OYP Episode 01: Peter Szczerba

Peter Szczerba, Associate Director of Data Strategy at Publicis Sapient, talks about taking an entrepreneurial approach to growth and development.

Interview

Ashley Snow - Welcome to the Own Your Potential Podcast, where you'll hear stories from leaders across the globe, about how they've taken control of their career growth and lessons on how you can to. I'm Ashley Snow. And this is Episode One with Peter Szczerba. Courage is fear, that has said it's prayers. First things first, Peter, what is your career story?

Peter Szczerba - Well, I've been a Publicis Sapient for nearly seven years, I am a Associate Director of Data Strategy. But I started my career here just as a young, naive Junior Associate of data science analytics. And I'd say probably more or less grew up here professionally. So it's been quite a ride. I'm based out of the Toronto office, and I've had the extreme fortune to work in all different capacities within the data capability across probably something like 30 plus clients at this point between projects and client work.

Ashley Snow - And over the course of the last seven years or so how would you describe what's been your unique approach or your mindset to career growth? And how is this approach representative of who you are outside of work?

Peter Szczerba - I think my approach has always been an entrepreneurial one. And what I mean by that is, I've always done my absolute best to take as much control over my career growth as possible. So anytime there's an opportunity that I thought was really great for my career development, the direction of my career, or maybe it overlaps with a passion of mine, I've always just gone out of my way to make it extremely clear, it's something that I wanted to be part of, even if I had to go over and above, you know, my general allocations or, you know, just contribute to in the background, but just to get exposure to it just to see what it was like and just learn and develop from it. And I've just always taken that sort of approach just to by any means necessary as if I was trying to secure funding for a startup or otherwise. And I think it is very reflective of the way I live my life out side of publicist sapient. Just even in the last three or four years, I've stood up a nonprofit organization, which has required very similar behaviors and approaches around elite basketball training, and last year opened the doors to a basketball prep school. And it's taken an enormous amount of work, and no one was ever going to hand me those things or hand the opportunities to make that stuff happen. It was all opportunities I had to seize or create from nothing. And I think that's how I try and approach everything I do a Publicis Sapient as well.

Ashley Snow - So to achieve that type of success in and out of the workplace, self confidence is a skill that you have to have. And it's one that we all kind of need to continually practice and build on over time. What do you do inside the workplace and in your, your startup environment to continuously grow and evolve the skill of self confidence.

Peter Szczerba - So I have a couple of opinions on the idea of self confidence and the idea of bravery for as long as I can remember, there's a quote that really resonates with me about bravery or courage or self confidence. And it's that courage is fear that has said it's prayers. And I think what I take away from that quote is that even when you're being brave, or even when you're being confident or courageous, you're still a little nervous, you're still a little bit scared. And that's okay, because I think those things keep you really sharp. And I think that when you are nervous or a little bit fearful of something, it's because whatever you're trying to do really matters to you. And that's important, the way I've continuously tried to just be confident in my abilities and not succumb to any sort of imposter syndrome. And I know a lot of people allow themselves to lose faith in their abilities and their experiences. But I think just diving into opportunities headfirst and just focusing on failing fast, failing forward and learning and quickly iterating and evolving, they're just battle scars that will help me get smarter, better, more efficient and more experienced as I move forward. And I think that if you can frame your experiences in that way, it gets way easier to be confident in yourself on a more regular basis, in spite of a little bit of nerves.

Ashley Snow - So how do you think your self advocacy tactics and the skills that you've built with self confidence will need to change and evolve for successful brand building in this new remote working reality that we've found ourselves in?

Peter Szczerba - That's a great question. And I think that, it's probably going to take a couple of different forms as our new reality starts to take shape. Because right now, we've swung all the way to one extreme, where everyone is completely remote, we're all completely distributed, everything is virtual. And the reality is, it's very difficult to take actions for self advocacy, or building your personal brand that will have an organic ripple effect like they would if you were in a physical office. So I think, right now, everything has to be done with so much more intent, so much more purpose, and so much more tact. So that way, you know, you're not coming off as the squeaky wheel, or the very gregarious individual that just shouting about their achievements. And I think that's important that people take note of those things and, and adapt their approach. So that way, that's not how it comes off. And I think as we evolve, going forward, the reality of work will be more of a hybrid of what we're experiencing now. And what we have our ways of working we traditionally had with offices and the such, will still have to have that purpose and that intent in the way we try and build our network, build the awareness around the impact that we're having. And I think as long as we're thinking about it that way, then it'll make those things a little more clear in terms of how to approach self advocacy.

Ashley Snow - Absolutely. So finally, what advice would you give to someone who wants to take ownership of their growth, but isn't quite sure where to start?

Peter Szczerba - I think for someone who wants to take ownership of their growth right now, a great place to start is really just in two areas, the first being in taking a really critical look at, at your experiences at your capabilities in the form of a bit of a self evaluation, set a baseline, what are your strengths? What are the things you enjoy doing? What are the things that you don't enjoy doing? Where your growth areas, if you do a really critical self evaluation, it'll really help you set a clear path forward. And then secondly, I think that just starting to build that network, reaching out to people setting up coffees setting up, just connects framing people as mentors for yourself, who you have great relationships with, because I think that a lot of the time individuals have anxiety around just opening the door to those types of relationships and those types of interactions. But I think that you'd be surprised at how much more willing people are to help in that regard, then you really expect. So I would say, just reach out. Just ask for someone's time and I think you'd be pleasantly surprised at how willing they be to give it.