Consistent Feedback Leads to Growth

We are the Global Mentor Network, so we’re big believers in the importance of mentorship. How does mentorship play a role in your current position and your approach to leadership, both as a mentor and a mentee?

The most important thing anybody can do is to get feedback on a consistent basis from somebody, a third party that they trust. And so I did not have this at Pay Cycle and I wish I had, but having a coach is super important. And at Intuit, there was obviously Bill Campbell, and he was known as the coach and he always provided feedback. But it was not the same as having a personal coach that was literally just very focused every month on me as a leader. And that leadership need might be about my family in a given month, or it might be about my investors, or my customers or other executives on the team.

But having somebody that can come in and talk to you and hear your concerns, your worries, and remind you what you said in the past and hold you accountable to being the best version of yourself. Like having a coach that you connect with is super important. I’ve had multiple coaches now for probably close to seven years, for different things that I’m working on and growing. And I think that’s super important. I’d look to each board member as a coach. So, as I’ve built the board out, whether they were private when we were getting investors or they are public now and independent, there are skill sets that I’m looking for, from a leadership perspective that I want each board member to hold me accountable on. I want to be a better leader, and that mentorship can come from them and that’s super valuable.