Alumna Guest Post: Leveling Up in Leadership & Management
Becoming a manager can be an exciting, yet daunting moment in your career. A role where you’re not only responsible for yourself and your results, but those of your team as a whole. You’re entrusted to create long-term strategies, adhere to a large budget, achieve business goals and develop your own team! Where do you even begin? There is SO much to cover! Well, I will leave the comprehensive words of wisdom to the greats like Brené Brown and Simon Sinek, but I will share 3 foundational areas that will help set you up for success as you embark on your management journey.
Which Way’s North?
Regardless if you’re brand new to an organization, or moving in to a new role, brush up on the company’s direction. Their “North Star”. What are the mission, vision and values of the organization? What products or services are offered and what is the value prop that sets them apart? Is there a primary customer base? Is there a philanthropic element? Additionally, specify what your team is responsible for in terms of KPIs and performance targets. What does success look like? Having a clear understanding of your objectives, as well as the company’s guiding principles, will help you stay aligned as you work towards the future direction.
Right Out of the Gate, Calibrate.
Before you hit the ground running, it’s a good idea to get an accurate picture of the current state of your 3 most impactful resources:
1. Budget
2. People
3. Tools
Budget – Are you responsible for certain budgets/GLs? Where is the money currently being spent? Is the program spending appropriately? What are the fixed vs. variable costs? Where are the biggest ROIs?
People – Do you have the right team members in place? Are there any skill gaps that you need to hire for? Have you identified key cross-functional stakeholders? Have you identified internal influencers?
Tools – Do you have the right solutions in place? Do you need to procure any additional tools? Do you know the ins and outs of the contracts you are currently bound to? Pro tip: Watch out for those auto-renewals with 60-90 day notices!
Delegate and Conquer!
A key to being a successful manager is developing and utilizing your team. By empowering your team, you can leverage their unique strengths and unlock more bandwidth for yourself to take on additional initiatives. Plus, your team will appreciate your trust and support. Take the time to learn about each individual person and develop genuine, positive working relationships. Understand what motivates them, what fulfills them and what their career goals are. How can you nurture these personal drivers over time?
Don’t know how or where to start? I’ve personally found the CliftonStrengths assessment to be a great tool to learn about my team’s natural strengths, or what I like to call their default settings! Tools like the CliftonStrengths assessment offer insights that could assist you in finding alignment in your team members and the projects or tasks you delegate.
Raechel Peters serves as the Senior Vice President of Marketing at Community Choice Financial (CCFI). As an executive leader with a team of more than 30 professionals, Raechel oversees all aspects of marketing across 10 brands within CCFI. Raechel and her team are hyper-focused on driving brand awareness, efficient growth, optimized conversion and healthy retention. As a team, they provide simple, accessible financial solutions both online and in over 700 stores nationwide. Raechel has an extensive background in retention marketing in both retail and entertainment. She has worked with companies such as Signet Jewelers, Dave & Buster’s and Gildan Activewear. In her current role, she is most proud of the collaborative culture she has fostered. Retaining a high-performing team that is passionate about their work results in comprehensive, integrated campaigns that drive results year after year.
Off the clock you can find Raechel soaking up time with her husband and son at Tanganyika, Exploration Place, or at the many wonderful Wichita parks!
April is National Financial Literacy Month which is recognized to raise public awareness of the importance of financial literacy and maintaining smart money management habits. For a variety of financial resources and blog articles, visit The Speedy Cash Blog or CheckSmart.