Interview: SkillPath CEO Michele Markey Discusses Her Evolution as a Leader

This interview has been edited for clarity.

Thinking back to when you first started your career, and the first boss or manager you ever had, what was one thing that was good that you've tried to retain?

So the one good thing that I really learned to appreciate was the frequent communication. They kind of kept all of us in the loop. Maybe not about everything, but I had a sense of belonging because I felt like I was current with what was going on. And that was helpful for me because as a young professional, you’re still navigating where you fit or how much you can contribute, and you wouldn’t know if you didn't have kind of a bigger picture.

So when you talk about frequent communication, what's been your style to implement that?

Now, I have a standing meeting with my executive team every Monday. We go through all the things that are going on in the company and what's going on in each department and the areas of collaboration. I have one-on-ones with every member of my team every single week, which is incredibly important. Then I meet with the entire company each quarter following the board meeting and provide the company information that we've shared during that board meeting.

(Frequent communication) is consistent, and there's a purpose to it. There’s a clear set of objectives for each of these types of interactions.

And what’s something you remember your first manager doing that you try to avoid?

Something I’ve really tried to avoid is micromanaging. It causes people to not feel confident in being able to make decisions, and that really slows things down.

So how would you say your leadership style has evolved over the years?

As I've moved positions and as each position has had increased responsibilities, I've had to change my focus from leading a team, to leading a department, to leading a company. There's some things that have stayed consistent, like the belief that sharing and being open and communicating well is critical. But I’ve also had to shift my focus to be one that is more strategic in my thinking. I'm not necessarily thinking about what's happening to today or next week or next month. It's more, where are we going as an organization.

So I really need to have that much broader focus that allows me to plan for the future for the growth of the company. I’ve also adopted a sense of resiliency in my leadership style because, as you go forward, there are going to be crises, there are going to be things that don’t go as planned. And that’s ok. Nobody wants it, but it’s going to happen. A leader has to be able to cope emotionally with a crisis and get us back to pre-crisis very quickly.

I also tend to be a very collaborative leader. I have a very strong team, and that’s not by accident. Getting the right people on your team is important. In our executive team meetings, we’re not just there to share what we're working on, but to collaborate with one another to help move the company forward. So that skillset (broader focus and collaboration) is different than when I was leading a smaller team.

Talking about managing vs. coaching now, at what point as a leader do you go from managing – delegating tasks – to coaching an employee and helping them learn new skills, even if that means they eventually grow out of their current position?

Well first I want to stress that, as a leader, you have to respect where people come from. Not everybody wants to move up in an organization. Not everyone wants to have increased responsibilities, not everybody wants to lead teams, and that's fine. It’s important to respect that and where people come from. But being aware of people’s talents, skills, and motivators, and really thinking with them, “what are your career objectives, what are your organizational objectives?” Helping them when they show that they’re interested is important.

The other piece is that when someone’s not interested in becoming CEO, it still means that the skillset from your employee base is going to have to evolve. There’s always a need to reskill or upskill, because our needs from the employee talent pool change. So navigating that with the talent that we have, and based on their capabilities and their interests, is something we’ve really got to be mindful of.

Obviously in every working person’s life, there are always going to be tasks and assignments that need to get done. As a leader, how do you go about carving out time for an employee to continue to grow and learn new things?

We (SkillPath) are a perfect example as an organization. Our entire wealth is our intellectual property. I’m a big fan of having goals on our performance plans, or at least some sort of expectation that people take advantage of what we have to offer.

You have to realize though that time moves quickly. Just having it (the goal) as, “hey I want you to do that this year,” before you know it the year’s gone. So having it formalized in a way that keeps us focused, as part of yearly goals or quarterly goals and working in partnership with them, is crucial.

If you look at attorneys, or accountants, or nurses, they all have continuing education requirements. It's not always something specific to their profession, but I think that's something that general business professions should do more often. There's always a need to be nimble and push boundaries, and that innovative mindset is critical.
 

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Michele Markey is the CEO of SkillPath. A leader in the learning and development industry since 1989, SkillPath delivers more than 16,000 training sessions each year and has enriched the professional and personal lives of more than 10 million individuals worldwide. Connect with Michele Markey on LinkedIn.

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