November 11, 2024 • 36 mins
What if the true path to successful leadership isn’t about perfection but fostering trust and collaboration? Kendall Berg and Natalie Serebrennik dive deep into leadership myths, from the misconception that assertiveness means aggression to the belief that leaders must have all the answers. Natalie reveals how effective leaders show compassion and empathy, motivating their teams from a place of genuine connection.
Discover why soft skills like adaptability and clear communication are essential for career growth—and how today’s top executives are breaking old-school stereotypes to create empowered, resilient teams. Get ready for insights that could redefine your approach to leadership.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Kendall Berg (00:00):
We're now in this stage where we want to be led by somebody we trust and we want to be supporting them as opposed to working for them. And I think that mentality shift has caused a lot of interesting ripple effects in the career market, for sure.
Natalie Serebrennik (00:13):
Right. The whole difference between the aggressiveness side and assertiveness and how do you show up as a leader to encourage others and still have your voice heard and to be seen, but in such a way that it's not coming off as rude, disrespectful, and more of like the seniority differential between you and your team.
Kendall Berg (00:37):
Yeah, it's. I think it's an old school mentality.
Natalie Serebrennik (00:41):
Right.
Kendall Berg (00:42):
It used to be like, I'm the boss. Right. And I would like to think that we've evolved past that. But that mentality, like, you have to have a certain pedigree, you have to have a certain degree, you have to have a certain background, and then you're in charge and everybody else is just a peon who listens. Welcome back to this episode of Secrets of the Career Game. So many people are trying to navigate a corporate world that is laden with secrets, cleverly hidden and unspoken rules to a game that most employees don't even know that they're playing. On this podcast, we try to give you a peek behind the curtains and some tips and tricks to ultimately make you successful in your career and help you progress a little bit faster. Hi, lovelies. Welcome back.
(01:28):
I'm so excited you're joining for today's episode because we are going to be talking about achieving success as a leader with Natalie Sara Branick, also known as, like, my coach bestie. We roomed together in Mexico, so we have a deep bond. I'm so excited to have her on the show. She is a certified professional coach. She empowers leaders in high pressure environments, specifically with over 18 years herself in capital markets. She combines expensive, extensive industry knowledge with her coaching expertise to support leaders in achieving their professional goals. And basically, she's just fabulous. So welcome. Natalie, it is amazing to have you on the show.
Natalie Serebrennik (02:05):
Oh, my gosh, I love you. I'm so happy to be here. Thank you for having me. This is going to be so much fun.
Kendall Berg (02:11):
It's going to be an awesome chat. So why don't you tell listeners a little bit about your professional background and then also your coaching background as well?
Natalie Serebrennik (02:19):
Yeah, absolutely. Okay, so my professional background, you're right. Extensive capital market experience. I'm what you call what you wouldn't recommend to do. So I got a job at A bank. And I stayed at that bank for my whole career. So generally speaking, any advice that I would give anyone coming out of university or college would be try new experiences. Why pigeonhole yourself to one brand? And that is what I did. However, in context, I did have multiple roles within that, like, full experience. So from sales to trading to equity research, I. I tried all of the pieces. On the capital market side, I had a very fruitful career in capital markets. And my decision to leave really had nothing to do with me not being happy. It was really an extension of me realizing that I needed to really just jump into my.
(03:20):
Which started to elevate itself, I would say, for the last third part of my career in helping others achieve growth and success.
Kendall Berg (03:28):
And it's so you. Because having known you in this stage, like, just your amazing coaching abilities, like, ooze from your very pores. And so I can imagine how that was translating in your corporate world. And we're lucky to have you on the coaching side now. So why don't you give us a little insight into what successful leadership looks like to you?
Natalie Serebrennik (03:51):
Great question. So, for me, successful leadership is really to two approaches. It's multifaceted, so you have your. How well you lead, how well you can actually lead a team of individuals to get the job done. And then on the flip side of things, it's how will you achieve results? So the way that I see it on the initial prom, it's how you inspire, how you motivate others to reach their full potential. Right. It's creating that culture of trust and collaboration where people feel free and encouraged to speak up and share their voice and their ideas, but also navigating challenges that arise which happen all the time because it's life and it's business. And being able to navigate through those challenges effectively as a team, I think is super important when it comes to successful leadership. It's not just me versus them. It's we.
(04:53):
How can we do this together? And really taking the last point I want to share is like really taking that vision from the top and being able to communicate it effectively so that everyone on your team feels like they're part of the vision. And that right there is. That's magic. When your team feels like they're part of creating that vision, they're so much more invested in the results because they feel like what they do matters.
Kendall Berg (05:23):
It's so key what you're pointing out, Natalie, because I think a lot of times when we think of a leader or an executive within a company, we think A lot of like the clout piece. Right. Look at their background, look at their credentials. And I would argue the same as what you're saying, which is a successful leader does not mean you hold a certain title or you had a certain education. It's that you're able to inspire and motivate people towards a common goal. Right. And you and I were actually discussing this earlier on, even like one of your LinkedIn posts. And there's something unique about the leader who can't just get things done themselves, but can get a whole group to get things done with them.
Natalie Serebrennik (06:07):
Absolutely. And that's like what I call the secret sauce of really great leadership. Having everyone alongside you want to be able to achieve the same success because they're just as invested as you are.
Kendall Berg (06:25):
Yeah. And that's, it's funny because I'm coming back from a corporate offsite, right. Where we did a lot of this strategy work. Where are we going? What's the future? And that was like the number one piece of feedback from my team was like, I get it. I see the vision of where we're going. Like I, I want this for all of us. And pre that I think I had a very highly motivated team, but they didn't click into what that long term vision was. And that difference is really important when you're trying to build scale and build progression. So what are some of like the myths that come to mind when we think of like this leadership aspect? I feel like there are plenty we could dive into, but curious, what kind of comes to your mind first?
Natalie Serebrennik (07:07):
Yeah, such a great question. Okay, so the myths. Well, for starters, and we were just getting to this with, well, not. Well, with the clout building. Right. And having like this expected Persona of yourself. So what comes to mind first as a myth is you have to be aggressive to be effective. Right. The whole difference between the aggressiveness side and assertiveness. And how do you show up as a leader to encourage others and still have your voice heard and to be seen, but in such a way that it's not coming off as rude, disrespectful, and more of like the seniority differential between you and your team?
Kendall Berg (07:51):
Yeah, it's, I think it's an old school mentality.
Natalie Serebrennik (07:55):
Right.
Kendall Berg (07:56):
It used to be like, I'm the boss. Right. And I would like to think that we've evolved past that. But mentality, like you have to have a certain pedigree, you have to have a certain degree, you have to have a certain background and Then you're in charge and everybody else is just a peon who listens to you. I think to your point, we're now in this stage where we want to be led by somebody we trust and we want to be supporting them as opposed to working for them. And I think that mentality shifts has caused a lot of interesting ripple effects in the career market for sure.
