How I Went from Surviving to Thriving HubSpot's Mini-MBA Program

In November of 2022, I was accepted into HubSpot Fellows alongside 26 other HubSpotters from North America (NAM), Europe, the Middle East, and Africa (EMEA), Latin America (LATAM), Japan and Asia Pacific (JAPAC). Fellows is HubSpot’s premier growth program designed to accelerate the development and scale the impact of our most talented HubSpotters from around the globe.

Fellows has a long history at HubSpot. It was introduced by Brian Halligan (Co-founder and Executive Chairperson of HubSpot) in 2010, and since then over 250 HubSpotters globally have participated. This year, Fellows runs virtually from November 7 - 17, and is built to bring strong performing Individual Contributors through Senior Managers together for intensive case-based learning and leadership development - plus some fun times too!

"Alone we can do so little; together we can do so much - Helen Keller

Why did I apply for Fellows?

I joined HubSpot in September of 2015. That's considerably a long period of time given how fast a technology company like HubSpot moves. I've met many talented, smart yet humble people within the organization. One common theme I've found in these successful individuals is that they never stop learning and growing as a result - from reading a book to listening to a podcast to attending online courses etc. I soon realize that I'm falling behind and not learning as fast as I could/should be. One of HubSpot's many benefits is tuition reimbursement where HubSpotters get the equivalent of $5k US/year to spend on education. I know colleagues around me have taken semester-long classes, weekend workshops, and online courses on everything from finance to design.

I, on the other hand, have never ever utilized my tuition reimbursement fund at HubSpot for the past seven years. What a shame! I told myself this has to stop. I must carve out time to learn and grow, and that inner desire prompted me to apply for HubSpot Fellows. It's now or never, really.

"How much you get out from HubSpot Fellows is proportional to how much you put into it - Alexandra Krotinger

What were taught in Fellows?

Over the 10-day period, Fellows provides all 27 participants with an equal opportunity to learn directly from HubSpot’s most senior executives, distinguished Harvard Business School Professors, and each other amongst the Fall 2022 cohort. Fellows comprises business case studies (six of them), an ask-me-anything (AMA) of sorts, a team bonding activity, several watch parties (to accommodate participants from different time zones) and multiple networking sessions (we call them 'mixers').

The key topics covered in Fellows are as follows:

• Opening: Welcome to Fellows Fall 2022
• A Deep Dive into SaaS Economics
• Motion AI and HubSpot: Chatbot Enabled CRM (case-based learning)
• Thinking through International Expansion (case-based learning)
• Hardest Decisions (case-based learning)
• The HubSpot Case (case-based learning)
• Introduction to Competitive Strategy (case-based learning)
• The Engine of Team Culture
• Talent Strategy (case-based learning)
• Communicating at Scale: The Role of Communications in Leadership
• How We Build Products at HubSpot
• Closing: Taking Back Fellows

Success is making those who believed in you look brilliant. - Dharmesh Shah

So, what have I learnt from Fellows?

1) The price of excellence is discomfort.

At HubSpot, I manage a team of customer onboarding specialists in Singapore. As a people manager, I've been focusing on three priorities:

• Building a world-class mission, values, culture for my team;
• Motivating and retaining the high performers and;
• Hiring the right talents to fuel growth

After attending Nikhil Paul's The Engine of Team Culture, I've learnt about the importance of trust, challenge, commit, and accountability which are instrumental to the engine of team dynamics. Trust is the product of safety and safety is binary - you either feel safe or unsafe. To trust my team better, I must practise vulnerability which stems from deep confidence. If I trust people, I make them more trustworthy. That's it, no rocket science whatsoever behind it but it takes practices. Moving on to challenge, for teams with artificial harmony, let's cut the bullsh*t and kill it. When you have a group of passionate smart people, they will always disagree with each other and that's good. Cognitive diversity leads to friction; the best ideas often come from great debates. If you think folks on a team not disagreeing with one another signals a well-oiled machine, think again as it might be a sign of artificial harmony. Instead, learn to challenge positively, address tension right away, problem solve with curiosity and empathy.

Getting the team to commit to a common goal is naturally the next step. By making clear decisions and setting undebatable expectations, people should feel heard, not obeyed. See commit as the first sign of group solidarity. Lastly, hold your team and yourself accountable for both results as well as behaviors. Everyone on the team should feel comfortable to call out or follow up with each other, if people feel (psychologically) safe about the team they belong to. Remember, trust is the product of safety and safety is binary - you either feel safe or unsafe. In high performing teams, teammates manage each other.

