Power of Leadership - Nick Burrus

Arsineh

Meet @Nick Burrus of Stria. Nick builds Smartsheet solutions for the government, courts, and several fortune 500s. He holds a Master's in Organizational Leadership and Theory.

He shares his thoughts on leadership and discusses how he utilizes his Power and Smartsheet to amplify his work.

How do you use Smartsheet at work?

I employ Smartsheet every day at work. Tracking team performance using a sophisticated analytics system allows me to determine how lucrative people are, who needs more training, and more. We have developed a multitude of methods to use Smartsheet to stay ahead of the competition and assist our clients in doing the same. I use Smartsheet to handle a contact form that, when submitted on our website, sends comments to the appropriate individual based on their geographic location. We utilize it on a daily basis for an inventory request system resembling a shopping cart, denoting a sequence of actions to shift assets from one area to another. We use it to track mistakes and compare them to employee performance to determine who needs more training.

Smartsheet has granted me tremendous authority in my leadership role at Stria. Almost all of my administrative tasks are automatable, allowing me to obtain crucial reports, metrics, KPIs, and whatever else I want. It has assisted with managing projects, time obligations, and staff.

As a doctoral candidate, I utilize my employer-provided Smartsheet account to handle the study lists of a few other doctorate candidates in my institution. I've used it throughout both of my Master's degrees to set my goals and deadlines and time out my day. I have even used Smartsheet to track my PMP training and progress.

Describe a time when you utilized your power and Smartsheet to succeed at work?

One of the most challenging aspects of being a leader in an organization is effectively managing change and separating emotion from decision-making. As humans, it is difficult to separate emotion from facts. If someone tells you they can accomplish anything simply, they are almost certainly lying. My professional and academic careers have been devoted to leadership and research.

Keeping all of this in mind, I am able to automate metrics, project management, and more by constructing processes and connecting them to systems through the use of Smartsheet. These reports provide us with information stripped of all emotion. We can determine a person's inexperience, training status, and performance. No opinion is required. When conducting a performance review, we were able to simply retrieve information on a team member and include it into their evaluation. In my earlier studies, individuals have guessed this far too frequently.

Throughout my academic career, I have utilized Smartsheet to advance my studies and discover new leadership theories. I've utilized it to manage my doctoral-level work, keep track of group projects, and even share with classmates. I have using it for PMP training, class tracking, and my academics. There, I entered my quiz scores so that I could follow my progress in a report with charts. I utilized it even for my Government Archives and Records Administration certification last year. Smartsheet has provided me with an exceptional tool for enhancing my leadership skills, allowing me to access and organize the resources I need to become a greater leader.

Has there ever been a time when you needed to flex your power to accomplish something?

Certainly, I have had to use my authority in order to accomplish something. Such a complicated power, leadership is at the forefront of both projects and teams. Many organizations do not hold this position in high regard due to the fact that it is frequently misused and misplaced. Managers are not leaders. A leader is someone who can motivate a team and assist the team in achieving organizational objectives. A successful manager is one who can and will eliminate hurdles from their team's path, allowing them to operate autonomously.

In the past, I have had to exercise my leadership abilities, particularly with the assistance of Smartsheet, during meetings with executive teams of our clients and my own workplace. People are frequently frightened to say no to their employer. Are you frightened to say no to your boss? I'm not. I can utilize report data sets to demonstrate why I said no. My leaders and supervisors respect this. To be a good leader, you must know how to distribute yourself and your team, as well as how to use your authority to protect your team.

Fill in the blank: I feel most in my power when I _______.

I feel most in my power when I am able to accomplish the new and unknown.

What does your power mean to you?

The power comes with a duty. There is no straightforward way to define what a power is and what it does. Through understanding the Power of Leadership, I am required to take in the complete scope of a project in order to successfully build and guide solutions that not only power my business, but also many other organizations that impact the everyday lives of many of us.