Natalie Serebrennik (08:32):
Yeah. Like when I think of. And it's interesting because I've worked with different walks of life and working on a trading for. For as long as I did. I'm very used to that high tech like high temperature type of behavior, you know, and easily it could be, it could sway aggressive very quickly. It not much has to. A trade can go the wrong side and you see a different side of the trader pretty quick. Yeah, right. And so I do appreciate the fact that when you're in a high pressured environment, having the appreciation that there could be moments throughout your day that can create this type of reaction. So but as a leader, own it. You don't have to be perfect.
(09:22):
Which kind of gives me like, it leads me to another myth almost right, this notion that leaders have to have all the answers. They have to be perfect. They can never make any mistakes. It's okay, we're human. We're going to get triggered and we're going to have a reaction we may have not, you know, would have loved to have in that moment, own it, reflect back, have a conversation about it. The worst thing you can possibly do is just pretend like it didn't happen or justify it in your head as it's excusable because of the environment that we're in. That's where I have a problem with that approach.
Kendall Berg (09:57):
I love this because this is the second thing that I noticed that great leaders do is like that willingness to admit when they maybe handle the situation and not the ideal way. And I'll give an example. I had an interaction with an executive in my corporate side. Basically, slides were not done the way they needed to be done. Very high escalation, very high visibility, very rapid fall down, only to find that they were actually totally fine and were looking in the wrong place at the wrong deck and we're okay. And my executive messaged me after and was like, I may have overreacted a bit. And I appreciate that because it gives justification to the fact that I was like, did we overreact? Was this a bit of a mistake? Like, thank you for tuning in today's episode.
(10:46):
If you're finding the information on this podcast Helpful. And you're looking to take control of your career and start to elevate yourself to the next level. Go ahead and check out our course. Go to bit ly/career coach course to get signed up today and to start taking your career to the next level and navigate the secrets of the career game. But also it gives me trust that, like, when they are hard on me, it is justified. And if they are hard on me in something that's not justified, they'll also take ownership for it. And we need that balance because that's what gives your team that space to make mistakes, which I think we could say technically would be a third myth, which is like, your team can never make any mistakes. But the reality is that I'm a believer in, like, rapid iteration.
(11:33):
Like, if we're going to make a mistake, let's do it really quickly so we know it's a mistake and we can pivot rather than spend eight months prepping some huge project that then is a mistake. And I think for you to cultivate that type of space within your team, they have to feel comfortable coming to you with those missteps.
Natalie Serebrennik (11:51):
Yeah. It's so funny. When you were sharing that, immediately my thought just went back to us in the Mastermind in Cancun, and when the whole concept of messy action came about. And now it's. It's literally my favorite phrase. And it's like my mantra now because there's something. There's so much truth behind just, let's make the mistakes quicker and we'll learn from them as a team. And to add on to it, let's make. Let's learn from them collectively, like, let's do it together. It's not just a siloed. And there's no finger pointing. It's not about, you know, executing blame or pointing blame. It's about owning it. Understanding where the opportunity to not make that mistake again, and how we can approach a situation differently.
Kendall Berg (12:37):
Yeah. And I mean, you know, I'm a huge proponent of the messy action. I would rather fail fast, learn fast, and then get onto the next thing than spend a bunch of time stressing out about creating the perfect solution. And were talking just before this podcast about all the areas of my life where there is clearly not a perfect solution. We're just swinging it. And sometimes that's important to kind of make that progress. So we've kind of danced around this already, but I'd love to hear from your perspective, when it comes to leadership, what is more important, that soft skill side or that technical, hard skill side.
Natalie Serebrennik (13:12):
Okay. So, yeah, I definitely have a strong opinion. I feel both are important. So I'll start off by saying that, however, to move from a good leader to a great leader, you need those soft skills. No doubt. You just. There's such a distinction. Like, the actual hard skills is what I interpret to be as the competency for you to be able to do your job well. Right. The strategic thinking, the. The ability to, you know, take a vision and understand what it is and be able to communicate it in a way so that everyone gets what they need to do. But then the inspiring, like everything we're talking about in the first question, how you truly motivate others. Without that piece, you're still like, you're a boss and not. I don't want to take it away. You're doing your job well.
(14:06):
But are you a great leader? No.
Kendall Berg (14:09):
Yeah. I mean, of course I agree. My whole niche is in the soft skills space. And I do think technical skills are really important. Right. You have to be able to prove you are capable of your job to continue progressing. Period. But you can definitely be held back because you lack soft skills. And there's a great book called the New Extraordinary Leader by, I want to say, John Zigweed. And it's very data dense. I don't recommend it from like a leisurely on the beach kind of read. It's more of a, like, do you enjoy data analytics? Then you'll like this book. But he Talked about the 21 facets of successful leadership. And to your point, he talks about the good versus the great. And the great leaders differentiate themselves in 21 facets.
(14:54):
And one of the 21 is technical skills, and the other 20, our soft skills. And when you think of it from that lens, that, like, that's what's distinguishing these great leaders from everybody else. Like, the data says you've got to hone in on those soft skills and the technical skills get you there. But the soft skills are what make you great and what make you successful.
Natalie Serebrennik (15:20):
At those executive levels 100%. Like, I think back to the leaders that I've had in my past and the ones that I don't remember, the really smart ones, you know, the ones that. Well, let's. Okay, I'll take a step back. We're all smart. We're all there for a reason. If you weren't. If you weren't smart enough, you wouldn't be at the table. Right? So everyone's smart. But I don't remember what specifically about them like their competencies, how are they able, you know, their technical capabilities, their ability to do on the hard side of things, on the hard skill side. But the soft skills, I remember how they make me feel, you know, how do I feel supported? Do I feel heard?
(16:02):
Do I feel like they have my back in a difficult conversation, do I feel like, you know, do I trust the fact that they're going to advance and promote me the way they say they will? That's what I remember.
Kendall Berg (16:15):
So I'm going to go a slight aside on this topic because I think it's an interesting one that I've been kicking around lately is a lot of people, I think, tend to complain that corporate is not a straight meritocracy. They think, well, I worked hard, I should get promoted, or I did this extra project, I should get promoted. Or I covered for somebody on maternity leave, I should get promoted. And we think this way, which is a very technical, skillset oriented view. But I would argue that a true meritocracy where only the hardest workers get promoted becomes a really bad thing at senior leadership. Because who wants to work for somebody who's incredibly technically skilled and cannot communicate? Yeah, like nobody. I don't want to work for that guy because how is he going to give me feedback?
(16:59):
Probably going to micromanage me, probably going to be all up in my girl with all the technical instead of doing what I need them to do, which is advocate for me. To your point, sell themselves, sell our team, get us promoted. And so a straight meritocracy actually becomes a really toxic work environment really quickly if you don't have good soft skills at the top of the house. So I'm curious to get your perspective because this is something that I hear all the time. Well, like, I worked really hard and I didn't get promoted. But like, does that warrant a promotion? Especially once you start getting to those middle to upper management levels.
