Inside Carmen's Journey as RDR Manager. A Deep Dive into Her Strategies and Learnings.
Carmen is a born leader. Long before her time at Funnel, she led diverse teams to success, so it's no surprise that she would continue to at Funnel. She has been with Funnel in our Dublin office for a year and a half, serving as the RDR manager in the EMEA region. Today, we’ll unpack her leadership style, explore the challenges she has encountered, and discover how she excels as a leader at Funnel.
In your opinion, what does leadership mean?
Leadership can be very different depending on cultural aspects, personality, previous mentoring experiences, and the company culture. However, there are three major components of leadership that I adopt to my leadership style.
- Advocating for your people to help them grow.
I want the people that I am leading to grow, both as people and also as professionals. My goal is for them to grow individually and as a team. I am a big supporter of internal mobility as it's a great way of attracting and retaining talent. However, promotion is not necessarily the only easy answer. Listening to your employees, you can find that they want to join a project they are passionate about or develop a new skill they want to leverage in the future. - Stimulate the entrepreneurial spirit.
Risk is good. As a leader, you need to make people feel that they can take intelligent risks. They can use technology to work smarter rather than harder, that they can be themselves at work, and they can innovate without the fear of changing the status quo. In my hiring decisions, I always look for people who are explorers and want to search for productive ways to work. - Driving high results to help the company grow.
Once you master the two first components, you get great results. It’s not about creating teams of achievers, but creating teams of people driven to succeed. You want to encourage people who are ready to work hard to progress in life and who are not happy with average results.
What challenges have you faced in your leadership journey, and how have you overcome them?
One of my greatest challenges has been offering guidance and clarity amid uncertain times. This could stem from a macroeconomic situation characterized by high inflation and soaring interest rates or unprecedented events like COVID-19. In such scenarios, long-term visibility often diminishes, creating a sense of uncertainty among people.
As a manager, effective communication becomes particularly challenging when you lack answers to the questions your team urgently seeks. My approach involves providing a realistic level of certainty and clarity while carefully managing expectations – avoiding false hopes or unfounded beliefs.
Therefore, I focus on the aspects within my control, rather than those beyond it. This philosophy is something I consistently share with my team. By concentrating on what we can influence, we achieve greater clarity and, consequently, enhanced performance. In my opinion, success is 5% brain and 95% consistency.
What leadership attributes and skills do you believe are important to thrive as a manager at Funnel?
The first thing, I believe you need to genuinely love people. Then, at Funnel, there are three key attributes that I believe shape effective management:
1. Positive and Optimistic. Enthusiasm is contagious and crucial in fostering a collaborative work environment, which is a core value at Funnel. Optimism helps people view situations as opportunities rather than challenges. As a manager, it's my responsibility to make sure we are moving forward. That would be impossible without the belief that we will overcome challenges and one day get there.
2. Empathatic. At Funnel, we value individuals. Understanding someone’s background, including both the expressed and unexpressed elements behind their behavior, is vital. This understanding allows you to tailor your communication effectively, ensuring it is constructive and elicits the desired change.
3. Inclusive. The strongest teams are diverse, bringing varied perspectives to problem-solving. However, diversity only thrives in an inclusive environment. In our Dublin office, with fewer than 20 people, we speak eight languages and represent eight different cultures. Inclusivity means that every opinion counts, that everybody can potentially access the same opportunities, and that we celebrate different cultural holidays such as St Patrick's Day, Diwali, Halloween, and Thanksgiving. I truly believe that the diversity of our office is one of the reasons why our team has been successful.
Have you taken inspiration from any role model(s) or leadership model(s)?
In all my previous roles, I had the fortune of working with many incredible leaders, including those at Funnel today.
One who has taught me a lot is Deirdre McGinn, who, during her time at LinkedIn, illustrated the importance of fostering an inclusive environment. She enlightened me on balancing the masculine and feminine energies inherent in each of us and emphasized the significance of supporting other women in breaking through the "glass ceiling" in our companies.
Another example of servant leadership is my former manager, Massimo Anderlini. He consistently supported and encouraged our team to achieve our goals step by step, embodying the role of a "paterfamilias." His favorite question perfectly summarizes my leadership style: "What can I do for you today?"
At Funnel, my current manager, Lucie Pierredon, inspires me with her emphasis on "psychological safety." Our office is considered a safe haven, partly measured by the frequency of laughter among the team!
Want to read more about Carmen and how her team operates? Click here to read more about the RDR team at Funnel.
