What does the role of a successful leader look like to you?
To Darkroom COO Jake Petersen, it closely resembles that of an air traffic controller.
Is an employee steering off course? A leader can help get them back on track. Is there an obstacle or challenge preventing someone from reaching their final destination? A leader can help them avoid obstacles and reroute as necessary.
Built In LA connected with Petersen to dig a bit deeper into what his role as a leader entails, how he supports his direct reports and the training Darkroom offers to stimulate growth.
How do you like to work with your direct reports?
One of the first things I told my direct reports when I joined Darkroom is that my job is to make their lives easier, not more difficult. A successful leader’s role is essentially that of an air traffic controller whose job it is to guide their mission, make sure their route is clear of obstacles and alert them if they are getting off track (I love analogies).
Additionally, my role as a manager is to constantly ensure my direct reports understand “the why,” meaning not just understanding our objectives and goals, but having a deep comprehension of why this is important to the organization and the bigger picture. I’ve worked in roles where company strategy and direction are only shared with a handful of executives and disseminated only when absolutely necessary — I swore I’d never bring that practice into my own management style.
At the end of the day, it’s my job to make them look good, not the other way around.”
What strategy have you found to be key for empowering the managers below you and supporting them in their growth?
I love the word “empowerment” when thinking about fostering growth for newer managers inside any organization I’ve worked with. I think back to the incredible managers I’ve had throughout my career and why those had the biggest impact on my success and development. They all shared a common trait — they had trust in me. They let me make decisions for my team and rather than make me “ask for permission,” they told me to come prepared with what actions I wanted to take, why I felt this was the best choice and what, if anything, I needed from them. It wasn’t unusual for me to receive a one-word response after making my case: “OK.” Giving managers on your team the power to make decisions instills a culture of proactivity and initiative-driven results.
Once I’ve established that managers can make decisions and present the next steps, then why am I presenting to the C-suite and the board about our metrics and quarterly performance? I strive to bring those opportunities to managers and let them be the ones to detail our department’s successes, failures and upcoming goals during executive or company meetings. At the end of the day, it’s my job to make them look good, not the other way around.
What formal training does your company offer developing leaders to help them grow and thrive in their roles as people managers?
For us at Darkroom, 2021 is all about staying true to our core values as we continue to scale and grow. Given our client growth and goals, we are planning on doubling our team from 20 employees to 40-plus by the end of the year. This is often the point where organizations start to lose that close-knit camraderie of being in the trenches together. And for many junior managers and leaders, this will be the time that they will go from managing one or two direct reports to having a team of six or eight. We’re spending a lot of time putting the processes into place, with coaching and development to support this transition.
Outside of the management development and coaching that all core value-focused companies should do, we are also launching a quarterly series called “Core Value TED Talks.” Each quarter, we are focusing on one of our core values and aligning them with a leadership TED Talk series. This quarter we are focusing on our value, “take chances, make mistakes, get messy,” and will be spending time with our team and separately with our leaders on talks around not being afraid of setting stretch goals or objectives and key results, as well as giving and receiving constructive candor and feedback effectively.