Natalie Serebrennik (17:36):
So I love this topic so much, it hits home because I was that person, Kendall, for years. I was like, but why is this happening? Doesn't he see how much value I bring to the table? Look at all this amazing work. I never complain. I don't ask for things when it's out of turn. I'm like, you're on paper, perfect employee. When is my turn going to come? And. And then after years of building up this, expect this, like, frustration because I was so disappointed year after the performance reviews and I wasn't hearing what I wanted to hear, then I got angry. There's Only so. And it's because of my anger and frustration that I had that aha moment, that light bulb went off.
(18:27):
I'm like, all right, in order for me to truly succeed in my career path and elevate my seniority level so I can get paid more, so I can work on more interesting initiatives, so I can do the things that I want to do, I got it. I got to take control of my career. I got to have these conversations. I got to ask for what I want. So I'm very much of the proponent that your hard work keeps you in your seat, maybe gets. Keeps you employed and paid, but it's not. That doesn't mean that you're going to get elevated because of that. Yeah, you gotta. You gotta prove, you gotta communicate, you gotta build your network. You gotta. Gotta demonstrate.
Kendall Berg (19:11):
Yeah.
Natalie Serebrennik (19:12):
And that is. Yeah, I'll pause there for your comment here. But like, yeah, I feel strongly about that one.
Kendall Berg (19:19):
Well, and I think we've all been that person, right. Who worked really hard. And when you learn how little working really hard has to do with your career progression, and I'm not saying again, you don't have to deliver on your core responsibilities. You absolutely do. But the things that have differentiated me in my career, that have gotten me progressed, that get my clients progressed, are very rarely. I delivered this really huge project. Yeah, they're almost always. I identified new problems, I created a strategy, I communicated that strategy. I advocated for myself, I advocated for my team. Those are the types of things they get you recognized. And again, coming off this off site last week, we do performance reviews. And so of course, my team gets feedback. And the feedback of my team was they are best in class support.
(20:08):
If you need anything, Kendall's team has the answer. And that's what I want to be. That's the brand that we're building. That's where we want to sit. But they didn't come up with that themselves. I have been communicating that every single meeting for three years to create that brand Persona to create, and then we follow through on it. Right. But you've got to have that outspoken. So I think it's interesting as you get into the higher levels of leadership, how you add value, changes. So I'd love to hear what are some, like, unique strategies that you've seen people implement that have allowed them to achieve their goals or really drive success.
Natalie Serebrennik (20:46):
Yeah, it's a good one. The ones that really stake out for me as the best strategies, the ones that I'm like, okay, I'm stealing this one for Myself because it's this good. It's that out of the box thinking. It's not just doing the things because other people have done them and have seen success. It's not being afraid to do things differently. Right. Challenge the status quo. It's, it's as much as it's important for you to have that vision and that belief, it's creating that level of like that psychological safety within your team so that they can also experiment with you, be creative. And I've seen beautiful outcomes from this type of initiative. It's not in certain industries it's more encouraged than others. Right. In the startup space in Tech Start, for example. Right. It's very much, yes. That's, that's the approach of doing things.
(21:51):
We support that. Maybe on the banking side of things, not so much.
Kendall Berg (21:54):
This is how we do it, monolithic banking. They do not want it.
Natalie Serebrennik (21:59):
Right. So, but that's not to say that you can't build in that level of creativity within your own team. And that's the beauty of it. Working on the floor. There's so many different teams and there's so many different opportunities for collaboration. And that was my sweet spot. I was able to, when a high level initiative was brought to me. We need to solve for this issue. I'm like, okay, who can I speak to? How can I collaborate outside of my area? And let's just have conversations. Let's grab a coffee informal and talk about this. I want to hear your ideas. Be surprised with how many great ideas are out there. But people don't think to bring them to the table. Right. So it's that out of the box really and thinking and encouragement of others to do the same.
Kendall Berg (22:56):
I totally second what you're saying, Natalie. Especially because I think, you know, the world that we live in right now with this gen AI trend. I'm like machine learning and you know, everybody's talking about how do we bring in AI. I mean I'm like almost sick of talking about and I'm a huge proponent of it. But when you're thinking of this space, I feel a lot of time. What I see is leaders think, well, my job is to do A and they focus on the box of A and they don't think about, well, if I could automate A then I could offer B which I'm not capable offering today because A takes too much time. We don't have capacity and it's too intensive and it takes too much focus. So we can't think about B.
(23:38):
And to your Point, the great leaders figure out, okay, how do we innovate A? How do we automate A? How do we change A so that we can offer B? But the mistake I see leaders make is they focus so much on all the great work they can do in A that they never plan B. And then they're like, well, I'm done. And their leader's like, great, thank you so much for this. You're now fired. Right. So you have to have that balance of how do you automate, innovate, change, come up with unique opportunities within your org. But then how do you think of what that next evolution is too, that allows you to grow, but also your team.
Natalie Serebrennik (24:14):
Yeah. And to your point, I can see a situation where maybe that is not communicated. Maybe you are that good and you propose or suggest, this is my plan. You know, every leader has a leader, except for the top. Top of the house. But technically, generally speaking, there's layers of that management hierarchy. So if you're sharing a vision with one of your leaders, that what you want to do. And I plan on automating this. And then my goal is to get to this point and then I think it would be really cool if we could try this. And they don't support that vision. Then what do you stop yourself short just because your immediate boss is in support? Like, the idea was great. What you had behind there, the level of thinking was great. Exactly what you said. It's what you should be doing.
(25:11):
So what happens when you don't have your manager buy in to go ahead and execute on this vision? How do you stand out?
Kendall Berg (25:22):
Yeah. And see, I'm as an individual leader, as opposed to the coaching side of my life. As an individual leader, I'm the do it first, ask forgiveness after kind of leader. Like, I would just execute plan A and then be like, hey, here's all the great stuff we have now. We're working on plan B. Right. This is the evolution of the team. Hope you guys are happy with it. But I think a lot of the time to what you're describing, leaders will follow the appropriate chain of command. They go to their boss or like, hey, here's this great vision. And their boss is like, yeah, no, don't do that. I need you focused on bau. Do your bau. And I think in those situations, one, you should have a more robust network than just your manager. Right.
(26:06):
The buck cannot stop at your manager for your own progression or for things like gathering, buy in. So what's your relationship like with your skip Level, do you have partner groups who may buy in? Are there back channels you can take? And that's not to say that we're circumventing your leadership, but it's that we're gathering support. Support and buy in for an idea we know is great. And then are there places like me to do it first and effort forgiveness on the back end? Like, hey, I know you said you weren't really passionate about this, but I'd love to demo it to you now that it's done and see what your thoughts are and see if there's other areas we can leverage this.
