Building Trust & Credibility with Jeff Smith - Episode 1
Episode 1 – Mistakes Were Made: Building Trust & Credibility with Jeff Smith, Founder & Director at LaunchPad Asia
Apple Podcasts
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Stepping into leadership for the first time is both exciting and unnerving. You’ve finally been recognised. You’ve probably been promoted. And now, you might find yourself managing people who were your peers just last week. Somewhere in the back of your mind, there’s that creeping question: “Do I actually know what I’m doing?”
That’s where this podcast begins. Episode 1 of Mistakes Were Made is a conversation about trust — how to earn it, how to hold onto it, and how to rebuild it when you inevitably mess up.
To help unpack all of this, I sat down with Jeff Smith. Jeff has led technical and pre-sales teams across APJ, lived and worked all over the US, Asia and New Zealand, helped grow several startups, and somehow still finds time to brew beer and grow olives on a farm. He is a wealth of knowledge, so having him as the first guest just made sense.
Key Lessons & Takeaways
- Start by being useful: Show up, pitch in, learn fast — credibility comes from contribution, not job titles.
- Make space for others: Don’t always have the answer — let your team lead, and coach them through it.
- Hire A+ people: Surround yourself with talent. Confident leaders aren’t afraid to hire people smarter than them.
- Stay curious: Especially across regions and cultures, curiosity builds bridges where ego builds walls.
- Perception matters: Be intentional about how you show up, and make sure no one feels left out.
- Model what good looks like: Your actions — even small ones — set the tone far more than policies or process.
- Split your one-on-ones: Make time to talk about the person, not just the work.
- Call it early when someone’s not a fit: If you’re spending more energy around someone than with them, it’s time to act.
- Stay calm in the chaos: Leadership is often about how you react when things go wrong.
- Find a mentor: Leadership is a journey — you don’t have to figure it out alone.
