Regular Conversations with Direct Reports is Critical for Their Growth — Belcan Chief Security and Data Officer

(US & Canada) Matt King, Chief Security and Data Officer at Belcan, speaks with Cory Carlson, Leadership Coach and Keynote Speaker, in a video interview about balancing family and work, self-investment, approach towards direct reports, and the importance of accountability.

Belcan is a global company that specializes in engineering, consulting, and technical services in the aerospace and automotive industries.

As a leader, balancing home and work is paramount for King. He firmly believes that everything in life should be balanced and that life is built around relationships.

Adding on, King says that he loves spending his downtime with family. He notes that balancing the relationships built at work and with family provides direction and allows one to de-stress, making the journey fulfilling.

Moving forward, King states that to climb the career ladder to get to an executive level, one must have a continuous learner mindset and family support. He maintains that it is critical to have that servant leadership attitude towards both family and work.

In addition, dedicating time to personal growth and family and its growth is key for that balance.

When asked how he invests in himself, King mentions using his time wisely during his 45 minutes of drive time to and from work. He utilizes that time listening to audiobooks around leadership topics.

Apart from that, King also has sessions with fellow organizational leaders, wherein they read various leadership books for growth and discuss those. Also, staying on top of industry happenings and plans from the regulatory perspective is crucial.

However, personal growth from a technology and leadership perspective depends on the focus and finding ways to improve to stay relevant. He appreciates LinkedIn for serving that purpose and says that it ultimately boils down to preparedness, forward-thinking, and foresight.

Speaking of what makes a workday easier, King gives credit to his supportive team and good leaders. Additionally, he refers to the key concept of ‘planned neglect,’ which loosely translates to planning what is being neglected based on prioritization.

Responding to everything at once can be chaotic for leaders, which is why neglecting certain tasks that can be gotten back to at a better time helps. He affirms having blocked time periods specifically for such tasks.

Shedding light on his approach towards direct reports, King states that having regular conversations with direct reports is critical to helping them grow. His cadence with them is typically once every couple of weeks when concerns and ideas are discussed.

King believes that his staff needs to use that time wisely. He mentions having an open mindset within the organization and has instilled psychological safety. Ideas are listened to and encouraged within both one-on-one and group frames, although the one-on-one sessions are intended for individual growth.

Furthermore, King affirms being a reactionary coach and using referential scenarios to guide the direct reports regarding both professional and personal needs.

Shedding light on the importance of accountability and deadlines, King states that deadlines can be business-driven or personal, and he allows people to have input into that deadline date. If the date is not met, such people harm themselves in the room of progress, impacting performance and leaving a mark on the performance reviews, he opines.

Therefore, it is critical to have that level of integrity to honor commitments, says King. Nevertheless, there are times when people do not understand the request completely, and a balance must be created.

According to King, encouraging failure for a sense of growth is key, and as a leader, one must allow that to happen. He asserts that it is about understanding what the task is and ensuring that the people concerned know how to tackle it.

Sometimes, leaders make an assumption and delegate the task to an individual without specifically understanding the doer’s level of expertise on that subject. This could result in challenges and failures, and thus, failing quickly is key to that achievement and holistic growth.

Given a situation where individuals lack knowledge of a newly assigned task, King takes them through a phased approach. For instance, he says if the deadline is in a month, he does a touch-base in a week to understand the proceedings and provides a certain level of situational coaching.

CDO Magazine appreciates Matt King for sharing his insight with our global community.