(26:38):
Because a lot of the time your manager may be just as afraid of innovation as you want to be and that holds you guys back and how do you navigate that? But I'd be curious what other tactics you have for garnering that managerial support in creating that progress within your org.
Natalie Serebrennik (26:58):
I mean, everything you just shared was so on point. I think the biggest point that I would want to, you know, hit home is just don't stop. Don't let that be the reason why you don't progress that idea further. That's to not have someone's support. Yeah, it's unfortunate, but that shouldn't stop you from actually executing on it. Just what's another way to be able to go and do it? So use your creativity, allow yourself to. And as a leader, you know, don't. You don't have to do this on your own. You don't like going back to one of the myths. You don't have to have all the answers. Engage your team, engage stakeholders. How do we go about this? And also when you're. I would even back it up a bit and understand what the concerns are, specifically from your immediate manager.
(27:48):
That is it more just like of a time constraint or is it potential roadblocks that he or she perceives that you not being able to overcome? I'd want to understand what the hesitation there is to limit that support and then get the evidence to support against that and then go and do it.
Kendall Berg (28:08):
I love it. So I also think that, you know, the industries are changing. Right. Executive leadership is different now than it was 10 years ago, from where I sit. So what are some of the biggest challenges you see upcoming for executive leaders? And like, how can they prepare themselves for what appears to be like an increasingly competitive market?
Natalie Serebrennik (28:29):
Yeah, that's a great one. So one of the biggest ones that come to mind for me is, and I used to see it all the time, I'd love to get Your opinions on this too? Retaining and attracting good talent. Yeah, the younger generation, they're more inclined to skip like job scare. So like I'm more of that old school mentality where I stayed and I just transitioned from role to role within the same company, generally speaking. And you see it with your clients, they're much quicker to transition if they're not getting what they want. So they're not afraid to put themselves out there and make the jump. If anything, they're probably worried, is it too soon to jump because I've only been there for a year. Right. So if they're not fulfilled, they will look. But if they're that good, how can you fulfill them?
(29:27):
And it's expensive. It's expensive to.
Kendall Berg (29:31):
So expensive to hire good people.
Natalie Serebrennik (29:33):
Go. So it's, that's the idea of understanding why are they going. Right. The whole idea of flexibility. So one of my. I'll just share with you really quick. One of my clients just landed a new job. She was searching for a new job and what she, what stuck out her the most on the job offer was we expect you to work eight hours a day. I don't care if you're working in your pajamas at nighttime, you know, or before the day even starts. You're a big girl, you're a big boy, you're going to figure out the time that you're going to work best and you're going to get the job done.
Kendall Berg (30:13):
Yeah.
Natalie Serebrennik (30:13):
But then you'll also have to be available for, you know, any team meetings that to move the. And she was obsessed with that because that's not what she had coming back. She had this expectation and again, certain industries will allow for it more than others. But being able to have more flexibility as to when the work can get done is huge for a lot of people.
Kendall Berg (30:37):
Yeah, I love that I would expound on this just one level further in speaking with Retention and attracting is something I was talking about with an executive recruiter friend of mine not too long ago is your ability to recruit people who've worked for you before is also a selling point when you're being recruited.
Natalie Serebrennik (30:56):
Right.
Kendall Berg (30:56):
When you can say confidently, hey, I've been able to retain 30% of my workforce over my last four jobs who are all incredibly high achieving individuals and I bring access to that group of people with me. To your point, attracting and retaining, that's a huge valve prop for people who are trying to recruit. Right. If you are at that executive leadership level, does part of what you offer become your network and your relationships and you know, I've. I've referenced this on other episodes, but I've recruited for six positions so far in my current role, and five of the six have been filled with people who worked for me before or worked with me before or knew me before at a previous company. And so almost my entire workforce is people that I knew who I brought into the company.
(31:43):
And that's something that my company always talks about is, like, you just, like, know everybody. I'm like, I don't know everybody, but I knew five people who I knew would be really great, and I bring them with me. And that alone is enough to change the trajectory of a team. And so how do you make that. Part of your branding is like, hey, it's not just me. You get. You get access to a pipeline of great people who are going to help you continue to elevate your program.
Natalie Serebrennik (32:05):
It. I love that. I think that's such a solid. You know, I hate to call it a sales pitch, but when you're. When you're going after that job and you're selling your value prop, that's huge. Especially the more senior are and senior you are, and the higher. The more competitive it is because there's less seats at the top of the house. Vying for that opportunity to be able to bring that type of value behind your name and your experience, that's. That's huge.
Kendall Berg (32:36):
So as we're wrapping up today's episode, which I think has been so great and really focused on that leader aspect, which we don't always spend a ton of time on. What are some parting words that you would give for anybody who's listening, who's like, that's me. I'm in that leadership bucket. I want to continue growing and be successful. Like, what's one thing that you would tell them to go do to start finding that success?
Natalie Serebrennik (32:54):
Yeah, I mean, for starters, the fact that you want to become a better leader, that, to me, is music to my ears. I really do believe to my core that leaders are not born. Anyone can be a leader if they want to be, but it needs to start off with that true want for yourself to be a better leader. So for anyone listening and anyone in the network, if you find yourself in a position where you're either aspiring to be a leader or you already are a leader and looking to elevate yourself, the biggest piece of advice is never underestimate the power of feedback. I think that has been an area that is underutilized a lot in our growth journeys.
(33:44):
Being able to sit across the TABLE from people that you've worked with in all levels of seniority to understand how you can show up better and what gaps you need to fill as opposed to assuming and creating these stories of what you can and can't or maybe inflated ego based assumptions. Eliminate all the noise and just go to the sources of points of contact that you've worked with to know where can I grow from here? And without the judgment piece. It's an opportunity. Everything you hear back is an opportunity for you to learn and grow from. It's not something that reflecting back to my past, I started tapping in more into the feedback loop and appreciating the feedback and executing on that feedback, understanding how that pertains to me.
(34:38):
When that shift happened for me, when I started to take control over my career, it was all part of it. And listen granted Disclaimer. Not every piece of feedback is going to be 100% spot on. However, allowing yourself the opportunity to even hear what it is and understand and reflect on what possible gaps that you have, I mean, those are amazing opportunities for continued advancement if you ask me.
Kendall Berg (35:07):
I love that. So today's episode I feel like was so amazing. I'm hoping everybody listening got as much out of it as I did. But Natalie, if people are listening and they're like, I need help with this, I want to learn more about becoming a great leader and a great executive. Where can they find you?
Natalie Serebrennik (35:22):
So I live on LinkedIn, that's my favorite social media platform. So definitely pop into LinkedIn. Send me a DM. Let's connect, let's have a chat. I also have a website, but LinkedIn is, it's more interactive. Let's meet on LinkedIn. Yeah, absolutely.
