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00:00:01
General Management
24 Plays1 year ago
Noah, Rohit, Sarah and Melissa dish on what really goes down as GMs.
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Transcript
Introduction of the Special Episode
00:00:02
Speaker
Hello, everybody. It's me again. Noah, you're one of two co-hosts for the commute. Happy to be here. This is a real special episode we got. Obviously one near and dear to my heart.
Meet the Guests
00:00:18
Speaker
ah But I have three really good buds here with me. um They'll introduce themselves and then we'll get into what we're going to talk about. ah You'll probably be able to figure out just by seeing who's with me. but Am I going first? Yeah. Hi. Hi. Hi, everyone. I'm Sarah Draper. I'm the GP of GP. GP just combining things together. Nice. You didn't worry about that, dude. Yeah. I landed from Boston at like midnight last night. I'm very tired. So this is not going to be my best work. I am the VP and GM for Shopper's Drug Mart here at Loblaw Digital. And my pronouns are she and her. Hello, folks. I am Melissa De Silva. Pronouns are she and her. I am the GM for Joe Fresh e-commerce.
00:00:58
Speaker
cool and I'm Rollid, my pronouns are he and him. I'm GM for online grocery, PC Express, and ad products on the advanced side. Awesome. And I realized I didn't introduce myself. For those of you who haven't seen this before and don't know me, I'm Noah. I'm the GM for our PCO digital business. My pronouns are he and
The Unsung Role of a General Manager
00:01:20
Speaker
him. So there was one thing we all had in common, GP. yeah We're all doctors, obviously. Obviously. um We're all GMs. And ah I mean, we've all been GMs for a while, at least most of us have. um And I think we all really appreciate the craft of it.
00:01:42
Speaker
And, you know, one thing that I think we've talked about a lot, but I think about a lot is, you know, there's a lot of unsung hero-ness to a GM. um and right right there's a lot There's a lot that we do um that, you know, it's not just about, you know, directing strategy. There's a lot that goes on behind the scenes and, you know, I think what I really want each of your perspectives are like, what is like, if if you could think of one thing that, you know, tip a typical, some person that worked at LD doesn't understand that we do on a day to day. What what would that one thing be? Throw it. You want to wow kick that one off? Yeah. I think, uh, I think one is that.
00:02:29
Speaker
Most people don't realize that the types of issues that we deal with actually span across any and all aspects of the business, right? It could be as simple as, ah ah you know, a customer had an issue, do something like, hey, you know, a financial number was incorrect or somebody disapproved the budget or somebody on the enterprise side was not aligned to certain thing that you were shipping. anything and everything under that that umbrella comes to you. And a lot of that gets hidden from the team because it's your job to handle it. yeah And I think it, um you know, ah until you get into it, you don't realize how much of that comes to you. Marisa, you want to keep on with that? Yeah, maybe just to layer on to what Rohit said. But ah right before I took this role, Rohit was giving me some great advice, as he always does. and
00:03:19
Speaker
ah One of the things he said to me is that ever everyone's problems and every problem will now be your problem. And I think, you know, that's exactly it. The amount of stuff I think the team doesn't see day to day that as GMs we need to navigate through and then um think about how do we relay this to the necessary folks across the business, across our teams, to drive a bias for action and and get folks aligned or moving on certain things that we need to fix or or do.
00:03:52
Speaker
um is ah it It's pretty high and it's pretty significant. And so I think, wow ah yeah, there's a lot day to day coming at us at all times from all angles. Yeah, it's funny. We, you i at our offsite, this this new term, which I think we all love, ah coined of what our jobs are is the shit umbrella. right and But like I know it's funny, but it's actually true. like To your point, um if you could sum it up into two words, that's our job. right like Everyone's problem is our problem. And when we were talking about this podcast, like that was the first thing you talked about. right yeah like What does that mean to you?
