MSMP 112: Julia Collins on Servant Leadership

Mads Singers Management Podcast

Joining me for today’s episode in the Mads Singers Management Podcast is Julia Becker Collins. Julia Becker Collins is the COO of Vision Advertising, a 100% woman-owned, woman-run full-service marketing agency based outside of Boston, Massachusetts, in the United States of America. Like myself, Julia is crazy about people management and leadership (if you’re crazy about management and leadership like me, then you’ve come to the right place if you’ve stumbled upon this podcast!)

Despite being a small business, Julia and her team deal with different sizes and enterprises in their day-to-day operations. But before taking the plunge into entrepreneurship, Julia had to wear many hats, such as working in non-profit organizations making fundraising, donations, event planning, marketing, branding, and even grassroots work.

Julia’s experiences (the jobs she took outside of college) and her strong personality launched her into the world of people management. However, because of this, Julia also struggled with managing the people around her because they were decades older than her and much more experienced than her. This circumstance led Julia to seek out support and work on herself to work better and help those in need. And this is the sad part for many people who get promoted into leadership and management roles. They often get pushed off a cliff and expected to do magical things and miracles by their superiors, only to be laughed at or mocked when they fail.

Management isn’t about being a great individual contributor in a company or business or countless complex procedures. But instead, it’s all about mindset. While the best salesman in your team may seem like a good fit to become your next manager, not providing them the help and support they need to be a manager will set them to fail.

It’s a slow domino effect. If you don’t invest in your new managers, their performance will impact those who work for them and severely affect your business. Don’t wait for your business or company to be hit with financial ramifications that can send you falling into an abyss where recovery may not be possible. Encourage your staff, especially those in the lower levels, to seek help and assist them in making sure their needs are met and fulfilled because a leader should make sure that their staff is well taken care of.

Key Learning Points:

1. Getting into the workforce made Julia realize that she needed support to figure out what she wanted to do next in life. - 03:17
2. Julia shares that because of the tips and tricks that she learned along the way, she managed her team that blossomed in their way. - 04:20
3. Although Julia was struggling and failing at her job, she used this to her advantage, acknowledged it as a problem, and pushed herself to do better. - 07:03
4. Mads says that when an organization is ingrained in your company culture, you can see that a business or company runs well. - 09:50
5. Mads stresses the importance of providing training and giving them help and support when they get promoted to a management role. 10:08
6. Julia says that if you don’t invest in the new manager, it won’t be successful, and the people who work for them will be significantly affected. - 12:51
7. Julia talks about her passion for servant leadership and how she makes sure her staff is provided first before her.- 13:27
8. Julia says that people who are lower on the totem pole tend to be afraid to seek help, but instead of waiting for things to get worse, Julia will personally approach them.- 15:01
9. Julia adds that leaders and managers should give their staff more than just a paycheck: make them feel that they are being seen and heard. - 16:33
10. Mads says that business managers who don’t find the time to help their staff are the ones who are making themselves busy with unnecessary tasks.- 17:52

Resources Mentioned:

Adam Grant Podcast

Connect with Julia Collins:

Website

Twitter

LinkedIn

Instagram