Kendall Berg (35:41):
And we will link that in the show notes. So if you guys listen today's episode and you absolutely loved it, which I know you did, please give us five stars in your review and also make sure you're leaving any comments or questions down below for me or Natalie to answer. But otherwise, it's been so amazing having you on the show. We'll definitely have to have you back.
Natalie Serebrennik (35:56):
Absolutely. I had so much fun. Thank you so much everyone. I loved it.
We're now in this stage where we want to be led by somebody we trust and we want to be supporting them as opposed to working for them. And I think that mentality shift has caused a lot of interesting ripple effects in the career market, for sure.
Natalie Serebrennik (00:13):
Right. The whole difference between the aggressiveness side and assertiveness and how do you show up as a leader to encourage others and still have your voice heard and to be seen, but in such a way that it's not coming off as rude, disrespectful, and more of like the seniority differential between you and your team.
Kendall Berg (00:37):
Yeah, it's. I think it's an old school mentality.
Natalie Serebrennik (00:41):
Right.
Kendall Berg (00:42):
It used to be like, I'm the boss. Right. And I would like to think that we've evolved past that. But that mentality, like, you have to have a certain pedigree, you have to have a certain degree, you have to have a certain background, and then you're in charge and everybody else is just a peon who listens. Welcome back to this episode of Secrets of the Career Game. So many people are trying to navigate a corporate world that is laden with secrets, cleverly hidden and unspoken rules to a game that most employees don't even know that they're playing. On this podcast, we try to give you a peek behind the curtains and some tips and tricks to ultimately make you successful in your career and help you progress a little bit faster. Hi, lovelies. Welcome back.
(01:28):
I'm so excited you're joining for today's episode because we are going to be talking about achieving success as a leader with Natalie Sara Branick, also known as, like, my coach bestie. We roomed together in Mexico, so we have a deep bond. I'm so excited to have her on the show. She is a certified professional coach. She empowers leaders in high pressure environments, specifically with over 18 years herself in capital markets. She combines expensive, extensive industry knowledge with her coaching expertise to support leaders in achieving their professional goals. And basically, she's just fabulous. So welcome. Natalie, it is amazing to have you on the show.
Natalie Serebrennik (02:05):
Oh, my gosh, I love you. I'm so happy to be here. Thank you for having me. This is going to be so much fun.
Kendall Berg (02:11):
It's going to be an awesome chat. So why don't you tell listeners a little bit about your professional background and then also your coaching background as well?
Natalie Serebrennik (02:19):
Yeah, absolutely. Okay, so my professional background, you're right. Extensive capital market experience. I'm what you call what you wouldn't recommend to do. So I got a job at A bank. And I stayed at that bank for my whole career. So generally speaking, any advice that I would give anyone coming out of university or college would be try new experiences. Why pigeonhole yourself to one brand? And that is what I did. However, in context, I did have multiple roles within that, like, full experience. So from sales to trading to equity research, I. I tried all of the pieces. On the capital market side, I had a very fruitful career in capital markets. And my decision to leave really had nothing to do with me not being happy. It was really an extension of me realizing that I needed to really just jump into my.
(03:20):
Which started to elevate itself, I would say, for the last third part of my career in helping others achieve growth and success.
Kendall Berg (03:28):
And it's so you. Because having known you in this stage, like, just your amazing coaching abilities, like, ooze from your very pores. And so I can imagine how that was translating in your corporate world. And we're lucky to have you on the coaching side now. So why don't you give us a little insight into what successful leadership looks like to you?
Natalie Serebrennik (03:51):
Great question. So, for me, successful leadership is really to two approaches. It's multifaceted, so you have your. How well you lead, how well you can actually lead a team of individuals to get the job done. And then on the flip side of things, it's how will you achieve results? So the way that I see it on the initial prom, it's how you inspire, how you motivate others to reach their full potential. Right. It's creating that culture of trust and collaboration where people feel free and encouraged to speak up and share their voice and their ideas, but also navigating challenges that arise which happen all the time because it's life and it's business. And being able to navigate through those challenges effectively as a team, I think is super important when it comes to successful leadership. It's not just me versus them. It's we.
(04:53):
How can we do this together? And really taking the last point I want to share is like really taking that vision from the top and being able to communicate it effectively so that everyone on your team feels like they're part of the vision. And that right there is. That's magic. When your team feels like they're part of creating that vision, they're so much more invested in the results because they feel like what they do matters.
Kendall Berg (05:23):
It's so key what you're pointing out, Natalie, because I think a lot of times when we think of a leader or an executive within a company, we think A lot of like the clout piece. Right. Look at their background, look at their credentials. And I would argue the same as what you're saying, which is a successful leader does not mean you hold a certain title or you had a certain education. It's that you're able to inspire and motivate people towards a common goal. Right. And you and I were actually discussing this earlier on, even like one of your LinkedIn posts. And there's something unique about the leader who can't just get things done themselves, but can get a whole group to get things done with them.
Natalie Serebrennik (06:07):
Absolutely. And that's like what I call the secret sauce of really great leadership. Having everyone alongside you want to be able to achieve the same success because they're just as invested as you are.
Kendall Berg (06:25):
Yeah. And that's, it's funny because I'm coming back from a corporate offsite, right. Where we did a lot of this strategy work. Where are we going? What's the future? And that was like the number one piece of feedback from my team was like, I get it. I see the vision of where we're going. Like I, I want this for all of us. And pre that I think I had a very highly motivated team, but they didn't click into what that long term vision was. And that difference is really important when you're trying to build scale and build progression. So what are some of like the myths that come to mind when we think of like this leadership aspect? I feel like there are plenty we could dive into, but curious, what kind of comes to your mind first?
Natalie Serebrennik (07:07):
Yeah, such a great question. Okay, so the myths. Well, for starters, and we were just getting to this with, well, not. Well, with the clout building. Right. And having like this expected Persona of yourself. So what comes to mind first as a myth is you have to be aggressive to be effective. Right. The whole difference between the aggressiveness side and assertiveness. And how do you show up as a leader to encourage others and still have your voice heard and to be seen, but in such a way that it's not coming off as rude, disrespectful, and more of like the seniority differential between you and your team?
Kendall Berg (07:51):
Yeah, it's, I think it's an old school mentality.
Natalie Serebrennik (07:55):
Right.
Kendall Berg (07:56):
It used to be like, I'm the boss. Right. And I would like to think that we've evolved past that. But mentality, like you have to have a certain pedigree, you have to have a certain degree, you have to have a certain background and Then you're in charge and everybody else is just a peon who listens to you. I think to your point, we're now in this stage where we want to be led by somebody we trust and we want to be supporting them as opposed to working for them. And I think that mentality shifts has caused a lot of interesting ripple effects in the career market for sure.
