Leading with Big Eyes and Big Ears
As a project leader every day is about identifying the next big problem to solve. To do that you need to be listening to your customers. Where are the pain points, what is the friction and how can you as a leader break down the barriers to deliver project success. I was inspired by this podcast on leadership secrets where David Novak interviews Sanjit Bitwas who speaks about solving the right problems. Sanjit Bitwas knows a thing or two about scaling businesses he has taken two business to multi-billion dollar success, Samsara and Meraki.
The Importance of Customer Focus:
Stay Close to Customers: Understand their needs and pain points by observing and listening. This will help in identifying the right problems to solve and ensuring that the solutions provided are effective.
I always tell people like “big eyes and big ears” like let’s see how these operations really run let’s listen to where those pain points are because sometimes people can’t say I need a product that does X but you see them doing something in a difficult way over and over and then you say well if we could build you technology that just did that for you would that be great and they’ll usually say yeah absolutely so I love it in terms of helping me understand what problems need solving next”
That is key to the mindset as a project leader as none of us are born knowing how to solve a problem. But through looking and listening and combining with knowledge, experience and your teams expertise you can solve the problems.
Embracing Iteration and Feedback:
Embrace Iteration: Adopt an iterative approach to product development and project management. Run feedback loops to continuously improve and refine your processes and products. Process is good to have in place with the correct checks and balances but it is also good to try new things, make mistakes, correct and try again until you get to a solution that works.
Successful project solutions are based on the iterative approach. No one gets it right first time so the question is where do we focus our energy and what do we change for the next attempt.
Where possible eliminate all unnecessary complexity how can you make it simpler for the customer. Is there a way that you can automate a process or remove the chance of human error. Sanjit used the example of plug and play technology where you could take some iOT hardware plug it in and it will self configure without the need for an engineer to set it up.
Building a Strong Company Culture:
Build a Strong Team: Focus on hiring people who align with the company’s values and operating principles. Recognize and reward employees who demonstrate these principles in their work. Sometimes half the battle is turning up and putting the hours in, the problem seems huge the solution not obvious but through teamwork, bouncing ideas off each other, everyone giving their own bit the sum of the parts gives a solution. As a project leader its about inspiring people to feel valued to push forward when its hard, reward them for their success but also be with them in the failures.
You may need to work with people who are older or smarter than yourself, but if you approach it with humility and an attitude that you can learn something then you can get the best out of everyone.
Leveraging Technology for Innovation:
Leverage Technology: Utilize technology to enhance efficiency and safety in operations. Stay updated with the latest advancements and integrate them into your projects where applicable.
In today’s work environment large language models such as ChatGPT are impressing with their ability to combine information and suggest helpful ways forward.
Focus on some key strategic bets that are your area of expertise and see how you can push the boundaries and expand.
Takeaways from Sanjit Biswas’ Leadership Approach
Here’s what I took away from Sanjit’s insights:
- Start by listening to your customers. Find the next problem to solve.
- Build a capable, value-aligned team. They may not be specialists at first, but with an iterative mindset, they’ll get there.
- Learn by doing. Put yourself in the customer’s shoes and understand the real-world challenges.
- Simplify and scale. Once you find a solution, streamline it and look for ways to repeat it.
- Focus on your strategic bets. Where are you already good—and where could you be great?
- Close the loop. Let feedback guide you toward the next challenge to solve.
This is the approach that helped Sanjit take a startup Wi-Fi idea and scale it into Meraki, ultimately selling it to Cisco for billions. And it’s a powerful model for anyone driving complex projects, managing innovation, or scaling teams.