When feedback hits hard: the bumpy journey to better leadership with Liz Christo (Partner @ Stage 2 Capital)
Being in the hot seat reshaped her team dynamics and leadership style.
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“It was the most harrowing, jaw-dropping, shocking moment to hear all these things from people I really respected. It was terrifying.”
That’s how Liz Christo, Partner at Stage 2 Capital, described the experience.
Liz and her direct reports — a team of incredible managers — were at a two-day offsite doing leadership development with an external coach. In one particular two-minute exercise, Liz had to write the adjectives her team shouted out to describe her on a whiteboard — categorizing each as either a “pro” or a “con.”
At first, the team offered mostly positives:
“Liz is high energy”
“she’s exciting”
“Gives great feedback”
But a minute and fifteen seconds in, the facilitator clarified that there must be an equal number of constructive adjectives.
Suddenly she was in the hot seat.
“So for the next 40 seconds, I had to write down every single thing my team thought was bad about working for me,” Liz recalls.
The most consistent piece of negative feedback was different versions of “you move too fast.” Her team often felt like they were just along for the ride and rarely had time to fully process her decisions.
“After sitting through this exercise and hearing many different flavors of the same constructive feedback I thought, oh my god. They are all going to quit. They hate me.”
But after digesting the feedback, it completely changed how Liz and her managers worked as a team, and ultimately made them way stronger.
“I will never forget that exercise. And I will also never force anyone else to do it.”
This was one speed bump that Liz shared in our conversation. She also shared stories about:
The day in 2015 — while fighting hard to have a global org — when she woke up and was so burned out that she couldn’t remember the last time she’d slept in her own bed.
The time she had to completely redefine her value in her own brain as she made the jump from operating to advising and hit a wall of self doubt.
The moment in her career when she lost her way, and how it ultimately led to the work she loves doing now.
Watch or listen below 👇
Specific things to listen for:
[07:33] Why Liz was described as “great at the “USA Crossword puzzle”
[09:19] Her biggest work burnout moment
[14:46] Not taking care of herself and the impact on her work
[18:53] Getting a new job and it testing her values and culture list
[28:28] Getting told everything that was negative about working with her
[36:34] Addressing feedback and making changes
[38:22] Her biggest imposter syndrome moment
Resources:
Connect with Liz on LinkedIn
Check out Stage 2 Capital
Subscribe to Dear Stage 2 on Substack
Connect with Andrew on LinkedIn
Learn more about Appcues
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