Operations leaders can take many different approaches to guiding the strategic direction of their business. Some might rely on a trial by error approach. Others may lean on past experiences to inform their road ahead. No matter what type of approach an operations leader chooses, using data to inform your path forward is essential.
But for so many companies they fall into a trap of just simply reporting on the same metrics week in and week out without asking 'how is this relevant to our business today?' Our team spoke with Russell Lester, CFO at Calendly, about the operations mission statement that he challenges his team to live up to daily. He shared how simply reporting on outcomes isn’t enough in today’s world:
Have you ever heard something and just immediately started nodding your head in agreement? That’s how our team felt after hearing the principles Russell uses to guide his team’s daily work. In case you didn’t quite catch the statement, we broke it out below to make it easier to digest.
There are two key aspects in Calendly’s mission statement that we believe make it an extraordinary one to follow.
The first aspect is this section, “To create...proactively persuasive insights.” I think we’d all agree that thanks to the multitude of reporting and BI tools available today, being timely, accurate, and relevant when it comes to data is a given for an operations team. But being proactively persuasive? Now, that's the type of philosophy that can build a great operations team.
At the end of the day, numbers are just numbers. The challenge for any leader should be to uncover the larger story of why the numbers are what they are, as well as how their team’s results will impact the future direction of the business. The goal for operations should be to shine a light around unseen corners. That’s what we believe bringing proactively persuasive insights to the table is all about.
The other aspect of Calendly’s mission statement that sets it apart is the final two words that Russell closed with. “Delight customers.” Whether it’s operations, sales, product, or any other department across the business, this should always be the end goal. What sets the best leaders apart is never losing sight of the people who hold the key to unlocking your business’s potential. Your customers.
In summary, there are two big takeaways from this blog that we want to leave you with. First, always go an extra layer deeper to uncover the story behind what’s driving your business forward. Additionally, remember that the aim for any business should always be to captivate your customers and bring them back wanting more. If you’re able to do those two things on a consistent basis, we’re confident that almost all other things will fall into place.
