Reflecting on Leadership

I’ve been full-time with Omniscient for about two months.

There’s nothing quite like building a living from scratch. I’ve learned more in the process of growing Omniscient than in my entire college career, especially about leadership and management.

I went from an individual contributor at HubSpot and Shopify to a manager of managers—a super humbling transition.

We can’t guide our clients to bottom-line growth without leading our agency team successfully. Here are a few lessons that have stuck with me in the process:

The most rewarding part of leadership is blending into the background

Early in my career, I never considered being a manager because I don’t always enjoy being in the spotlight. It turns out management is the best fit for me because I get to give my team the spotlight instead.

Management and leadership are creating processes, removing roadblocks, and lifting people up

...not showcasing your own knowledge. This creates a unique tension between teaching and learning/keeping your skills sharp, and I’m learning that the latter is a bit more difficult to carve out time for.

Starting as an individual contributor helped me build empathy

However, I still feel the tendency to micromanage. Our industry changes daily, and what I implemented years ago as a freelance writer or at HubSpot isn’t always the best course of action. There isn’t one right way to do most of what we do, and seeing my team either figure it out or try applying something they’ve learned elsewhere is a bigger learning experience than when I was on the front lines myself.

As you replace yourself and “hire yourself out of work,” the work doesn’t get easier

There are new daily challenges, and some are more personal and complicated. No longer am I (only) working to grow a metric; I’m working to grow a team. I’ve gotta say—the latter has been incredibly rewarding.