00:04:31
Speaker
and i So yeah, we laugh about it, and I think it's it's funny. um It's also like I generally put things in the more positive way, like that's the negative way to think about it, but i like we love
Passion for Problem-Solving
00:04:42
Speaker
solving problems. All of us are in this job because we love solving problems. um and And so I think the surprising part as you get into it is as the sort of face for a business within our enterprise. So I am the face for all Loblaw Digital at Shoppers Drug Mart. I'm the person they come to no matter what they want. That means I get all sorts of stuff. That's fun. It's also sometimes very frustrating. It's also, yeah, it can be like someone on LinkedIn reached out to Jeff and said they had a bad experience. yeah And I'm, but to be honest, like the person who probably doesn't get covered from the the shit umbrella is Craig. It all goes straight to Craig and Craig helps me out. What an angel. i saw agree yeah yes last day Craig Reid. So yeah, I think it we laugh about it because I think it feels very real, but it's also part of what makes our job really interesting and exciting. Yeah. i You know, all the different, really you talked on all the different moving parts. And I always, you know, when I would talk to, when I talk to my team about like how a GM thinks, and maybe this is just me, I don't know about all of y'all, but like,
00:05:48
Speaker
The way my brain works when I think about the role of my day-to-day is, like it's almost like if you were to picture a P and&L in my head, and depending on the conversation, I'm zooming in and out of lines on the P&L. understanding how that conversation, yeah, that's an organized chaos, definitely. But I think that I guess my question to ah the three is like, you know, how
00:06:27
Speaker
How would you like to everyone to understand that like yeah there is a domino effect in everything that happens? Because there are so many things that touch all of our businesses, it is very rare for an outcome to happen that doesn't impact somewhere else in your business. And managing that and like meeting the end of that domino line is basically never going down, right? Like, how do how do you think about that? Who wants to take the stab at that first one?
The Art of Being a Generalist
00:07:01
Speaker
That's a tough one. A never-ending one. Totally unprepared questions. That was like... It's like an infinity thing. I think that's why we have our teens. Like, when I think about my leads, who don't all report to me, right? It's people in product, it's in tech, it's in TPM, it's in design.
00:07:22
Speaker
um we can't possibly think about all of the things and I am so grateful for the group that I have around me who kind of compliment where I'm going to be thinking and and challenge me on things and I challenge them on things and it's this Like that to me is why what you just sounded very dire actually feels not dire and manageable and cool um is because we have a group of people around us who have complementary skills that kind of help help us narrow down the organized chaos that feels there all the time.
00:08:00
Speaker
Yeah, I think also our role as GMs is not to be the expert, yeah every single area, but it's to understand how all those areas are connected and come together and the impact that each area has on the different flats, right? And so I think, um you know I'm four months into being a GM and want to the learning curve is incredibly steep, but I think what I've kind of ah garnered in the last couple months is that I don't need to be an expert and every single part of the business, but having a fundamental understanding of all those parts and how they come together as a whole, it's what's crucial to being successful. it's a g and yeah And being able to and triage and figure out what do you need to do next or what's top priority, how do you action on those things. Look, it's in our title, right? Like a general manager. You have to be a generalist to succeed at this job. That is so spot on. You cannot be a subject matter expert. Yeah.
00:08:54
Speaker
I'll take an engineering analogy because I am an engineer and you know hopefully many that are listening have that. um So I call it like systems level thinking or systems engineering essentially. So ah you know for me, the business is a system and you've got a whole bunch of inputs and components and elements that are all connected together. And to your point, there are domino effects because the whole machine has to work in order to generate an output. The output could be the service that you provide or what have you. And I think if you understand the system at at the broadest level, you don't need to understand the intricacies of how each component is built. But you need to know how they connect with one another exactly to what Millicent said are you were saying. ah But um you know if you then say, OK, X happened, and you sort of draw what is happening through the system, you can identify an area that you'd be concerned with. And then you go to your team that's managing that system and go, hey, you know how do you help do this or do that? and so
00:09:49
Speaker
I've generally had that. like you know Right now, I just took over the ad products on advance and Lauren was laughing because like all through the offsite, I was trying to come up with XY charts because that's my first way of trying to rationalize what the system is and how it works. and I need that because that's my ramp up time. If I don't have a system in place, I cannot function. I think that's how I sort of think about it. and ah It's so funny. Because I'm
Visualizing Complex Systems
00:10:16
Speaker
the same as you. I'm like P&L. First thing I did when I came on was I looked at the P&L and I was like, holy shit, look at that PCO cost. I was just thinking that. I was like, you're an engineer. I was a business background. You came from the design side. You came straight from EECOM. We all come from very different backgrounds. That's right. Getting in here. Do you have a favorite? Because I was P&L 100%. I don't know if you had one when you came in.
