Shirin improved her operating system and drove cross-functional alignment
Background:
Shirin Bradfield is the Head of Growth and Self-service at Optimal Workshop. Shirin’s background is in product management and marketing, and she had just started her Head of Growth role when we began working together. I worked with Shirin both in a 1:1 coaching capacity and as an advisor with her growth team.
What challenges were you facing?
There’s a lack of growth leaders in my organisation and I had a huge number of entangled problems that I needed help with. Ultimately, I wanted some clarity about where to focus my energy and time. Moving from an IC role into leadership is a challenge (though an exciting one!). I wanted to talk to someone who had been through the trenches and come out successful.
Did you evaluate other alternatives?
I'm lucky to have a whole arsenal of growth resources - Reforge, and GoSimulate are my go to’s. I wanted to chat with someone who’s been there before. I briefly considered Growth Mentor but had varying levels of success with them in the past.
What did you work on with Andrew?
A whole bunch of things! I'd sum it up with 'working on the fundamentals' - running good experiments, evaluating and improving our onboarding flow, measurement, and asking the right questions to get a better understanding of our customers.
Real screenshot of one of our calls (taken with permission) ☝️
What was the experience like?
Your empathy is absolutely my favourite part of working with you. There have been calls where I've just laid out all the roadblocks and frustrations of my role, and you've listened, untangled and responded with such clarity and kindness. You diagnose problems really systematically so that frustration turns into an action plan. You're also amazing at explaining complex concepts in simple ways - I pick up a lot of language tips from you as well.
Any major results from us working together?
Predominantly qualitative. You've helped increased us increase organisational understanding around growth and its impact on customers and revenue. Allowing me to bring my colleagues along to our sessions has helped to build a shared language and understanding, which means education doesn't sit purely on my shoulders.
Any message to someone on the fence about working with Andrew?
Do it! Growth is this amalgamation of many disciplines that we're all likely learning on the job. If you work in an organisation where you are the first growth hire, there is something so beneficial about talking to someone whose been there before, and been successful in rolling out.