You can't inspire others unless you are inspired yourself first!
Conversation with James Raybould, ex-Senior Director of Product @ Linkedin
My guest this week is James Raybould, the ex-Senior Director of Product at LinkedIn. James’s journey is definitely a testament to pivot. He started with a psychology degree from Stanford University, worked in sports management before transitioning into the consulting world. From consulting he joined a rocket ship back then - Linkedin, and pivoted a few times from sales to marketing to product, and have led teams across multiple regions. Besides his stellar career, James is also a big influencer on Linkedin and has developed thought-provoking content over the years.
In this interview, James reveals his inspiring career and life transitions, his best tips for aspiring professionals who want to grow their network and discover hidden opportunities, and his leadership lessons from his years at LinkedIn. He also gives helpful advice for people who want to create content: how to start, what to focus on, and how to stand out.
You can't inspire others unless you are inspired yourself first!
Watch/listen to the full podcast HERE
Jerry: Hi James, thank you so much for taking the time coming to the show. It’s really great to read your content on Linkedin. But before we dive deep into those amazing contents, let’s start with your story. How did you get to where you are today?
James: Thank you Jerry for taking the time and inviting me to the show. I was actually born in London and spent my adolescence there until I was 18 years old. My dad is from the US, suburbs of Boston. So I always had an idolization for America. I have never visited California before I moved here for school in 1995. I felt really lucky as this is the very start of the dot-com wave.
I think for me my path is a series of unexpected events and coincidences and people coming into my life. Whether it’s me choosing psychology as a major or later on getting into Bain & Company. I was lucky enough to be connected to a student as I was starting the teaching assistant job for at Stanford. And the student went to Bain and I got a referral there, that’s how I got in. I had an amazing time at Bain consulting. They even paid for my business school, I went to Harvard Business School and then went back to Bain after graduation.
Then one day I got a call from a friend who was working at Linkedin back then. I didn’t actively seek out but I have always been putting an emphasis on networking and developing meaningful relationships with people.
I joined Linkedin first following a leader that I trust and respect. Started in Sales, worked with some amazing leaders, we also went from million dollar to billion dollar revenues. I feel really grateful for Linkedin as a workplace that is very kind to career pivots and career paths was never linear. So I get to flex my muscle also in marketing and then product.
When I look ahead to see what I wanted to do in the long run. I know that general management is a good option for me to consider. And in order to get there, you can either work on building a product or you try to sell one. Hence the decision was clear to me, even though I had to leave a 100-person team leader role to go back to become an individual contributor again, I felt it’s worth the sacrifice and tradeoff. Because I get to learn sth new and gain a new perspective.
So what are my secret ingredients to success?
I think everyone talks about how networking is important in uncovering hidden opportunities. But few talks about mindset. For me, the mindset of cultivating a meaningful relationship is doing a good job at what’s been given to you. At the end of the day, people recognize on your achievements, your results. So I try to caution on reaching out to people bluntly or just networking without any credentials. The foundation of those opportunities are because you are likeable and is build on trust and performance. So you need to have a solid portfolio before reaching out to people.
My second ingredient is curiosity. I think you need to have a very curious mind to be open to possibilities. Most people staying in their comfort zone and never really get out. Not necessarily because they are not adventurous, but sometimes because they are not open-minded. You need to have that natural curiosity to explore and uncover what is out there and you need to have the utmost enthusiasm to explore those possibilities.
Jerry: You are a master at influencing and creating content. Do you have any good advice for people who are also curious to attempt similar efforts?
James: I think no.1 thing is to find sth that is interesting to you. You find it interesting and you want more people to know of this. Whether it’s a message or a content or a piece of knowledge. You have to start from yourself. You can’t inspire someone else, unless you are inspired yourself first. So forget about pleasing audience or trying to create what works for others first, you have to create for yourself first. Then when you get more elevated with reach and content, you can venture from there to explore other tactics.
Influencing is also not an overnight effort. Compounding really matters. You can start sth small but be consistent. This eventually accumulates bit by bit and you will reach a tipping point when the growth becomes exponential and starts to accelerate. This is really how growth marketing works.
Jerry: You have gone through several career transitions, and so have the companies you have worked for. How has your leadership style evolved over the years? What are the key factors that enabled those transitions?
James: I think I was really intense in the early days of LinkedIn. But as the company grew and I received objective feedback over the years, I think I become a more compassionate leader. Maybe it was because of my Olympics background, I was always very goal-oriented and focused on putting in the efforts for the desired outcomes. But as the geek culture has influenced the management philosophy in Silicon Valley and the world, I think I became more empathetic. I'm not sure if I'm as effective as before, but I think I don't hold the exact same standard from others anymore and I genuinely believe that as long as you put your heart into doing something, you will be able to achieve it no matter how you do it. It's more about the intention. I think my own pivots also helped me see things from different perspectives and I became a more versatile leader.
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