00:10:37
Speaker
Still work on it. Still working on it. I feel like I'm testing okay out some methods. But I think coming from a design background affords me the ability to kind of visualize and things a little bit. And so I see things visually in terms of like the interconnectedness of the different systems that we need to operate. And then what does that mean from a P and&L perspective? i think um i I think about it visually as well. and yeah It's less of the It's less methodical, I think, than you have. I think you had a real, a beautiful mind moment at the outside, where it was just going nuts on sheets. I saw this scribble. It was very beautiful mind-like. Yeah, yeah, yeah.
00:11:18
Speaker
almost a burden of life. Yeah, for me, I think it's always been kind of visualization of some of the and the problems and things that we're trying to solve for. And then um creatively, how do we think about things a little bit differently rather than, and I think that's one of the strengths I bring to this role is thinking about things differently yeah than coming from, say, ah a finance or a business, traditional business background. like So Melissa, um that's a good transition into this one. So like you said, and you've been in this four months now. yeah what What were you like, holy shit, that I was not expecting it to run this way? What what happened that to your expectations, and I guess what did so far?
00:12:05
Speaker
hu I think it's one of those roles where you just can't prepare for it until you are in it and doing it. And so I think as much as um you all helped to prepare me um in the conversations and and chats that I had with all of you kind of leading up to all of this. um I don't think anything can really prepare you until you're in it and physically doing it and having to solve those problems day in day out. And so I think um but the thing that has surprised me maybe is that ah
00:12:39
Speaker
it it seems like an o overwhelming sort of job to step into, right? you You've suddenly taken over every function related to a business and you own a P and&L and you're accountable to this larger enterprise business that you now are a part of. um It's a lot of responsibility, but I think um I like to think about it in terms of things that you can learn and things that are much harder to learn. So what are the soft skills and leadership skills and transferable skills that I gained along the way in other roles that I can bring to this role. um Lean on those strengths while I also build up my financial acumen and business acumen and understanding of say store operations, things that I haven't been exposed to before.
00:13:25
Speaker
ah store um had love them la love him ah cool So Sarah, one for you. I feel like you know whenever we have a peer to view of some sort, we talk about the beauty business and you're always like, Let's not forget about pharmacy. Correct. And right it's a ton of money. It does. um so Targeting 1.7 billion in 2025. There you go. That's that's a significant significant number. Yes. So ah did do you find it um how do you feel like you essentially run two businesses? Yeah. Right. um One obviously they both have probably their set of intricacies. But what is that like being responsible for two instead of just one?
