Interview: Katie Weiss - Sales Leader
How would you describe who you are and what you do?
So I am I'm Katie Weiss and I lead a team of account executives and client solutions managers at LinkedIn. Within our marketing solutions division, been in seat for about a year and a half within this role. Prior to that, I worked I've been at LinkedIn for almost five years, but prior to my moving over to marketing solutions, I led a team of relationship managers still within sales, within our sales solutions division. Prior to that, spent most of my career in in sales and some capacity or operations.
What was going on, what where were you at when you we're introduced or looking at coaching at this for this iteration?
It was part of doing a three sixty review, so going deep in getting feedback from not only my peers, but people on my team and cross functional partners. I have done one other three sixty (assessments) maybe about three and a half, four years ago and decided to do it again because I've been at a point of thinking about what's next for me and amplifying my impact and moving into potentially managing managers in, like, the short term future the near the short term versus the long term. Based on this feedback, what is really the most salient themes for me was getting more in touch in touch or intentional with my own values and my own vision and mission and purpose as a leader. I think, you know, we can easily get off track with that.
And so for me that's what you and I worked really deeply on for about three months.
What led you to select me as your coach and what surprised or stood out to you about my coaching, if anything?
I go with my gut a little bit and I could just tell given your profile that you had a very people-first human-led approach to coaching and coaching the whole person.
That really spoke to me, your having a military background as well, is intriguing to me because I think, you know, there's a lot of crossover with, like, the work that the military has done in terms of leadership. I think there's so many wonderful learnings from what the military has done at a leader, and it continues to do at a leadership level, so that really attracted me to wanting to work with you.
Then you know, it's kinda like you never know when you go on almost a blind date or, like, meeting someone for this first time, or if it's maybe even finding a psychologist, on paper, they look great, but you really don't know how it's gonna be until your face to face. I knew immediately from talking with you that there was a complete connection right away and there were no gaps between how you represented yourself and how you showed up. So that to me was the sign from the first moment of meeting you that this was gonna be a fruitful partnership.
Were there any results or mindset shifts from our time that you felt helped to amplify you as a leader?
Yes, a lot and it's funny because we talked about this. I think towards the end of our our engagement together was that I had had this Aha moment that up until I started working with you I had felt like I had lost myself a bit.
I had started a new role within the organization eighteen months ago. Transitions are tough even when you've been in even if you're at the same organization, there's cultures that exist in in processes and different, like, various different things across the organization no matter where you are that could impact your experience or how you're showing up or your ramp time. I had been so focused in the first year plus in my newer role on what I wasn't doing right or what I could be doing or where my gaps were or whatever it might be that I actually lost being in touch with who I am and what I care about and my superpowers that make me unique and and add value to the organization. So that's where when I say I lost myself, I had done so much intentional work over the years with that I didn't even really think about it or lean into it for a good twelve plus months.
When we started to work together again, I started to find that part of me that gave me back that confidence to lean in to my superpowers, to make sort of more of those mind body connections that I had been not doing for an extended period of time and really felt disconnected from.
Did this coaching help improve other areas of your life in any material sense?
Yeah, a 100% I mean, I was really think that disconnect really impacted my personal life too.
I'm a mom of two and and my and a wife to my husband's Steve and really care deeply about family and friends that people have asked me like what what motivates you.
My heart beats for my family, first and foremost. So, I was finding that I wasn't showing up as my best self as a mom and as a partner and a friend, because I was feeling so disconnected from myself in my day to day. When you spend forty to fifty hours a week, as so many of us do with our jobs. If you're feeling disconnected in that spot, it's really hard to then pivot into your personal life and all of a sudden find this reconnection because I was just tired too. You know, when you're when you're leading with one part of yourself and not the other, like you just become, I was feeling exhausted and so then it would carry over into my personal life.
I think getting tight again on my values and my power phrase that we worked really closely with, that's I've been writing every single day in my deaf gratitude journal and been very focused on that over the last couple months. I'm feeling more like myself and my husband's noticed it. He's like, "oh, you seem a lot happier, what's going on". I mean, I'm not gonna say I'm not still not short with my kids sometimes because a five year old and a ten year old are challenging no matter what. You know, but I I think I'm feeling more, like, joy a sense of joy and lightness with my kids, which that's what I ultimately want because I wanna be present for them. Part of it's being present because you're doing you're filling your cup in other ways or conducting to yourself in other ways at work. That then allows you to be more present in your personal life too. I was focusing on other things, you know, having a therapist makes a gosh darn difference. Like, it's not just one thing ever, but I do think that the one area, the missing piece, up until you and I started working together, was that work. The coaching work you were doing completed the puzzle.
