is on those accolades themselves.</p><p>She has three pieces of advice to share with women looking to find that fulfillment in their own roles:</p><p><strong>1. Pinpoint how you'd like to grow.</strong> Jen highlights how important it is that you as an individual do some soul-searching on exactly where and how you want to grow, beyond whatever promotion is on the horizon. "I just don't believe most people can get a 'senior' in front of their title and will go back to their office and feel satisfied, if they weren't before," says Jen. "You need to understand what it is you wish you could do or try or learn that your current situation is not enabling."</p><p><strong>2. Understand where your pain points are in your current role. </strong>Jen gives an example of when a simple promotion isn't actually what you should be asking for: "Let's say your problem is you can't let go of some of the work that you've mastered and you don't have time for things that are actually teaching you something. Well, it's not a solution to promote you if you still have to do that job from top to bottom. Maybe instead, we need to hire someone to support you." You could then free up your time to learn new things and get to grow as a manager of people.</p><p><strong>3. Make sure you've earned your wins and you know how to communicate them. </strong>Before starting any conversation about how you'd like to grow your career, says Jen, you need to make sure you've proven to your manager you're worth investing in. "I think sometimes people early on in their career need to hear that you do need to work really hard and get those successes so you can talk about the reasons why you deserve that next opportunity," she says. "Once you have that, you can persuade me you're ready for the next level."</p><p>"If you stay open-minded, if you push yourself to do uncomfortable things, and if you work hard, you will be presented with opportunities to do more," says Jen. Part of being open-minded is being willing to collaborate on solutions, she notes. She never wants someone to leave her team because there's an issue they're having they don't know how to solve, be it a desire to work in a different role or an issue with their commute.</p><p>"There's a thousand reasons why you shouldn't leave Bounteous and only a few why you should. I want my team to be open with their challenges and real with themselves. I care about every single person on my team," says Jen. "Everyone that stays or goes, I want to help them grow. I want to give them all the opportunities I can. And I fully believe Bounteous, if it continues on its trajectory, will continue to offer them all kinds of growth."</p><p><em>If you're interested in working with Jen and the Bounteous team, check out their open roles</em><a href="https://powertofly.com/companies/bounteous" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank"> <em>here</em></a><em>.</em></p>
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October 15, 2020
For Employers
How to Deal with Conflict at Work as a Manager
When we talk about fostering a diverse workplace, that means recognizing and celebrating all kinds of diversity: of backgrounds, of experiences, of ideas. A diverse team should include racial and gender diversity, of course, but welcoming diversity means also creating a positive workplace for team members who come from different socioeconomic backgrounds, have different levels of education, have lived in different countries, speak different languages, and have different political views.
<p>All of those differences, when thoughtfully considered and managed, can lead to teams that perform better, have more creative ideas, and learn with and from each other. </p><p>But those differences, if <em>not</em> so thoughtfully managed, can lead to conflict, whether seemingly innocuous (like teasing or passive-aggressive comments) or quite serious (like harassment or discriminatory behavior).</p><p>As a manager, conflict on your team might look like:</p><ul class="ee-ul"><li>Team members having a hard time working together because they have different views about the upcoming election</li><li>Employees from different generations struggling to communicate</li><li>A new hire facing retaliation by a peer for identifying toxic team behaviors </li><li>Or any number of other issues</li></ul><p>If you're looking for how to resolve conflict at work as a manager, you'll want to focus on these three things:</p><ol class="ee-ol"><li>Actively creating an environment where your employees feel listened to, understood, and respected</li><li>Identifying what is a difference of opinion and what is unacceptable work behavior and who should solve a given conflict</li><li>Understanding a process for how to mediate conflict at work in coordination with the impacted parties</li></ol><p>This guide will walk through each of the above, enabling you to deal with conflict at work as a manager.</p><h2>Conflict resolution starts with creating an open-minded environment</h2><p>As a manager, the way you approach conflict will become the way your team approaches conflict. Is it something that you understand to be normal and welcome? Or something you shy away from and pretend doesn't exist?</p><p>Here are some managerial decisions that can help encourage an open-minded environment:</p><ul class="ee-ul"><li><strong>Holding group meetings.</strong> Make sure that you bring your team together on a regular basis and encourage honesty in these meetings. Consider asking regular poll questions, like what's been going well each week and what's been going poorly, to facilitate sharing. </li><li><strong>Having an open-door policy.</strong> Encourage your employees to bring problems your way by yes, <em>literally</em> having an open door, but also sharing "office hours" on your public calendar so your team knows there is dedicated time they can reach out without bothering you. (That's especially important for all-remote teams.)</li><li><strong>Holding regular 1:1s</strong>. There will be things your employees don't feel comfortable sharing in a group setting and won't be proactive enough to bring to you on their own, so setting aside 10 minutes in your regular 1:1 meetings with employees to ask them about any issues is a good idea.</li><li><strong>Investing in training.