Leadership development is the lever for a thriving culture. Gallup research indicates that 70% of engagement can be traced back to an employee’s relationship with their manager.

At DocuSign, employees actively love their leaders. In fact, year after year, one of the company’s highest-scoring items on its employee engagement score is “How likely would you recommend your manager?”

When I asked Chief People Officer (CPO) of DocuSign Jennifer Christie about the success of her leadership development team, she said she attributed it to the proper preparation of emerging leaders.

In this interview, Jennifer covers:

1. How she prepares her emerging leaders.

She prepares people to lead early - Christie’s leadership development team works with aspiring leaders before they actually manage people. “If we've identified someone as being on track to become a manager, we put them through training to help them experience what it’s like."

Emerging leaders can then opt out of leadership roles - Based on their experience during training, emerging leaders then have the ability to opt in or out of leadership.

2. Her advice for CPOs: Ingrain yourself in the business

“When I first took the stage at a different company, I thought everyone expected me to be perfect and the best HR expert. I chose to focus less on being an expert in the business. If you focus on understanding the business, it will make you a better partner to your chief executive officer (CEO) and your peers.”
 
3. Jennifer's top book recs (both help drive a culture of effective feedback)

Thanks for the Feedback and Difficult Conversations. Both books were written by the Harvard Negotiation Project with Sheila Heen and Douglas Stone. 

“These are two books that everyone can benefit from. I don't care what job you have or what level you are, these kinds of conversations are difficult. Giving feedback that's going to land the right way or receiving feedback in a productive way are fundamental skills for everything we do.”

Hope you enjoy this one!