7 Leadership Lessons From My Best Bosses and the Story Behind Boss Project
Episode 855: Show Notes
Today, we’re talking about seven important lessons I learned from incredible bosses before I started my business. What inspired this episode is that tomorrow, I am meeting my old boss for lunch! This isn’t just any old boss, it’s my boss from my very first job right out of college. I interned with him and then ultimately became a full-time employee inside his agency which he still runs today. I’m so appreciative of the lessons I learned, not only from him, but all of the incredible bosses I had before I got here.
I totally believe corporate was not ultimately right for me and the way I want to show up and see my career morph over time. But I also know that I had incredible opportunities to learn from amazing mentors who had gone before me and done amazing things. These people have made me the strong leader that I am today because I was able to witness them being thoughtful in their position and how they stood by me and helped me to grow. I don’t think that everybody has this positive experience.
Today, I want to focus on the lessons I learned while working for other people, and how that’s helping me to be a better leader now. When I say leader, I don’t just mean running a staff, I mean thought leader, someone who’s in charge of fostering community, and someone who is trying to put her ideas out into the world and have them be valuable to other people - tangible, actionable things that people can hold onto.
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What it Means to Move Fast Towards Your MVP
An MVP, or Most Viable Product, doesn’t necessarily have to just be the thing you are selling. It doesn’t just have to be an offer or a service. It can be any work product that you do in any area of business. In the beginning, I was required to do a lot of fast iterations, often completing hundreds of projects a month. So much of that is because you have to get feedback! So often, we forget that feedback is such a critically important part of this loop. Everything is just a new version, a new draft. We are never done, but we are always moving.
The Single Most Important Thing About How You Do Business
This lesson, that I learned from Dan, changed absolutely everything for me. He was always incredibly focused on relationships. We created incredible work for incredible clients, but it was always the relationship that came first. The way that’s ultimately had me show up differently is that when I am creating content that’s valuable – whether it’s for this podcast, or for a course, or an email I write – my focus is the person on the other side. The content is important, but how it is received is far more important.
A Lesson I Didn’t Want to Learn And Why You Should Learn It Too
Early in my career, I held a lot of resentment around this one, but today, I have so much more respect for the bosses that were put in this position. Ultimately, to stay in business, you have to focus on the health of the company, and you have to balance that with the health of the people in it. If profit is off, you may have to make hard decisions to let people go. If businesses are going to stay operational, they have to focus on the health of the business. I have cried over some of these decisions, but today, I understand that choosing the business is necessary.
How To Give Your People The Freedom To Get Creative
This boss was an artist and a free spirit, and the incredible lesson I learned from him was so much fun! His approach was, if given the freedom, how can we push the boundaries of what’s expected? In that role, I worked in admissions, and in marketing for every single department at Penn State. I was given so much freedom to work on projects that were radically outside of what was expected. We each had the crazy little things we were working on. None of that would be possible if I didn’t have a boss who gave us that freedom.
Why You Should Only Present Options That You Want to Pursue
If you’ve been in any sort of marketing or design role, this may feel like an obvious thing. But if that’s not the industry you come from, this may be something you aren’t used to. I learned this one the hard way — I would absolutely do work for a client and give them options including one I didn’t feel that strongly about. You’re the strategist. You’re the creative. You’re the person in charge! If you’re going out to get feedback, you should feel good about going ahead with any of the options that you present.
Relying On Those Who Know More Than You Do
This is going to sound wild, but the leader I learned this from was very focused on not being the expert. Instead, he focused on painting a vision, and tapping into the people that knew more than him. He wanted you to know more than him about a specific subject! At the time, I thought this was ignorant. Today, I think it takes a very mature leader to see their weaknesses and be willing to bring in people who are much more talented. You can still create a collaborative environment and provide insight and ideas, but you don’t always have to do all of the work.
What It Looks Like To Learn From The Experts
There is very little in this world that is actually new. My last boss before delving into entrepreneurship was Mary, and she made it very clear that it isn’t necessary to reinvent the wheel. What I learned from her is that we don’t always have to struggle. We don’t always have to figure it all out on our own. There are people who have gone before us, and we can learn from them. That’s such a cool thing! You can learn from me. I would love to share the things that have helped me build this business into the powerhouse that it is today.
The Story of Boss Project & How You Can Be a Part Of It
All these lessons would not have been possible without incredible people that I was able to work with and absorb all of their knowledge, wisdom, years of expertise, and creativity. The original name of this company was Think Creative, KC, which I loved. I’ve always wanted to see people create businesses that move things forward and make things work. I wanted to see a shift away from this solopreneur culture and see people embrace the idea of starting and running a company. The work is never done. We are always iterating. There are always versions, concepts, and critiques, and I wanted to help people to work on that.
Your problems get more complicated and a little bit bigger as you grow. I don’t only want to see you have the tools and the recipes and the scripts and the resources. I want to see you have the support, the community, the people, me, and your peers! I know how important people were to my growth. Not just the lessons learned but the actual relationships. I built The Co-Op to be that community that brings all of that together. We get to do this together, and we can be our whole selves; real human beings with real lives. I want you in! My career has led to this point. I want to see you grow and make your dreams come true, and I want to be there to support you.
Quote This
It’s just as important that your staff isn’t stressed out or burnt out, but if profit is off, you may have to make hard decisions to let people go.
Highlights
What it Means to Move Fast Towards Your MVP [0:07:08]
The Single Most Important Thing About How You Do Business [0:10:12]
A Lesson I Didn’t Want to Learn And Why You Should Learn It Too [0:13:03]
How To Give Your People The Freedom To Get Creative [0:16:43]
Why You Should Only Present Options That You Want to Pursue [0:21:51]
Relying On Those Who Know More Than You Do [0:23:41]
What It Looks Like To Learn From The Experts [0:27:48]
The Story of Boss Project And How You Can Be A Part Of It [0:31:13]
OUR HOST:
Abagail Pumphrey
Boss Project on Instagram | Facebook
Abagail Pumphrey, the Co-Founder & CEO of Boss Project, has been a driving force in the creative entrepreneur industry since 2015. With a passion for empowering service-based business owners around the globe, she became internet-famous after the launch of the transformative training, "Trello for Business." This innovative system revitalized the operations of over 10,000 business owners, making a significant impact on the online business landscape.
Under Abagail's leadership, Boss Project has been featured in prestigious publications such as Forbes, Marie Claire, INC, and HuffPost. Her twice-weekly podcast, The Strategy Hour, is a staple in the business community, continuously topping Business and Management Charts on Apple with millions of listeners from around the world.
Abagail's superpower lies in her ability to break down complex concepts into easy-to-implement, duplicatable systems. As an expert in online sales and a data-driven strategist, she has turned a layoff into a 7-figure work-from-home business. Abagail's mission to help more female founders become financially free, without letting their businesses take over their lives, continues to inspire and guide entrepreneurs on their path to success.
Key Topics:
Feedback, Role models, Managers, Relationship building, Leadership
