EP. 7 How to Demonstrate Empathy, with Cindy Zhou, LogRhythm

Cindy Zhou, Chief Marketing Officer at LogRhythm, is based in Boulder, Colorado, and leads a team around the globe. Cindy led teams as an executive at IBM and has worked with startups. Cindy talks about utilizing the principles of Agile by having a daily standup and doing a lot of skip-level one-on-ones. Through Cindy's interview, you'll find how to be a more connected, trusting, and vulnerable leader as you lead your “team from anywhere."

Great Quotes from this episode:

“Our company is no company without our people in it.”

“Just taking a moment to ask people how they are doing is more important than ever” -

Take-Aways

Empathy

• With an empathy-first leadership philosophy, leaders take time to understand what their team is going through and try to alleviate fear as much as they can. 
• Characteristics of Empathy 
  • Be Genuine, 
  • Care about your team, 
  • Great desire to make your team proud 
  • Want what’s best for the team. 
• Think about how you can be a better leader for your team so that your team sees career progression and a solid future at your organization by offering possible routes for the future, and possible learning opportunities.

The Great Responsibility of a C-Suite Leader

• Remember that moving up to the C-Suite isn’t just a sign of career progression, it’s a responsibility you carry with people’s livelihoods on your shoulders.  Every leader should never take that for granted. 

Agile Marketing

CMO Tips:

• Employ agile marketing methodology in the organization. 
• Daily standup with Team (what did you do yesterday, what are you focused on, roadblocks)
• People can't get better if you don't give feedback. On the flip side of that is how do you receive feedback (radical candor)?

One-On-One/Daily Standup Meetings

• Open up your one on ones with how that person on your team is doing physically and mentally. How’s your family? How are your loved ones?
• Focus on building trust through transparency and vulnerability in your communication.
• Be open about personal challenges, your own personal life situations, and life stories.
• Helps you be visible and have a strong leadership presence. 
• A consistent thread of communication on a daily basis

Organizational Culture:

• Book Clubs
• Learning opportunities for future leaders. 
• Giving back to the community – employees do charitable volunteer work, donating to charity, 
  • Bike builds for underprivileged kids

Meeting with A New Team as a New Leader

• Speak with every single person one on one 
  • What’s working 
  • What’s not working 
  • Career aspirations 
• What will you promise?
• To be transparent? To trust? To always be open? To share your thinking behind every decision that you make even if someone doesn’t agree? To consider every team member and the team as a whole when making decisions?
• Benefits of this conversation as a new leader: 
  • The team is comfortable and confident in what they are doing 
  • Their work matters 
  • Takes time, yes, but pays off in dividends over time. Prioritize one-on-one meetings over other kinds of meetings because your team is your first priority. 

Links Mentioned: 

Radical Candor

Agile Marketing
Audio Credit: Show Me the Way, Vendredi 

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