Natalie Serebrennik (08:32):
Yeah. Like when I think of. And it's interesting because I've worked with different walks of life and working on a trading for. For as long as I did. I'm very used to that high tech like high temperature type of behavior, you know, and easily it could be, it could sway aggressive very quickly. It not much has to. A trade can go the wrong side and you see a different side of the trader pretty quick. Yeah, right. And so I do appreciate the fact that when you're in a high pressured environment, having the appreciation that there could be moments throughout your day that can create this type of reaction. So but as a leader, own it. You don't have to be perfect.
(09:22):
Which kind of gives me like, it leads me to another myth almost right, this notion that leaders have to have all the answers. They have to be perfect. They can never make any mistakes. It's okay, we're human. We're going to get triggered and we're going to have a reaction we may have not, you know, would have loved to have in that moment, own it, reflect back, have a conversation about it. The worst thing you can possibly do is just pretend like it didn't happen or justify it in your head as it's excusable because of the environment that we're in. That's where I have a problem with that approach.
Kendall Berg (09:57):
I love this because this is the second thing that I noticed that great leaders do is like that willingness to admit when they maybe handle the situation and not the ideal way. And I'll give an example. I had an interaction with an executive in my corporate side. Basically, slides were not done the way they needed to be done. Very high escalation, very high visibility, very rapid fall down, only to find that they were actually totally fine and were looking in the wrong place at the wrong deck and we're okay. And my executive messaged me after and was like, I may have overreacted a bit. And I appreciate that because it gives justification to the fact that I was like, did we overreact? Was this a bit of a mistake? Like, thank you for tuning in today's episode.
(10:46):
If you're finding the information on this podcast Helpful. And you're looking to take control of your career and start to elevate yourself to the next level. Go ahead and check out our course. Go to bit ly/career coach course to get signed up today and to start taking your career to the next level and navigate the secrets of the career game. But also it gives me trust that, like, when they are hard on me, it is justified. And if they are hard on me in something that's not justified, they'll also take ownership for it. And we need that balance because that's what gives your team that space to make mistakes, which I think we could say technically would be a third myth, which is like, your team can never make any mistakes. But the reality is that I'm a believer in, like, rapid iteration.
(11:33):
Like, if we're going to make a mistake, let's do it really quickly so we know it's a mistake and we can pivot rather than spend eight months prepping some huge project that then is a mistake. And I think for you to cultivate that type of space within your team, they have to feel comfortable coming to you with those missteps.
Natalie Serebrennik (11:51):
Yeah. It's so funny. When you were sharing that, immediately my thought just went back to us in the Mastermind in Cancun, and when the whole concept of messy action came about. And now it's. It's literally my favorite phrase. And it's like my mantra now because there's something. There's so much truth behind just, let's make the mistakes quicker and we'll learn from them as a team. And to add on to it, let's make. Let's learn from them collectively, like, let's do it together. It's not just a siloed. And there's no finger pointing. It's not about, you know, executing blame or pointing blame. It's about owning it. Understanding where the opportunity to not make that mistake again, and how we can approach a situation differently.
Kendall Berg (12:37):
Yeah. And I mean, you know, I'm a huge proponent of the messy action. I would rather fail fast, learn fast, and then get onto the next thing than spend a bunch of time stressing out about creating the perfect solution. And were talking just before this podcast about all the areas of my life where there is clearly not a perfect solution. We're just swinging it. And sometimes that's important to kind of make that progress. So we've kind of danced around this already, but I'd love to hear from your perspective, when it comes to leadership, what is more important, that soft skill side or that technical, hard skill side.
Natalie Serebrennik (13:12):
Okay. So, yeah, I definitely have a strong opinion. I feel both are important. So I'll start off by saying that, however, to move from a good leader to a great leader, you need those soft skills. No doubt. You just. There's such a distinction. Like, the actual hard skills is what I interpret to be as the competency for you to be able to do your job well. Right. The strategic thinking, the. The ability to, you know, take a vision and understand what it is and be able to communicate it in a way so that everyone gets what they need to do. But then the inspiring, like everything we're talking about in the first question, how you truly motivate others. Without that piece, you're still like, you're a boss and not. I don't want to take it away. You're doing your job well.
(14:06):
But are you a great leader? No.
Kendall Berg (14:09):
Yeah. I mean, of course I agree. My whole niche is in the soft skills space. And I do think technical skills are really important. Right. You have to be able to prove you are capable of your job to continue progressing. Period. But you can definitely be held back because you lack soft skills. And there's a great book called the New Extraordinary Leader by, I want to say, John Zigweed. And it's very data dense. I don't recommend it from like a leisurely on the beach kind of read. It's more of a, like, do you enjoy data analytics? Then you'll like this book. But he Talked about the 21 facets of successful leadership. And to your point, he talks about the good versus the great. And the great leaders differentiate themselves in 21 facets.
(14:54):
And one of the 21 is technical skills, and the other 20, our soft skills. And when you think of it from that lens, that, like, that's what's distinguishing these great leaders from everybody else. Like, the data says you've got to hone in on those soft skills and the technical skills get you there. But the soft skills are what make you great and what make you successful.
Natalie Serebrennik (15:20):
At those executive levels 100%. Like, I think back to the leaders that I've had in my past and the ones that I don't remember, the really smart ones, you know, the ones that. Well, let's. Okay, I'll take a step back. We're all smart. We're all there for a reason. If you weren't. If you weren't smart enough, you wouldn't be at the table. Right? So everyone's smart. But I don't remember what specifically about them like their competencies, how are they able, you know, their technical capabilities, their ability to do on the hard side of things, on the hard skill side. But the soft skills, I remember how they make me feel, you know, how do I feel supported? Do I feel heard?
(16:02):
Do I feel like they have my back in a difficult conversation, do I feel like, you know, do I trust the fact that they're going to advance and promote me the way they say they will? That's what I remember.
Kendall Berg (16:15):
So I'm going to go a slight aside on this topic because I think it's an interesting one that I've been kicking around lately is a lot of people, I think, tend to complain that corporate is not a straight meritocracy. They think, well, I worked hard, I should get promoted, or I did this extra project, I should get promoted. Or I covered for somebody on maternity leave, I should get promoted. And we think this way, which is a very technical, skillset oriented view. But I would argue that a true meritocracy where only the hardest workers get promoted becomes a really bad thing at senior leadership. Because who wants to work for somebody who's incredibly technically skilled and cannot communicate? Yeah, like nobody. I don't want to work for that guy because how is he going to give me feedback?
(16:59):
Probably going to micromanage me, probably going to be all up in my girl with all the technical instead of doing what I need them to do, which is advocate for me. To your point, sell themselves, sell our team, get us promoted. And so a straight meritocracy actually becomes a really toxic work environment really quickly if you don't have good soft skills at the top of the house. So I'm curious to get your perspective because this is something that I hear all the time. Well, like, I worked really hard and I didn't get promoted. But like, does that warrant a promotion? Especially once you start getting to those middle to upper management levels.