</strong> To give your team the vocabulary needed to better understand and engage in some forms of workplace conflict, consider investing in anti-bias, anti-racism, and conflict resolution training for all employees, not just managers. </li><li><strong>Coming up with rules of engagement for your team. </strong>Your company probably has formal policies for communication and conflict resolution, but it's unlikely that your team feels very much ownership of them. Encourage them to take an active role in the kind of environment they'd like to work in by setting aside a team meeting to focus on coming up with principles of how they'd like to be with each other, like "We will seek to understand before we seek to be understood" or "We will discuss political topics, but will not accept viewpoints that call into question anyone's humanity." </li></ul><p>You want your employees to be able to show up as their full selves at work and be celebrated for it. That means creating space for employees to learn about their differences and explore them without judgment or hostility, which isn't something that happens automatically. But by investing in the ideas above, you can create a true sense of inclusion where everyone feels comfortable sharing their perspective and working to understand the perspectives of others. </p><h2>Difference of opinion or unacceptable work behavior? Conflict identification and categorization</h2><p>It may sound counterintuitive, but some conflict at work is good. For instance, two employees disagreeing about the direction for a new marketing campaign and working through their different points of view might end up creating a much stronger campaign in the end. </p><p>And some conflict at work is neutral. For instance, a few teammates having an open-minded discussion about the latest news on Trump's tax returns over lunch might not have any great consequences, positive or negative, on their work. </p><p>But if you're here, reading this article and wondering how to mediate conflict at work, you're probably thinking of bad conflict. Conflict that causes divisions in your team, destroys morale, and might have legal ramifications.</p><p>Not every disagreement is something you need to get involved in. In fact, you should set the expectation that your employees will solve low-level conflicts on their own; it helps hold them accountable and empowers them. But there are certain conflicts that you must be involved in. </p><p>There are three categories of conflict at work from a manager's point of view: </p><ul class="ee-ul"><li><a href="https://blog.powertofly.com/examples-of-conflict-in-the-workplace-scenarios-2636222089.html" target="_self">Issues employees can handle on their own </a></li><li>Issues where you should intervene to help resolve or meditate</li><li>Issues where you need HR to help resolve or mediate </li></ul><p>When a non-trivial issue crops up, ask yourself the following questions to determine whether you can work through it on your own or whether your first stop should be HR:</p><ul class="ee-ul"><li>Does the issue fall into a protected category (via <a href="https://www.shrm.org/legalissues/federalresources/federalstatutesregulationsandguidanc/pages/titleviiofthecivilrightsactof1964.aspx" target="_blank">Title VII of the Civil Rights Act</a>): race, color, national origin, gender, religion, or sexual harassment? (An example would be an employee saying something like, "I feel like [coworker's name] is making me look bad in front of clients because I am a woman.") If so, you'll need to engage your company's HR team to help resolve the conflict, since there are specific legal obligations for how companies need to investigate alleged discriminatory practices. </li><li>Is the issue retaliatory in nature? For example, is an employee concerned that their team lead is giving her worse assignments because she flagged that the team lead was engaging in problematic behavior previously? If so, this is another case for HR.</li><li>Does the issue involve aspects of your employee policies or handbook? For instance, is the problem about one employee repeatedly wearing clothes with political messaging on them to work despite that being against company policy? Again, you'll need to involve HR and make sure that you follow any company-wide disciplinary processes as you investigate.</li></ul><p>If the conflict at hand doesn't have to do with a protected category, a retaliatory complaint, or a specific violation of company policy, you're probably in the clear to handle without HR intervention (but do go ahead and consult with them if you'd like). </p><p>Understanding the nature of the complaint will help you determine what the right conflict-resolution process to address it might be. Is it an issue around different communication styles? Is it stemming from a gossip problem? Are divergent cultural values at play? </p><h2>Applying a conflict-resolution process</h2><p>For a work conflict that can't be worked out by the involved parties themselves and doesn't need to go through a formal HR investigation, consider the following conflict resolution process when determining how to mediate conflict at work:</p><ol class="ee-ol"><li><strong>Hear from both sides.</strong> Ideally, you can hear from both parties together, in the same room, to encourage each to be as honest as possible in conveying what's happening. You want to understand the facts of what's happened. Give each person a chance to speak. Ask them to use statements like "I feel" versus "You made me" to avoid defensiveness. Allow them to share their emotions, but make sure it doesn't veer into personal attacks.</li><li><strong>Have the involved employees define the real issue. </strong>Ask each employee to restate the other party's point of view. Have them summarize what's really causing the conflict by asking "what need of [the other person] is not being fulfilled?" For instance, if one team member is frustrated that their coworker took credit for a project they both worked on, perhaps the unfilled need is one of recognition and appreciation. Find areas of agreement by getting both parties to acknowledge the issue at hand and the needs unfulfilled.</li><li><strong>Explore solutions</strong>. Once you've defined the problem, ask each employee how they think they could resolve it. Encourage them to provide several alternatives and to open-mindedly explore each one. Try not to offer your own advice and instead encourage your employees to come up with their own solutions. Explore the merits of their ideas and come up with a solution that everyone involved can agree on. Make sure each party knows what they will have to change going forward. </li><li><strong>Agree on next steps.</strong> After your working group has decided on a solution, make sure to communicate the takeaways to the rest of the team, if appropriate. Agree to meet with the parties at hand in a few weeks to determine how the solution is working, and get in sync on what you'll do if it's not, including taking disciplinary action. </li><li><strong>Document.</strong> Write up a summary of the conflict, the cause, the proposed solution, and the go-forward plan. This will allow you to have a clear record of the issue if it does bloom into a bigger problem.</li></ol><h2>Conflict will always be a part of work</h2><p>With a diverse group of people working together, you're bound to run into differences of opinion. That's especially true in a broader political environment that's as emotionally charged as ours is right now. </p><p>But as a manager, you have the ability to create a work environment that centers tolerance and encourages open-minded exploration of differences. Knowing when to allow employees to work things out themselves, when to get HR involved, and when (and how) to mediate a conflict on your own is a big part of that. The most important thing to keep in mind, though, is that conflict will happen, and only by exploring it can you grow from it. </p>
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