Alina Vandenberghe’s Post

My definition of a genius marketer

I’m an adopted US citizen. And I can’t tell you how grateful I am that I get to celebrate 4th of July here as one But first some background that might help frame my gratitude I come from a former communist country . As a child I had to hide my thoughts and my opinions And be afraid of my neighbors who could turn on me for having certain beliefs. The price of that ? Prison or even worse I had seen some of my neighbors had that worst outcome imaginable … I was petrified when I had to attend my best friend funeral that got in the secret police path You just learn to be super vigilant to everyone and every word you say So when I came here in US I felt like I could finally breathe again To be free and say whatever I thought Do whatever I thought was right I know there’s still a lot to be done. A lot to be improved But oh boy do I appreciate the freedom I have Forever grateful I was able to give birth to my sons in this land . A land where everything is possible I really hope the new immunity that’s given to presidents won’t change that

Many revops leaders feel the death by 1000 cuts at work Despite them having “revenue’ focused goals, they just become a de facto “task machine” for mostly sales - Re-assign account - Account is duplicate - Can’t login  - Wrong territory  - X tool not working - 1000+ other small tasks They are always in firefighting mode , never-ending tasks No one really sees the volume of tasks that get thrown their way It’s a never-ending list that is always “urgent”. As a result, they never get to focus on what truly matters To work on strategic projects that move the deal. That help to ✔️ Measure what matters ✔️ Improve conversion rates, velocity  ✔️ Optimize processes to create efficiencies It’s a luxury many of them don’t have Revops can be truly strategic as a department, but most organizations don’t know how to make it their secret sauce Take the day today to thank a revops person in your team - odds are high that they feel overworked, unappreciated and truly wish to be a partner to your pipeline goals 

If you never talk about your successes, no one else will know about them Learn to tout your own horn because if you don’t, no one does "But Alina - I hate bragging" You don’t need to brag! Talking about lessons you learned to help others is a superpower. The more people learn from you the greater your capacity to level up as well Here’s an example. Let’s say that you just added 1000 followers for your brand last month. You can phrase it as “I’m humbled to have created this outcome “ which sounds like bragging in disguise Or you can phrase it as “These are the three things I did to get 1000 followers this week “ Yes, you give away your secret sauce. But by giving it away, you might learn ways to improve from others who see it And that is how one builds a brand for themselves. In this economy, your brand matters more than you think. Especially as I see more and more fractional talent out there! Me Inc. for the win 

A deficit vs an abundance mindset. There’s a big difference between the two. Especially when it comes to business outcomes. And I’m realizing it’s almost impossible to coach. Why does that matter? I get obsessive about skills and mindsets that help people succeed at work. Because I want to make sure our team gets coached to be at the top of their game And also to be able to get better at hiring to make sure that those we bring on board can thrive here One observation I have is that people can go into one of these two categories on a spectrum : “I see the strength in others, I see the potential in others, I see the possibilities to succeed. “ OR “I see the deficits. I see what’s missing in others. I see the possibilities to fail.” Those that see the deficits tend to call themselves “realists” or “ speakers of truth”. While I can see how seeing all the wrong things in the world have served them well. To protect themselves in the past. It’s actually a mindset that’s limiting Whatever we focus on tends to happen. If we see the gaps, we get into the gaps. If we see the ugly, the ugly finds us. If we see the ways to fail, we fail faster I’ve always been in the first category. I get inspired by the potential in others. And don’t get defeated because I see many ways to win And I see that the people around me who had the most growth professionally were in the first category too Unfortunately, I haven’t found a way to help others change their mindsets. Sadly, the time I have available to coach on this sensitive topic is also limited. I’d be curious to hear stories from others. That might have been able to change their mindset. Or coach others 

How we deal with setbacks builds our resilience. A bad boss, an illness, a failed product delivery, getting fired? We might view them as “unfair” We might meet these events with anger, shame, or blame It’s a learned behavior to have all the responses above. It feels good to blame others. It feels good to let out outbursts of anger Shame is also learned. Not because it feels good (it doesn’t, it closes us from the world ) but because that’s how groups learn to be effective in getting others to follow “norms” Because following norms is what our community tells us to do to be "safe" Unfortunately, all these responses disconnect us from the world around us. And we become more and more isolated There’s no surprise that loneliness is an epidemic right now But there’s a better way. This better way is, unfortunately, much harder, and it takes a lot of work It’s the realization that every “mistake” or “challenge” is there to teach us something Every “challenging “ experience allows us to grow Once you turn curious, you start experiencing the “tensions” in your life as a way to learn to become a better human And our path turns into a beautiful journey of discovery 

Everyone seems surprised by the unusual culture at Chili Piper. Here's what we do differently ✔️ We are VERY diverse culturally (from 40 countries). Including from those that are at war with one another. Makes for very interesting dinner conversations and team meetings  ✔️ We don’t have working hours and we can work from ANYWHERE (I can’t tell you have fortunate I feel for this, especially when caring for sick babies) ✔️ We don’t “care” for employee retention. More about this topic here https://lnkd.in/gs2RGcbi ✔️ All our decisions are transparent to everyone. More on this topic here https://lnkd.in/gnt3gZJn ✔️ All our numbers are transparent to everyone. Including our cash in the bank. We assume everyone can handle the good and the bad ✔️ Everyone can make a decision about anything in the company ✔️ Our roles are fluid. Meaning we can always explore other departments and roles as long as we can remain impactful in our current role ✔️ Our org chart is fairly flat. Meaning we are essentially boss-less. We get a lot of autonomy to do the work that’s most impactful ✔️ We believe it’s best to bring ourselves fully to work. As flawed as we are. We work hard to create a supporting working environment that’s devoid of judgment ✔️ Leveling up in career is highly dependent on impact. Not on team size, not on years of experience, not on fancy credentials. But on impact towards goals ✔️ We strive to make work more like play. As a result, we try to make sure everyone’s role is a lot more aligned with their zone of genius to make sure they are thriving in their roles I’m curious which one of the above is worth celebrating most and wish you’d see more of in any companies? P.s. We also do music together. Because why not? This song is our team in Iceland and yes, it says “I want to cross-sell your mom, and I want to be in your tech stack.”

Here's my calendar this week. I keep it light for a reason. When I used to work in big organizations, the executives would have meetings back to back. Protected by an executive assistant. I thought it was a signal of "High power" Now I think it was the perfect recipe for burnout Because it's very unlikely that you can have most joy if you have zero time to think or process information on your own Plus I feel the lack of transparency was eroding trust Now I keep my calendar light. And open to anyone in the company I manage to maximize meetings by doing "group dinners" or "group lunches" where we share most learnings Most work happens async, most updates happen async We just meet to check in on each other as humans As a founder who built calendars for the past 9 years, I can tell you there's nothing better than having breathers to reconnect on what matters

You can not do all the work yourself ! Surrounding myself with tribe of wonderful woman as my “board of directors” to help me grow made the biggest difference for me Here’s my tribe Nalani Rodriguez, PCC my personal coach. Helps me when I’m stuck on things that prevent me from doing my best work Amal Mekouar my organization coach. Helps me when I get stuck with systems /organizational issues Blossom - a Hawaiian native that helped me love exercise: without her I would have never loved Pilates so much . Without exercise my mind would have faltered Marian - a 73 year old masseuse who helps me get rid of all my body illnesses . Who I adore having around as my mom is far away now Kamila - she takes care of my little ones with a giant smile on her face. She comes to work with her little one as well. She loves caring for all of them with joy and love. She loves cooking a lot of vegetables in many ways and can’t feel less guilty when working when she’s around We’re not meant to be alone