Six Months In: A Reflection

Looking back at the start of the journey

I started my new role at Ancestry six months ago this week. 

It is strange how the passage of time works. I feel like I have been here forever, but at the same time, I feel like I just started yesterday. Perhaps this is a symptom of working from home, or maybe it is the nature of how time moves when you start something new. 

During one of my Ask Me Anything meetings with Ancestry employees, someone asked me how I would rate the last six months. I took some time to think about that question, and here is my assessment.  

Things that have worked well 

• Onboarding plan: In testing out my onboarding process, it was useful to have a system I could follow while checking in weekly to assess how things were going. Having a 90-day plan with goals ensured that I focused on what was important in each phase of the process. It kept me on track and helped me avoid getting distracted. 

• Listening tour: The most important thing you can do in any new role is to listen. Being new, your role is that of a fact finder. Your goal in your first month is to complete a circuit that includes everyone you need to speak to. Companies and the teams within them have complex and multifaceted cultures, and it takes time to understand and assess where the opportunities and challenges are.  

• Ask Me Anything: During Month Three, I started a series of Ask Me Anything sessions with teams throughout the company. These Q&As were organized around specific groups and involved eight to ten people at a time. This was helpful for communication, since it allowed participants to ask relevant questions openly with their close colleagues. 

• Visit to Lehi: I joined Ancestry having barely met anyone face-to-face. After being fully vaccinated, I brought my family to Lehi, Utah, Ancestry’s company headquarters, for two weeks before the Delta variant took hold. It was wonderful to get to know people, spend time embracing the local office culture, and visit the beautiful sites of the Beehive State.  

• Alignment: Reaching alignment with the team and company is usually one of the biggest challenges with onboarding. Together we were able to unify around a new vision, key product priorities, and an investment plan. 

• Execution: The past six months have proven to be a period of tremendous execution. During this time, we have announced two acquisitions, hired several senior leaders, and completed a dividend recap. 

Things I wish I should have done 

• Connecting more: Outside of my visit to Lehi and one partially in-person board meeting, I didn’t get much of a chance to build relationships in person (or face-to-face?). I kept thinking we were nearly at the end of the lockdown, only for Delta to arrive, so I couldn’t invest as much time in connecting with others as I would have liked. I hope to change this in the next three months since we are likely not officially going back into the office until 2022.  

• Ensuring the next 90 days were as effective as the first: For my second 90 days, I decided to try building the agenda around monthly goals. While this was somewhat effective, I missed the scaffolding of the original 90-day plan. For these next 90 days, I am re-embracing three-month goals. 

• Getting feedback earlier: One thing I realized about entering a company as a senior leader is that it’s hard to get a good assessment of how things are going. At times, I struggled to make sense of what I was seeing and had trouble getting clear feedback on how to process it. I ended up asking much more direct questions to several people, which resulted in much clearer answers. I was used to working in cultures where feedback was built in, and I underestimated how much my title affected people’s willingness to speak their minds. 

• Clearer communication: We assume that when we say something, we have delivered our message, but that is not where our responsibility ends. The goal is not just to send a message, but to ensure that it lands, and lands well. Human communication is filtered through the experiences and delivery of both the person speaking and the person listening. This imperfect connection requires work to ensure there are no breakdowns. Several times, I asked what I thought was a relatively straightforward question that resulted in hours of work by teams who felt I was asking for something more. This has taught me to be more careful in my communication, and to pay attention to the how in addition to the what.

As you embrace new opportunities and career adventures, remember to take a step back and assess how things are going. It can be easy to allow the continuous flow of time to get away from you. By setting clear goals and looking back at them, you can ensure you are achieving your milestones and moving your work in the right direction. 

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Over the past six months, I have learned so much. The change of companies and roles have been a steep but ultimately incredible learning opportunity that I wouldn’t trade for anything. 

This experience has taught me that there is no such thing as perfection — only clear strategy, alignment, and execution. It has also made me realize how much room there is for learning and growth as I am asked to wrestle with questions I’ve never faced before.  

Reflection is a powerful and underutilized tool. Regardless of how the past has gone, by learning from it — both the good and the bad —  you can shape what is to come.