00:14:10
Speaker
the and the um I mean it's cool ah I would say um The interesting part about it is actually more of an experience one. And maybe I should tap on you a little bit, Melissa, for help on this after this. um So we run a fantastic beauty and other things, but mostly beauty e-commerce business. um And a beauty customer is a very specific kind of customer, very visual, looking for great experiences, all of these things. a pharmacy customer right now, today, it's a pretty transactional thing. like The way I've always thought about it is, um you know i'm a I'm a patient, I take a drug, um refilling my script is like, the most boring part of my day. i don't it's not something i want to spend ah Our job is to make it efficient and easy. and We have one site, though, where both of those experiences have to coexist. and so What's really interesting to me about having the two businesses is how do we think of how are how are we evolving how we think about
00:15:11
Speaker
I've kept them very separate historically. How can we start to make that make more sense together? And so we've done things like the Wellness Shop, which we launched last week. um We're looking at how we evolve PC health, how we become less of like refills and renewals, but also full pharmacy onboarding. um But it's it's a real challenge because they're very different customers or they're not even, it could be the same customer. It's a very different mindset that you're coming to the site in that experience. um but we have to make it cohesive and make sense. And Shoppers Drug Murder Stores it does it in a way that like you actually have fully separate zones, right? Everyone knows when you walk in what a beauty boutique looks like and what a pharmacy looks like. How do you do that on a site in a way that also works? And so it's and it's really cool. Yeah, yeah I like it. yeah I'm open to suggestions if I can do better. um
00:16:00
Speaker
So, Ro, you and I, I think, well, for one, you're the system mindset. I mean, if there's anybody that I would say thinks like that, I think we would all agree. It's Ro Head. It's Ro Head. Yeah. So, perfect. But I actually think like, you know, watching you from afar and being um on SLT with you, watching you run PCX like that makes sense the way you think about it. um but One thing that like, so you and I have in common, um, even more so now is that we've recently taken on new roles that actually didn't have a GM in it before. Right. Um, so like, you know, what, what's been your,
The Evolving Role of a GM
00:16:45
Speaker
what's been your learning? I know it's really new for you. Yeah. I'm happy to share some of mine, but, um, you know, what, what have you, what is like the first thing you're like, Oh, wow, this place needed a GM and here's why.
00:16:57
Speaker
Yeah, know I think i think that's so that's actually interesting. So in my case, I guess it was a little bit different because I was having this conversation with Lauren as well. So you know when she took over advance and she was trying to bring all of the pieces together, um I think she spent a lot more time on the sales side of the organization. as She still does. And and that was because you know they're closer to the customer, the client, and you know how that sort of shapes up. ah The thing about the business to your point is that ah you know there are so many other aspects to it that you need all of it to come together. And ah you know what what she told me but as as she was talking to me about, hey, you know come help on this side was that connectivity between the sales organization, the measurement organization, the product organization, and the one that you know my predecessor, let's say, was sort of doing.
00:17:52
Speaker
And I think you need a GM in that mindset, because ah traditionally, if you only look after one function, your challenge is that you only view it from that lens. But a GM can sort of take a step back, look at the whole thing, and go, hey, ah you know what? Actually, I don't need this function here. This can move over there. Or I don't need this thing here. I can move it over there. right and And I felt that that was my first thing going in, which is I had no preconceived notions about you know ah What am I supposed to do? like What is my role here? right It almost became a flip scenario, which was, hey, the business needs all these things. How am I going to do this right in this scenario? And so so I felt like you know ah sometimes you need a GM just because it's that organized chaos. right It's chaotic. You've got to come and put structure around it. And and how well can you do that?
00:18:43
Speaker
right if you kind If you only came in saying, or if she brought me in saying, you're responsible for product management, then it's not as effective. right Because then you sort of think in that silo. Yeah, i yeah its because so on PCO, it's it's similar, right? There is there is a P and&L, yeah um but it's not a typical P and&L like we had on PCX Joe and SDM. But where I think what's interesting about my new role and now your new role
00:19:14
Speaker
is I like to look at like, are the role of the GM, especially within digital, it's actually evolving, right? So it's gone from, you know, P&O, look at your P&O, make sure like you live and die by it. And that rings true still, right? Still true. Yes. but There is that, you know, to the point of the generalist piece, right? Like, you know, PCO itself has a P and&L, but it's it it's a like it's a shadow of a shadow of a shadow. Yeah, yeah yeah right. But it's always been a product and tech led part of LaBla Digital.
00:19:49
Speaker
that where the greater portfolio team kind of just came in, reached and did and went away, where now, you know, there is that shit umbrella. There is that person that, you know, isn't just focused on product, focused on tech. It is that generalist that is making sure everything is humming at the same time. yeah um And a GM is needed to do that just as much as it needs to do it. Yeah, exactly. yeah also bringing everybody together, right? I think yeah the first thing that I realized was like there was so many different ah places to ah get the same source of information. And I was like, no one really knew what the other side, yeah, like left-handed, right? I was doing a left hand, you know? and And I think part of the job is actually I need information dissemination. So let's fix that, right? And that becomes your problem number one to solve. Yeah, like look, we have as as GMs and leaders of businesses,
00:20:42
Speaker
Like there is a, we have a, there's a job, part of our job, like to be the raw numbers, right? Like, yeah you know, when I came on to PCO, like no one understood, like they, we just knew we are Canada's biggest little full stop. Right. But when I started talking numbers and showing like what actually PCO generates for the enterprise and was like, Oh wow. Like we actually really do some damage on this, uh, on this loyalty program. So yeah, definitely. I think, uh, I going back to that evolution of our role has been pretty cool. um Okay.
