Job interviews are a two-way street. Candidates should believe in a company just as much as the company believes in them — achieved through asking the right questions.
When Leslie Tang arrived for her interview at Centerfield Media’s sunny Los Angeles headquarters, she spoke with six employees, asking them all the same question: “What do you like most about working here?”
Despite their different roles and responsibilities, five shared the same answer: they loved the people they worked with, emphasizing the strong team culture built by the company’s leaders.
Hired to lead the product team soon after, Tang continues to emulate the team culture that attracted her, emphasizing the power of building trust and her commitment to empowering her team to excel together in her own unique way.
Built In LA spoke with Tang to learn more about her background and how she approaches cultivating team culture.
Centerfield delivers outcome-based digital marketing solutions and personalized omnichannel experiences.
What’s your professional background, and why were you brought on to lead this team?
I’ve worked on the agency side and in-house at leading digital agencies — from McCann, HUGE and Public Sapient, to large corporations like Microsoft and Disney, to startups for sports data and betting, e-commerce and healthcare.
What brought me to Centerfield was that five of the six people I spoke with during my interview said their favorite thing about this company was the people. Almost four months into my experience here, I agree.
Centerfield was the perfect intersection of both the agency and in-house environments.
How would you describe your approach to leadership, and how do you plan on building team culture?
The team must understand our role as contributors and supporters of the bigger picture, and that a fundamental part of our job is to reinforce that picture throughout conversations, decisions and initiatives.
“A fundamental part of our job is to reinforce the bigger picture.”
When it comes to leadership and culture, I lead through bi-directional context and information. This might mean wanting to communicate what I know and provide my perspective, while also providing a safe space for ideation, innovation and drive. I strive to create an environment that empowers the team to ask questions and ask for help or support.
Admittedly, I can be a bit tough, aiming to push the team to think strategically and critically, and to ensure accountability — asking what we could have done differently to better support the team and the bigger picture. It’s about building trust. Can I trust you to do said task? Can you trust me to help you?
What initiative are you most excited to tackle?
Continuing to encourage us to think holistically and strategically. This is part of what initially attracted me to Centerfield. How can we better operate as a unified organization with complementary products and initiatives instead of isolated silos? This could be achieved through focused objectives and goals, sharing knowledge, establishing best practices and ensuring transparent information. There are many smart people here, each doing smart things. How can we optimize their efforts to achieve better and faster results?
