Will Leahy’s job is to teach things to rocket scientists.
Yes. Rocket scientists.
As the manager of learning and development at Virgin Orbit, it’s Leahy’s responsibility to keep the folks in the lab happy — and even more, to keep them learning.
Of course, the things they’re learning aren’t (for the most part) rocket science. They are in fact the same things that pretty much all of us grapple with in our careers: Learning a new job. Becoming a leader — or very intentionally not becoming a leader. How to give feedback and how to take it. Change, how to manage it, and why it’s not always a bad thing. Culture. Career growth. Safety training. The list goes on.
We were lucky enough to pick Leahy’s brain about the work of teaching the MENSA crowd — and what we could all take away from those lessons.
You’re in such a hyper-specific field right now. Is this what you thought you would be doing as a senior in high school?
Ha! No. I’m afraid my primary concern in high school was trying to look like a surfer regardless of that fact that I grew up in the dead center of Texas. What I did know pretty early on is that I had a genuine interest in human behavior and motivation.
I started my career in child development, working with at-risk youth. Eventually, I realized that we’re all just big kids, and began to expose myself to the corporate side of human development. I fell in love. The rest is history.
In your career, how much of what you’re doing as an L&D leader depends on the kind of company you work for?
I often use an analogy where I compare a company’s culture to soil. There a few important factors that dictate how well things will grow:
Does the company prioritize learning as a means to financial success?
Do they support their people in endeavors outside of the office?
Are their values truly lived or just words on a wall?
I’ve been lucky to work for organizations like LinkedIn, Hulu, and now Virgin, where the companies genuinely care about creating a better life for their employees. Richard [editor’s note: he’s referring to Virgin Orbit founder Sir Richard Branson — see photo above] said it best: “Train people well enough so they can leave. Treat them well enough they don’t want to.”
At a basic level, people want to feel invested in. My role is to understand a person’s dream job, then help them map out a path to getting there.”
Are the career problems of rocket scientists special?
It’s no mystery that the work they do is hard — really hard. Much to my annoyance, I am unable to use the cliche in my programs that “none of this is rocket science.” That said, I have found that regardless of the complexity of a person’s job, their career problems are pretty much the same.
At a basic level, people want to feel invested in. My role is to understand a person’s dream job, then help them map out a path to getting there. For some, that path is spending years working on an incredibly intricate rocket part. For others it’s leading a large team of engineers. My philosophy is that everyone’s career problems are special so we have to lean into a career planning method that embraces that uniqueness.
A lot of the companies on Built In LA are early-stage startups. Company culture seems to have outsized importance for companies in this stage — do you think that’s true?
Culture is of utmost importance at companies of all shapes and sizes. The difference is that culture at an early-stage startup is fragile. I liken it to carrying a precious egg around with you wherever you go. As things move and shake, new people join, products come and go, you must protect it.
Sadly, culture is not having kombucha on tap, or even a sweet arcade room. Culture is how people respond when they’re asked how they really feel about their job. If done right, people will be able to clearly articulate their sense of purpose within the mission, vision and values of their company. That said, a ping pong table never hurt anyone...
What’s the number one mistake you see companies make when announcing major changes to their team?
Never — and I mean never — gloss over the hard stuff. It can be tempting to focus on all the positive components of a change and ignore the parts that will hurt. But when you lean into what people are losing and create a forum for them to work through it, you’re able to actively mitigate those pains. If you do that well, you get a wonderful thing in return: trust.
The culture will be a direct reflection of your behavior. Wine helps.”
Let’s say a whip-smart young entrepreneur asked you today about building an amazing culture and scaling it as her company grows. You can give her only as much advice as will fit on the back of her business card. What do you write?
The culture will be a direct reflection of your behavior. Wine helps.
What is the single easiest change a company can make to improve their culture today? What’s the hardest for a problematic culture to get away from?
Create space for your people to give back to the community. Show local kids where hard work can take them, go thank your local fire department, sponsor giving groceries to the less fortunate. On the reverse, the hardest artifact of a culture to shift is fear. Once trust is broken, there’s a good chance people will leave before you have a chance to get it back.
What’s your favorite thing about the job?
I get to wake up every day and think about how to enrich people’s lives. I lead a team of brilliant people that share in that joy.
Oh, and rockets. Rockets are pretty neat.