Natalie Serebrennik (17:36):
So I love this topic so much, it hits home because I was that person, Kendall, for years. I was like, but why is this happening? Doesn't he see how much value I bring to the table? Look at all this amazing work. I never complain. I don't ask for things when it's out of turn. I'm like, you're on paper, perfect employee. When is my turn going to come? And. And then after years of building up this, expect this, like, frustration because I was so disappointed year after the performance reviews and I wasn't hearing what I wanted to hear, then I got angry. There's Only so. And it's because of my anger and frustration that I had that aha moment, that light bulb went off.
(18:27):
I'm like, all right, in order for me to truly succeed in my career path and elevate my seniority level so I can get paid more, so I can work on more interesting initiatives, so I can do the things that I want to do, I got it. I got to take control of my career. I got to have these conversations. I got to ask for what I want. So I'm very much of the proponent that your hard work keeps you in your seat, maybe gets. Keeps you employed and paid, but it's not. That doesn't mean that you're going to get elevated because of that. Yeah, you gotta. You gotta prove, you gotta communicate, you gotta build your network. You gotta. Gotta demonstrate.
Kendall Berg (19:11):
Yeah.
Natalie Serebrennik (19:12):
And that is. Yeah, I'll pause there for your comment here. But like, yeah, I feel strongly about that one.
Kendall Berg (19:19):
Well, and I think we've all been that person, right. Who worked really hard. And when you learn how little working really hard has to do with your career progression, and I'm not saying again, you don't have to deliver on your core responsibilities. You absolutely do. But the things that have differentiated me in my career, that have gotten me progressed, that get my clients progressed, are very rarely. I delivered this really huge project. Yeah, they're almost always. I identified new problems, I created a strategy, I communicated that strategy. I advocated for myself, I advocated for my team. Those are the types of things they get you recognized. And again, coming off this off site last week, we do performance reviews. And so of course, my team gets feedback. And the feedback of my team was they are best in class support.
(20:08):
If you need anything, Kendall's team has the answer. And that's what I want to be. That's the brand that we're building. That's where we want to sit. But they didn't come up with that themselves. I have been communicating that every single meeting for three years to create that brand Persona to create, and then we follow through on it. Right. But you've got to have that outspoken. So I think it's interesting as you get into the higher levels of leadership, how you add value, changes. So I'd love to hear what are some, like, unique strategies that you've seen people implement that have allowed them to achieve their goals or really drive success.
Natalie Serebrennik (20:46):
Yeah, it's a good one. The ones that really stake out for me as the best strategies, the ones that I'm like, okay, I'm stealing this one for Myself because it's this good. It's that out of the box thinking. It's not just doing the things because other people have done them and have seen success. It's not being afraid to do things differently. Right. Challenge the status quo. It's, it's as much as it's important for you to have that vision and that belief, it's creating that level of like that psychological safety within your team so that they can also experiment with you, be creative. And I've seen beautiful outcomes from this type of initiative. It's not in certain industries it's more encouraged than others. Right. In the startup space in Tech Start, for example. Right. It's very much, yes. That's, that's the approach of doing things.
(21:51):
We support that. Maybe on the banking side of things, not so much.
Kendall Berg (21:54):
This is how we do it, monolithic banking. They do not want it.
Natalie Serebrennik (21:59):
Right. So, but that's not to say that you can't build in that level of creativity within your own team. And that's the beauty of it. Working on the floor. There's so many different teams and there's so many different opportunities for collaboration. And that was my sweet spot. I was able to, when a high level initiative was brought to me. We need to solve for this issue. I'm like, okay, who can I speak to? How can I collaborate outside of my area? And let's just have conversations. Let's grab a coffee informal and talk about this. I want to hear your ideas. Be surprised with how many great ideas are out there. But people don't think to bring them to the table. Right. So it's that out of the box really and thinking and encouragement of others to do the same.
Kendall Berg (22:56):
I totally second what you're saying, Natalie. Especially because I think, you know, the world that we live in right now with this gen AI trend. I'm like machine learning and you know, everybody's talking about how do we bring in AI. I mean I'm like almost sick of talking about and I'm a huge proponent of it. But when you're thinking of this space, I feel a lot of time. What I see is leaders think, well, my job is to do A and they focus on the box of A and they don't think about, well, if I could automate A then I could offer B which I'm not capable offering today because A takes too much time. We don't have capacity and it's too intensive and it takes too much focus. So we can't think about B.
(23:38):
And to your Point, the great leaders figure out, okay, how do we innovate A? How do we automate A? How do we change A so that we can offer B? But the mistake I see leaders make is they focus so much on all the great work they can do in A that they never plan B. And then they're like, well, I'm done. And their leader's like, great, thank you so much for this. You're now fired. Right. So you have to have that balance of how do you automate, innovate, change, come up with unique opportunities within your org. But then how do you think of what that next evolution is too, that allows you to grow, but also your team.
Natalie Serebrennik (24:14):
Yeah. And to your point, I can see a situation where maybe that is not communicated. Maybe you are that good and you propose or suggest, this is my plan. You know, every leader has a leader, except for the top. Top of the house. But technically, generally speaking, there's layers of that management hierarchy. So if you're sharing a vision with one of your leaders, that what you want to do. And I plan on automating this. And then my goal is to get to this point and then I think it would be really cool if we could try this. And they don't support that vision. Then what do you stop yourself short just because your immediate boss is in support? Like, the idea was great. What you had behind there, the level of thinking was great. Exactly what you said. It's what you should be doing.
(25:11):
So what happens when you don't have your manager buy in to go ahead and execute on this vision? How do you stand out?
Kendall Berg (25:22):
Yeah. And see, I'm as an individual leader, as opposed to the coaching side of my life. As an individual leader, I'm the do it first, ask forgiveness after kind of leader. Like, I would just execute plan A and then be like, hey, here's all the great stuff we have now. We're working on plan B. Right. This is the evolution of the team. Hope you guys are happy with it. But I think a lot of the time to what you're describing, leaders will follow the appropriate chain of command. They go to their boss or like, hey, here's this great vision. And their boss is like, yeah, no, don't do that. I need you focused on bau. Do your bau. And I think in those situations, one, you should have a more robust network than just your manager. Right.
(26:06):
The buck cannot stop at your manager for your own progression or for things like gathering, buy in. So what's your relationship like with your skip Level, do you have partner groups who may buy in? Are there back channels you can take? And that's not to say that we're circumventing your leadership, but it's that we're gathering support. Support and buy in for an idea we know is great. And then are there places like me to do it first and effort forgiveness on the back end? Like, hey, I know you said you weren't really passionate about this, but I'd love to demo it to you now that it's done and see what your thoughts are and see if there's other areas we can leverage this.
(26:38):
Because a lot of the time your manager may be just as afraid of innovation as you want to be and that holds you guys back and how do you navigate that? But I'd be curious what other tactics you have for garnering that managerial support in creating that progress within your org.