Would you mind sharing an idea on what stands out to you as important elements to evaluating the timing and type of coach to partner?
Such a good question, because it's I think that's what so much of us struggle with with even taking the step to getting one because you don't even know where to start.
Again, that could be a doctor, therapist, coach, whatever it is, because it feels like such a heavy, vulnerable investment. It's important, but it's a vulnerable space to be in when you're in that kind of relationship with someone in that way.
For me, it's always about I don't necessarily I don't look for someone to have exactly the same experiences as me by any means, but if their values and how they approach and look at the world is similar to me, that's personally really important.
I wanna be challenged, so it's not to say that I want someone who agrees with everything I say and is like and and that's not what coaching's not about that.
I'm not looking for that someone to be look like me, be like me, but if they have similar values in a perspective on more of like a holistic people-first, human-led style, I am down, and that's what I personally look for.
I would encourage anyone who is trying to figure out what's the criteria to really look inwards around what matters to you. A values exercise is something that you and I have done and people can do it on their own, but, like, really thinking through that. The other piece would be, what do you wanna what are you looking to work on?
So if there's a specific area or a competency that you're hyper focused in on, making sure that you're choosing someone who's passionate about that same area has expertise and align in that way. Just because you're seeking a coach, sometimes it's for very different reasons. So making sure aligning with someone's background and expertise.
The third thing, and again, you never know until you meet with someone, you don't know it on paper, is I just might go with my gut. I think, listen to yours, listen to your gut. For me, if someone can keep it real and is authentic, that's really, really important to me. If I don't feel that right away, that's a barrier for me with for creating psychological safety and making progress. That's gonna differ for everybody, but I'd say listen to your gut is the third thing once you get to talk to someone.
What was your experience with the process of coaching itself?
Yeah, I've noticed it with you where you have held up very much a mirror for me, which I appreciated because I knew that was the part of coaching and you learn this over time.
As the receiver of the coaching, you have everything inside of you already, you have the answers inside of you. Oftentimes, they're just blocked for various reasons or, you know, they may not be coming as more as fluid as you would like them to. So the role for you as a coach is really to hold up a mirror and be able to reflect back and ask those types of questions, which honestly at first is fucking awkward.
I'm gonna use that language because it is.
And because you feel like, why is this person asking me?
And this isn't specific to Julian per se, but any coach that's doing a really good job as you have done is asking you questions that can feel kind of like awkward at first if you're not used to it or like, why are you asking about these questions?
Like, do you not even trust or, like, understand what I'm trying to tell you?
And then kinda once you get past that, because it is it does take a while to adjust if you're not used to that.
You start to realize how much power you have inside of you that's already there that you don't even know.
So I think in the process with you, you asked me, you did a of open ended questions and true coaching questions, which at times, I'm like, I don't even know how to answer that, but let's give it a try.
What I appreciate though, and this is a personal preference, is that when I have asked for your experience, or some guidance or I'd say you know what, Julian, I need advice.
Take off the coaching cap for a second.
I really need this for you and you could push back if you wanna do.
But in instances when I did really ask that, I think you knew it's because I genuinely just was at a crossroads and I was stuck. I didn't need the coaching or actually might have made me feel worse. So appreciated that you would take the coach hat off and keep it real with me and give me some of your own experience because that combination at times can be really helpful.
Anything else you’d like to share or want people to know?
I can't tell you how much more seen I feel and how I do feel like I I know I said I mentioned earlier, I lost myself but I really, really wanna put a fine point.
We did more than just talk about values and work on my power of phrase.
We did a various different exercises and you gave me various different resources and materials, which I did as homework and follow ups.
But I'd say, the Magnum Opus for me coming out of, what was a really short engagement when you think about it, but the impact it had on me in that short amount of time is what I really want to overemphasize right now is being able to walk out of our three month engagement and say, I have this beautiful power phrase that has given me hope has given me power back, has given me focus is really such a beautiful gift and something that I I mean, again, had it inside me, but I needed someone to help coach it out and, like, help me make sense of it.
So I wanna leave us with that because it has been such a tremendous light at what was a very dark tunnel, it felt like for an extended period of time. So just wanna end it with that, and that's when when you and I talked about sort of being a guide or figuring out sort of a map of what's next. That's really been crucial for me to finding my way back.