CRO CircleCI, Jane Kim: Leading with Vulnerability and Making Mistakes

In this episode of Go to Market Grit, CircleCI CRO Jane Kim shares valuable insight about her experiences growing a global organization, and trying to build an effective team and strategy. Joubin and Jane discuss and debate two key topics, including leading with vulnerability, and five common mistakes that first time managers make.

“Vulnerability is not knowing victory or defeat, it’s understanding the necessity of both; it’s engaging. It’s being all in.” - Brene Brown

Leading with vulnerability, and doing it well, is arguably one of the most difficult things to do in business. Yet, mastering this strategy can be incredibly empowering both for yourself and your team, as it can build authenticity and trust.

One person who actively practices leading with vulnerability is Jane Kim, who has helped drive explosive global growth at CircleCI. Jane explains what it means to truly lead with vulnerability, while offering sage advice on building sales teams. 

In this episode of Go to Market Grit, we cover: 

• How a company’s playbook can differ from region to region, and why it’s important to be open to new ideas when stepping into new markets.
• How purchasing is flowing down, and leading to more technical buyers who are empowered to not only test products but also to recommend solutions to decision makers.
• The importance of leading with vulnerability, and how it can create authenticity and trust with workers.  
• How being vulnerable can make you impenetrable to criticism. In other words, by being open about your strengths and weaknesses, you don’t have to be defensive about other people coming after your insecurities. 
• Why it’s important to be considerate about the type of information that you share when practicing vulnerability, as well as when you share it and how you share it.
• A debate about the five mistakes that first time managers make, including micromanaging, hiring the wrong person, falling into the likability trap, giving bad advice to the team, and pursuing the wrong strategy. Jane also mentions leadership principles, including empowerment and accountability. 
• Why Jane prefers to fail fast, and to use failure as a learning opportunity. 
• Giving people the confidence to be themselves, while coaching them to be better.  
• Understanding that you will make mistakes in your management career, and thinking about how you will recover from them.

Links:

• Connect with Jane on Linkedin
• CircleCI
• Connect with Joubin
  • Twitter
  • LinkedIn
  • Email: [email protected] 
• Learn more about Kleiner Perkins