Natalie Serebrennik (26:58):
I mean, everything you just shared was so on point. I think the biggest point that I would want to, you know, hit home is just don't stop. Don't let that be the reason why you don't progress that idea further. That's to not have someone's support. Yeah, it's unfortunate, but that shouldn't stop you from actually executing on it. Just what's another way to be able to go and do it? So use your creativity, allow yourself to. And as a leader, you know, don't. You don't have to do this on your own. You don't like going back to one of the myths. You don't have to have all the answers. Engage your team, engage stakeholders. How do we go about this? And also when you're. I would even back it up a bit and understand what the concerns are, specifically from your immediate manager.
(27:48):
That is it more just like of a time constraint or is it potential roadblocks that he or she perceives that you not being able to overcome? I'd want to understand what the hesitation there is to limit that support and then get the evidence to support against that and then go and do it.
Kendall Berg (28:08):
I love it. So I also think that, you know, the industries are changing. Right. Executive leadership is different now than it was 10 years ago, from where I sit. So what are some of the biggest challenges you see upcoming for executive leaders? And like, how can they prepare themselves for what appears to be like an increasingly competitive market?
Natalie Serebrennik (28:29):
Yeah, that's a great one. So one of the biggest ones that come to mind for me is, and I used to see it all the time, I'd love to get Your opinions on this too? Retaining and attracting good talent. Yeah, the younger generation, they're more inclined to skip like job scare. So like I'm more of that old school mentality where I stayed and I just transitioned from role to role within the same company, generally speaking. And you see it with your clients, they're much quicker to transition if they're not getting what they want. So they're not afraid to put themselves out there and make the jump. If anything, they're probably worried, is it too soon to jump because I've only been there for a year. Right. So if they're not fulfilled, they will look. But if they're that good, how can you fulfill them?
(29:27):
And it's expensive. It's expensive to.
Kendall Berg (29:31):
So expensive to hire good people.
Natalie Serebrennik (29:33):
Go. So it's, that's the idea of understanding why are they going. Right. The whole idea of flexibility. So one of my. I'll just share with you really quick. One of my clients just landed a new job. She was searching for a new job and what she, what stuck out her the most on the job offer was we expect you to work eight hours a day. I don't care if you're working in your pajamas at nighttime, you know, or before the day even starts. You're a big girl, you're a big boy, you're going to figure out the time that you're going to work best and you're going to get the job done.
Kendall Berg (30:13):
Yeah.
Natalie Serebrennik (30:13):
But then you'll also have to be available for, you know, any team meetings that to move the. And she was obsessed with that because that's not what she had coming back. She had this expectation and again, certain industries will allow for it more than others. But being able to have more flexibility as to when the work can get done is huge for a lot of people.
Kendall Berg (30:37):
Yeah, I love that I would expound on this just one level further in speaking with Retention and attracting is something I was talking about with an executive recruiter friend of mine not too long ago is your ability to recruit people who've worked for you before is also a selling point when you're being recruited.
Natalie Serebrennik (30:56):
Right.
Kendall Berg (30:56):
When you can say confidently, hey, I've been able to retain 30% of my workforce over my last four jobs who are all incredibly high achieving individuals and I bring access to that group of people with me. To your point, attracting and retaining, that's a huge valve prop for people who are trying to recruit. Right. If you are at that executive leadership level, does part of what you offer become your network and your relationships and you know, I've. I've referenced this on other episodes, but I've recruited for six positions so far in my current role, and five of the six have been filled with people who worked for me before or worked with me before or knew me before at a previous company. And so almost my entire workforce is people that I knew who I brought into the company.
(31:43):
And that's something that my company always talks about is, like, you just, like, know everybody. I'm like, I don't know everybody, but I knew five people who I knew would be really great, and I bring them with me. And that alone is enough to change the trajectory of a team. And so how do you make that. Part of your branding is like, hey, it's not just me. You get. You get access to a pipeline of great people who are going to help you continue to elevate your program.
Natalie Serebrennik (32:05):
It. I love that. I think that's such a solid. You know, I hate to call it a sales pitch, but when you're. When you're going after that job and you're selling your value prop, that's huge. Especially the more senior are and senior you are, and the higher. The more competitive it is because there's less seats at the top of the house. Vying for that opportunity to be able to bring that type of value behind your name and your experience, that's. That's huge.
Kendall Berg (32:36):
So as we're wrapping up today's episode, which I think has been so great and really focused on that leader aspect, which we don't always spend a ton of time on. What are some parting words that you would give for anybody who's listening, who's like, that's me. I'm in that leadership bucket. I want to continue growing and be successful. Like, what's one thing that you would tell them to go do to start finding that success?
Natalie Serebrennik (32:54):
Yeah, I mean, for starters, the fact that you want to become a better leader, that, to me, is music to my ears. I really do believe to my core that leaders are not born. Anyone can be a leader if they want to be, but it needs to start off with that true want for yourself to be a better leader. So for anyone listening and anyone in the network, if you find yourself in a position where you're either aspiring to be a leader or you already are a leader and looking to elevate yourself, the biggest piece of advice is never underestimate the power of feedback. I think that has been an area that is underutilized a lot in our growth journeys.
(33:44):
Being able to sit across the TABLE from people that you've worked with in all levels of seniority to understand how you can show up better and what gaps you need to fill as opposed to assuming and creating these stories of what you can and can't or maybe inflated ego based assumptions. Eliminate all the noise and just go to the sources of points of contact that you've worked with to know where can I grow from here? And without the judgment piece. It's an opportunity. Everything you hear back is an opportunity for you to learn and grow from. It's not something that reflecting back to my past, I started tapping in more into the feedback loop and appreciating the feedback and executing on that feedback, understanding how that pertains to me.
(34:38):
When that shift happened for me, when I started to take control over my career, it was all part of it. And listen granted Disclaimer. Not every piece of feedback is going to be 100% spot on. However, allowing yourself the opportunity to even hear what it is and understand and reflect on what possible gaps that you have, I mean, those are amazing opportunities for continued advancement if you ask me.
Kendall Berg (35:07):
I love that. So today's episode I feel like was so amazing. I'm hoping everybody listening got as much out of it as I did. But Natalie, if people are listening and they're like, I need help with this, I want to learn more about becoming a great leader and a great executive. Where can they find you?
Natalie Serebrennik (35:22):
So I live on LinkedIn, that's my favorite social media platform. So definitely pop into LinkedIn. Send me a DM. Let's connect, let's have a chat. I also have a website, but LinkedIn is, it's more interactive. Let's meet on LinkedIn. Yeah, absolutely.
Kendall Berg (35:41):
And we will link that in the show notes. So if you guys listen today's episode and you absolutely loved it, which I know you did, please give us five stars in your review and also make sure you're leaving any comments or questions down below for me or Natalie to answer. But otherwise, it's been so amazing having you on the show. We'll definitely have to have you back.
Natalie Serebrennik (35:56):
Absolutely. I had so much fun. Thank you so much everyone. I loved it.
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