#212 Being Vulnerable To Build A Culture Of Feedback

Notes:

For anyone who has ever given or received feedback, you’ve probably noticed how tricky it is to discuss. Either people are too harsh or they’re not constructive enough. Or maybe you fall into the trap of being disingenuous and saying something nice in an attempt to make someone feel good without actually saying anything of use. There are ways to overcome these obstacles, though.

In this episode, Kelsey Frost of ClickUp shares how valuable feedback is and how she creates a culture of constantly providing and receiving feedback within her team.

Kelsey Frost is Manager of Solutions Engineering at ClickUp. She is currently leading a team of solutions engineers, also known as pre-sales engineers, sales engineers, and the whole presales motion at the company. Kelsey joined the startup company in its early stages of building out the presales motion as a manager and spent the last eight or nine months hiring and building out a team.

Key Takeaways:

How she became the manager of solutions engineering at ClickUp
Kelsey’s experience prior to joining ClickUp
The difference between working for a larger organization that’s been longer and an early or mid-stage startup
How Kelsey gained the courage to join a startup where her responsibilities would be a lot more than in the previous companies she was in
One thing that made her more aware of her career goals
Was there anything that held Kelsey back from taking on the SE leadership role?
Some of the challenges she faced that she saw coming or didn’t see coming going into that role
Kelsey’s proudest moments as Manager of Solutions Engineering
How to ensure that everyone on her team is going in the same direction and towards the same goals
In a hyper-growth world, how do you know that you’re on the right path?
How to respond to feedback and how to elicit feedback from your SEs
Vulnerability requires trust…or is it the other way around?
Do different personality types matter in the roles Kelsey’s hiring for in sales engineering?
The piece of feedback she received from the team that helped her become a better SE leader
How to provide feedback to those higher above you whether they want to hear it or not
A framework that Kelsey finds really useful when thinking about feedback – start, stop, continue
How to overcome that feeling of sharing feedback and not bragging or humiliating ourselves on the other end of the spectrum
Has Kelsey received any pushback from her team about the way she provides feedback?
Why we practice scenarios going well and almost never practice scenarios when things go wrong
Kelsey’s advice for SEs who want to become an SE leader

Quotes:

“One thing that I started doing a few years ago was really being intentional about my own career goals and taking that moment to be introspective. Think it’s something when things go quickly, you can pass up a lot of what you want to do or just not take the time to think about it and plan it out and set yourself up for those.” – Kelsey Frost

“I think seeing the people who were here before me, and what they’ve been able to accomplish, bringing in the first deals of a certain size the company’s ever seen, building those relationships, building a reputation, that’s been incredible.” – Kelsey Frost

“Some of the things that are really important that we’ve done as a company are provide radical transparency as an organization. So we see that in a number of ways, and I do believe that it’s really helped with making sure that people are going in the right direction.” – Kelsey Frost

“Creating a culture of feedback was something that was really important to me when I joined this role and joined clickup. And it is not something that happens overnight. And it doesn’t happen without attention. But it’s something that I do believe is essential for high performing teams, and for personal growth as well, to have feedback and to have it in an environment of trust.” – Kelsey Frost

“Vulnerability is something that you have to have in order to build trust.” – Kelsey Frost

“Being able to give feedback is the ultimate goal.” – Kelsey Frost

“From a pre-sales perspective, you want to be able to have the learnings of those around you, if you want to go to your furthest potential.” – Kelsey Frost

“All feedback is valuable. It is a touchpoint that tells you how others are perceiving you or your work or something you said, whatever it may be. Some of it, however, may be something that you are going to change, and others are not. And it’s up to you to choose how to incorporate the feedback that you receive.” – Kelsey Frost

“The ones that are really exciting and most rewarding are those challenging ones, the ones where the client pushes you and you somehow navigated it anyway.” – Kelsey Frost

“The first thing I would say to anyone who wants to be an SE leader is know why you want it. Because it is incredibly rewarding, if it’s what you truly want.” – Kelsey Frost

“First, notice what you want. And then if it is what you want, start to build those people management, relationship management skills, those are essential.” – Kelsey Frost