Advice for Aspiring GMs
00:21:14
Speaker
Quick fire. Ready? Yeah. Okay. One word or one sentence, if you can't do it in one word. For someone who's aspiring to be a GM, what do they focus on?
00:21:30
Speaker
Curiosity. Adaptability. Oh my god. I have no votes. me
00:21:38
Speaker
It's not system generated. He can't do an X, Y, and A, so it doesn't work. The computer just, yeah, it's like the robot just freezes or something like that. I said curiosity. You got to be curious. Like just like yeah want to, like when I came in and I didn't have a digital background, yeah I remember i'm sitting with Noah and he was like, e-com's really simple. It's like conversion times A-O-V equal sales. was like comes traffic times traffic and this one yeah equal says whatever It was simple, but then it was like I would meet with someone in product and be like, how do you think about product? And I did courses on product management thinking, because I know it's like, you just have to have a growth mindset. Be curious. You can come from four totally different backgrounds and end up in this role because I think probably, yeah, we're all adaptable. We're all curious. We're all growth mindsets.
00:22:21
Speaker
i got it this is for um yeah i think relationshipbuing yeah but does do mind but think like um Honestly, you have to learn how to be a generalist. And i yeah like I know that's in the title, so I feel like it's an easy way out. But um you real you have I wouldn't say learn. You have to be comfortable with being a generalist. It's probably me a better way to think about it. We're so focused, to your point, like siloed. Focus on product, right? But that's not our job. Our job is to you know live at 10,000 feet and see the whole city.
00:22:58
Speaker
Okay, last quick fire and then we'll end oh starting with him this time. i about What's your superpower mine? Yeah
00:23:09
Speaker
I think I'm thinking, actually, I'm very opinionated about lots of things. that's Super power. That fact is a super power. You have strong opinions loosely held though. that would be I would say that would be your super power. Strong opinions, but loosely held. Melissa, what's yours? gosh ah
00:23:33
Speaker
Figuring shit out.
00:23:37
Speaker
um I think mine probably is more than making connections, like building those relationships, finding the people. no my straight yeah let that um Mine is... Honestly, it's outside of work. I'm a dad. If you are a good dad, you're a really good dad. i'm not gay now you get you Well, i'm a dad I'm a dad outside of being a GM, and that is a superpower. But if I had to choose the superpowers as a GM,
00:24:08
Speaker
um
00:24:12
Speaker
I think it's like the comfortable of sitting at 10,000 feet and not diving into everything, because sam I want to dive into everything and just control yourself. So control. Nice.
Conclusion and Future Fun
00:24:27
Speaker
Control can be good and bad. Same as... Very true. Two sides at the same point. Okay. Well, this was lovely. This is fun. yeah We should do it in some time. I would love to do it again. Yeah. I think we should do it when we are all stressed about things that are not working in our favor. i think the profa how he just got i that out
00:24:46
Speaker
Kiana timing this out, but if we could time that out, I'd love to do that. Can we can we do it? If we if we're gonna do that and there has to be a bottle of tequila in the center and the shot glasses and like we get to decide when we use two shots. All we should have thought hitting the fan for all of us at the same time. That's fair. So basically a drinking game as well. I'm in for a drinking game. love it We got also to do some like user questions or user team questions. Send some stuff out. You don't know what to do. If you get enough in Melissa, she'll do her her belting singing. Oh, man. Yeah, it's real. Karaoke. It's real. Yeah. All right. Thanks, y'all. Thank you. Thanks, everybody. Hope you join your commute.