Lynn Walder (she/her/hers)’s Post

The stereotypical midlife crisis car is no longer a Porsche... It is a Jeep Wrangler (Rubicon preferred). 😂 Once you see it - you cannot unsee it (prove me wrong) What is it about Gen X and Jeep Wranglers? Where did this obsession stem from? The psychology behind this seems like it would be fascinating. (very interested to see what cars Millennials and Gen Z lean into?)

I just got a long text thread from a fellow career Executive Administrator that made me start tearing up in all the best ways 😭 ... She just received her requested promotion to the title of Associate Director, Executive Operations while also getting public accolades from her CEO stating that he had never experienced such **business** ROI from an Administrative Team before in his career. (highlighting the term BUSINESS here on purpose!) 😍 This was a CEO who, when he came into the role, viewed the value of business administration much like many other leaders (because he had never seen or experienced anything else)... he originally saw the EA team as 1:1 tactical support. What this CEO didn't realize was that his Administrator and I had already been partnering (through coaching, mentorship & team workshops) to implement an Executive Operations Cohort that was well underway when he arrived (shoutout to the CPO who also saw & supported the latent Admin potential ❤️ ). Once he was exposed to this collaborative model, and how it explicitly seeks to drive proactive BUSINESS VALUE and not just reactive 1:1 Executive value, he became a believer (and a vocal champion at that!) THIS is what it is all about. Changing hearts & minds, not only of Administrators but of the LEADERS. THIS story, THIS Administrator's journey and THIS Leader who now cannot unsee the latent talent potential & hidden business ROI of strategically integrated/resourced Business Administration function is another validation of the model I have shared with the industry since 2016. The seeds are starting to take root - and I am in it for the long haul to witness the future harvest of this work. The future of work will demand a re-imagining and re-integration of Business Administration from "side-gig nice-to-have" to "strategically integrated & resourced need to have". Want to partner on 1:1 coaching, team training workshops or on integrating an Executive Operations Cohort at your place of work? Ping me for an intro call! If you want to learn more about the Executive Operations Cohort model and how it works, you can listen to the podcast below. Onward and Upward!! 🚀 #EvolveAdministration #ExecutiveOperations #Stratactical #ChangingMinds #BeTheChange #FutureOfAdministration

If you haven't had a chance to follow my colleague Beth McKeon's weekly inspirational articles that she is writing on behalf of her newest effort (The IgniteVC Funding Innovation Lab at LabCentral) - I HIGHLY recommend! Her vision of solving the persistent systemic barriers and bias in the fundraising and capital deployment process through the running of rapid design sprints within a highly inclusive cohort of ecosystem participants is something everyone can support. The weekly newsletter she has been sending is incredibly thoughtful, inspiring and full of THE BEST ANALOGIES (for those who know me, I am sucker for good quotes and great analogies 😂 ) Sharing this weeks newsletter story here - it is a good one. Please subscribe to her newsletter if you are as inspired as I have been by the work she is embarking on! #IgniteVC #LabCentral #FutureOfFunding #BuildBetterForALL

Every time I see a posting like this pop up on my feed, I know it is happening… …where the hidden professional talent and latent business value of Business Administration (alongside Executive Operations) is being recognized and that my Administrative Title Recalibration model (launched in 2018 and refreshed in 2023) is supporting that effort! I cannot lie - my heart bursts with hope and happiness at seeing the future of evolved Business Administration unfold before my eyes. Where business administration is no longer viewed as a stereotyped siloed 1:1 reactive tactical role, but recruited, integrated and appropriately resourced/developed as a proactive strategic BUSINESS FUNCTION that owns improved cross-functional communications and collaboration which drive bottom line business value. To Leaders, Heads of HR and fellow career Administrators - the moment is now! Re-imagine and re-integrate this long mis-understood AND under-utilized function, the future of YOUR business will benefit!!! #EvolveAdministration #BeTheChange #ExecutiveOperations

THIS. THIS. THIS!!! I would add that this mindset is just as important to apply with the broader Administrative team you collaborate with as much as the Executives - I continue to encounter significant siloed structures between the EA to CEO and rest of org Administrators and/or even within cross-functional Admin teams. Yet another reason this professional role must be evolved into a stand-alone business FUNCTION to ensure partnership, alignment and mutual accountability on behalf of strategic objectives for the business. #EvolveAdministration #BusinessAdministration

To my favorite Boston Biotech colleagues - make sure to follow the LabCentral channel for the July 1st micro-podcast launch of "The Dish" with Johannes Fruehauf and various leaders of our start-up biotech community!!

