In November of 2019, I decided to launch the Customer Strategy Podcast and I'm happy to report that I've published 10 episodes!!
After hitting this milestone, I wanted to share the following 5 Leadership Lessons.
1. Great leaders ask questions
Each of the guests on the show are experts in their field and they all have one thing in common - they ask questions and seek help.
Being a great leader is not about having all of the answers, it's about asking the right questions to the right people.
Your network plays a big part in being able to ask the right people the right questions.
I'm grateful that each one of these leaders trusted me to spend an hour with them to work through their biggest Customer Strategy challenges.
2. Everybody is at a different place
As you listen to the episodes, you'll notice that no two companies or situations are the same.
Some guests have been from small companies and some have been big companies.
The takeaway here is that even though everyone is at a different place, someone has been through what you are going through. However, their experience is from their perspective.
In order to get the most value from another person, you have to look at their experience from the framework level and then apply the learnings to your situation.
If you simply take the exact action they took, you may be at risk because their context and situation were different.
If you take the learning at the framework level, on the other hand, you can apply that to your situation.
3. Listen and ask powerful questions
Many people have mentioned to me how they love the flow of the conversations on the podcast.
To them, it feels like I effortlessly navigate the guest through their situation and ultimately come to the right conclusion.
In every conversation, I am using my coaching skills and genuine curiosity to understand my guests' world.
Then, I will make strategic recommendations, where appropriate, to help the guest look at new possibilities or to look at their situation in a different way.
The combination of being able to listen deeply, ask powerful questions and make strategic recommendations is powerful.
I cap it all of by asking about takeaways and action plans.
Learning and awareness are great but they are useless without an action plan.
You'll notice that's how I end every show.
4. Small company or large, everyone has challenges
Regardless of whether you are an early-stage company working on your first couple million of ARR, a growth stage company growing from $5-$10-$25M ARR, or a scale stage company blowing it out at >$25M+, everyone has challenges.
Here's the thing, challenges are a good thing.
You should have challenges that you face every single day. If you don't have any challenges and you're not changing consistently, you're not pushing hard enough.
One of the keys to consider is what challenge means to you.
If a challenge means you're failing because something isn't perfect, you're doing it wrong.
If a challenge means growth and the reason it is there is to push you to come up with a new solution or try a new strategy, then you'll always be moving forward.
5. Always push, never settle
All of the guests I've had on the show constantly push - themselves, their organization, their team, etc. and they don't settle!
In all leadership, whether you are an IC or a VP, your ability to push and change will determine where you go and how fast you get there.
It's up to you.
Are you pushing hard enough?
Cheers,
Nils
PLUS: Whenever you're ready... here are 3 ways I can help you bulletproof your Customer Strategy:
1. Apply to work with me
I have a program where you can get access to me every single week. To learn more, Click Here.
2. Be a guest on the "Customer Strategy Podcast"
My favorite thing to do is to help all kinds of businesses build incredible Customer Strategies. Big businesses, small businesses, professional services - Click Here.
3. Download the Customer Strategy Method Blueprint
The framework of everything we talk about on the Customer Strategy Podcast is based on the Customer Strategy Method. Find out how you can apply it to your business. Click Here.