All of these have reinforced my principles, beliefs and priorities as I continue to further my manager journey at HubSpot and beyond. There's no easy way out - the price of excellence is discomfort.

2) Do fewer things, better.

Just like many of you out there, I'm a huge fan of Dharmesh Shah, for a long list of reasons (one of which is his great sense of humor, on-and-off stage). I was beyond excited and felt so privileged to learn directly from Dharmesh through his AMA of Sorts on day 2 of Fellows. Questions centered around culture, branding, and making big, long-term bets were submitted by all 27 participants prior to the AMA. While my question wasn't picked (therefore unanswered), I've learnt so much from what others had asked and Dharmesh's words of wisdom. I jotted down a ton of notes which, at one point, my ball pen had run out of ink.

Dharmesh reminded everyone about the need to see beauty at every level of abstraction. But what does that mean? To me, it's about balance - striking the fine balance between details and big picture. As a people manager, it's so easy to get caught up in the day-to-day and lose sight of the big picture. When zoomed in, delight in the details. When zoomed out, see beauty in the bigger picture. While the devil is in the details, it doesn't mean you should only focus on the details. Just like solving a jigsaw puzzle, one has to constantly zoom in and out to put the right pieces at the right place. To be an effective leader, one has to see beauty at every level of abstraction.

Dharmesh also has a four word strategic plan: Do fewer things, better. Let me see a show of hands (or likes?): how many of you, in the past, had said 'yes' to too many and, as a result, 'no' to too few things? Come as no surprise, the Zoom room was full of hand raises when Dharmesh asked that question.

For those of you who've followed HubSpot for a while, you may know that HEART is the cornerstone of our company culture. While H officially stands for Humble, I see HubSpotters consistently across geo locations demonstrate a ton of Helpfulness. If "Willing to Help" is a measurable index, I bet HubSpotters have an average score of 13.5 on a scale from 0 (not willing to help at all) to 10 (very willing to help at all cost). Taking helpfulness to the next level, we end up extending help to more, and more, and more people who need assistance, support or advice from us.

But wait, what's wrong with helping everyone around? The biggest problem I see is burnout, both physically and mentally. When you stretch yourself too thin or have far too much on your plate, you won't be able to execute effectively, not with focus and satisfaction. Besides Dharmesh, Jeetu Mahtani once said to me, "Derek, if you've decided to say 'yes' to this particular task, please make sure you're going to say 'no' to either a past or future task".

Dharmesh's four word strategic plan is a great reminder for all of us to prioritize, be critical about where we spend our time and energy on, and focus on what truly matters.

Special thanks

My Fellows 2022 experience was a truly special, unique, and rewarding one. I went from surviving to thriving within a span of two weeks. That being said, I know I won't be able to complete Fellows without the help and support from a group of extraordinary people. I wish to give my sincere thanks to them here.

• My wife Kiki Jingjing Feng for her understanding, relentless love and support toward me and our family, including Katie our beloved daughter.
• My manager Simon Wong for his utmost support, guidance and endorsement especially during my Fellows application process.
• My peers 🏡 Jimmy Wang and Atsushi Toyokura for their coverage and support toward my team throughout Fellows.
• My customer onboarding team (aka Team Pun) Anna Santiago, Audrey Pranadi, Eurona Ang, Justin Tit, Monisha Kishin, and Perry Wong for giving me the encouragement and holding me accountable for the takeaways.
• Program manager Angel Diaz and coordinator Ashley Hooper for ensuring the very smooth running of Fellows from start to finish (and every feedback survey gets filled out).
• Director of Learning & Development Alexandra Krotinger for kicking us off and closing Fellows. You and your words of encouragement are one of the reasons I went from surviving to thriving this mini-MBA program.
• Last but not the least, my Fellows cohort (fall 2022) for accepting each other, sharing your knowledge, experiences and point of views without any fear of being discriminated or judged. YAS, WE MADE IT! #fellowsalumni

I also wish to thank YOU for reading till the end and hope you have some takeaways from my sharing of Fellows 2022 experience at HubSpot. To me and many, HubSpot is a truly special, amazing company that talks the talk and walks the walk. I know it does sound too good to be true and so please don't take my word for it. Do your own research and fact-finding before you commit to HubSpot as a customer, partner, or employee.

Take care, be well.