Sharing with my broader Boston Network! If you want to be both educated AND inspired, please join LabCentral for this phenomenal community event. Last year’s event was absolutely incredible (shout out to Shazia Mir for curating such incredible content that truly brings the greater Boston/Cambridge community together). Don’t miss out - register today!!

There is something magical about meeting and conversing with Founder entrepreneurs via other local industry ecosystems in the Boston area ✨️ The majority of my background industry experience is within Biotech (which can feel quite siloed at times given the very unique and very complicated scientific aspects associated with launch/scale/commercializing). So I have made a commitment over the past year to get out and about (from a networking perspective) to both learn and laugh with other big-thinking, big impact entrepreneurs from completely different industries. I have started attending B2B/B2C tech sector gatherings (huge shout out to Jillian Hufnagel, @Renee Viens and Underscore VC for helping expand my horizons!) and it has been nothing short of amazing. 👏 Yesterday's event was one of the best I have attended so far! Alyssa Krejmas via InnoCrew hosted a VERY relevant panel on the topic of strategic start-up pivots (something I am seeing more of in biotech sector). SPOT ON advice and post panel engagement by Lily Lyman (Underscore VC), Steve Fredette (Toast ) and @Susan Hunt Stevens (WeSpire). THANK YOU! Also enjoyed meeting some new "across the river" tech friends - Ben Greene, Luthfun Nessa, Joshua Rousseau. Connections. Collaboration. Creative impact. Nothing feeds the soul more than hanging with innovators who see the world through the lens of opportunity! #NetworkingWORKS #Entrepreneurship #FoundersFortitude #InnovationInspires #BeyondBiotech

TO MY FAVORITE START-UP CEOs: Don't sleep on your IT integration/strategy (even in the early days) - why is this so important? Outside of the very relevant example noted below, I have experienced first-hand (within multiple industries!) the devastation that can occur when all of your info, files, emails and/or data go *POOF* (or are held for ransom - which is just a more expensive version of *POOF*) After working as an IT Operations Manager in the olden days (think RAID server days 😂 ), and spending an entire News Year's holiday weekend re-building servers that kept burning out/dying, I had a whole new level of respect for IT professionals and their proactive work. Information Technology is NOT just setting up laptops, getting an email system & throwing some files in a shared drive (although I understand why this is the narrow scope that most Leaders place IT in - which naturally narrows planning, resourcing & execution, particularly in the earliest survival days of a start-up). There is a very hard learning lesson that comes from that *POOF* experience... You realize too late that whatever you THOUGHT your core competency/product was (that is the supposed to be the "money-maker" of the business) is not your solo money-maker. It is actually the data (or data systems) behind that competency/product which secures the money for you. From an online retailer being hacked during prime Christmas shopping season (where entire processing systems were taken down for 2+ weeks!) to a polar vortex incident that destroyed an entire scientific lab (and took much of the latest data with it) - the "Disaster Recovery Docs" that I have partnered on over the years all have 1 thing in common... 75% of the documentation is dedicated to Information Technology needs. I am not saying that start-ups should implement all the bells and whistles of a full-blown IT strategy or create a 100 page Disaster Recovery Book in their earliest stages, but I DO suggest proactively partnering with a very solid (and industry knowledgable) managed service provider for your IT needs (both the hardware/software basics AND the cybersecurity). My gut tells me this will become even more relevant as the speed of AI integration increases. IT peeps - I see you (and I thank you for your work!) #IntegrateIT_EARLY

TO MY FAVORITE BOSTON BIOTECH NETWORK: If you are seeking a win-win approach to your internship programming, please consider hiring from the diverse talent pool of LabCentral Ignite Career Forgers! So proud of Na'Shantéa Miller in guiding this program - thanks to all who continue to support and participate ❤️