Manager at Anaplan, Pam Polizzi talks Technical Path
photo courtesy of Pam Polizzi
Pam has always had an intense curiosity about people and fell in love with psychology at an early age. She went on to pursue a graduate degree in cognitive psychology and then a job in Human Factors at Bell Labs, where she discovered that she could apply her deep understanding of human cognition and experimental design to the intersection between people and technology. Since then, she has worked in user research for a host of companies like Autodesk and Peoplesoft, before coming to Anaplan five years ago and building up a world-class UX research team.
ModelExpand sat down with Pam Polizzi, Senior Manager in UX Research at Anaplan to discuss their path to a technical leadership role.
Creating your career track and action plan towards leadership
Was there a definite moment/event that led you into a leadership path?
My path really evolved over time. As I gained more knowledge and expertise over the years, I naturally started stepping up into roles with additional responsibility. I started to see the benefits of leading - helping others grow, being involved in strategic decisions, and having a wide impact. Being a leader felt like a natural fit and a no-brainer.
Establishing ways to build credibility and buy-in
What are ways to demonstrate the impact and growth of your position to build credibility?
Advocate for yourself and promote the work you are doing, on an ongoing basis. Don’t just do this with your manager but with key people in your organization who can then champion the work you are doing. See what resonates with different people and tailor your messaging - some may gravitate toward stories and others metrics. Learn from others who you respect and see what approaches they take.
“Look for plenty of opportunities to build the skills and experience necessary and document your accomplishments along the way - especially areas where you’ve gone above and beyond your current role.”
How has advocating for yourself helped you in your career? Can you share a real-life example?
For me, advocating for myself hasn’t come naturally and is a skill I’ve needed to develop. I am not someone who naturally likes to promote myself and applaud my accomplishments since I tend to be hard on myself. So really, learning to advocate for myself has benefited me by getting me to face that - guess what? I am a successful leader who brings great value and that I can ask for what I need, whether it’s compensation or a new title or a new set of responsibilities. That gives me more confidence that I can then apply both at work and in my personal life.
Successfully framing career development conversations with your manager
Moving to the next level in your career, you need to be your own best advocate. How do you approach conversations with your manager around wanting a promotion?
Be very thoughtful and prepared. Do your own assessment of where you are today against the role you are aiming for - then start the conversation early with your manager to get feedback on where you should focus. Look for plenty of opportunities to build the skills and experience necessary and document your accomplishments along the way - especially areas where you’ve gone above and beyond your current role - so this information is at your fingertips. Set up time with your manager and explain the reasons why you think you’re ready to be promoted. Give concrete examples of accomplishments that demonstrate where you’ve met what is required of the target role. Be confident and make it clear that you’re ready to take on this new role - or that you are essentially already doing the work required.
How can someone take action and prepare for their next steps in a career?
“Tech is always evolving so there might be roles to step into that you didn’t even know existed. Then take a tactical approach to figure out how to get there.”
Think about where you see yourself both long-term and short-term. What do you naturally gravitate toward? Where do you want to grow and push yourself? How much responsibility do you want to have? I’m a researcher so of course I am going to emphasize - doing research! See what types of opportunities are out there. Tech is always evolving so there might be roles to step into that you didn’t even know existed. Then take a tactical approach to figure out how to get there, whether it’s speaking to your manager about building a career path, learning new skills, or studying job profiles to see where there are gaps you need to fill in terms of your experience. Make a plan and start taking steps, no matter how small.
Develop soft skills and technical skills to be a better leader
What soft and UX research skills do you think work hand in hand to be a great leader?
UX Researchers often have a psychology or anthropology background and are trained to observe and listen. I think these are key skills for leaders in so many ways - deeply listening to your team members, your peers, even your manager, give you an important perspective and ensure that you lead with empathy.
What outside resources/books do you recommend for someone wanting to improve their UX research skills and leadership skills?
For leadership skills, I’m finding IDEO’s Creative Confidence podcast and the Coaching for Leaders podcast very illuminating - I always learn something new that I can apply. For UX Research, The Nielsen Norman Group’s website is a good resource for high quality articles and videos. To learn more about user research and design thinking methods, I would check out IBM’s design thinking toolkit as well as the LUMA’s Institute’s 36 methods.
ModelExpand is a diversity, equity and inclusion consulting firm focused on radically accelerating the presence of historically underrepresented people in the workforce. ModelExpand’s work has been featured in Harvard Business Review, Forbes and CultureAmp. Need support embedding Diversity, Equity and Inclusion within your organization? Contact us below.
