Leadership Journey: Adrian Owen Jones on Growth
A Chief Growth Officer is someone who can make a path where there is none. They see opportunity where others can’t, inspire others to use their skills in unconventional ways, and probably get exceptionally excited looking at data reports and trend lines.
This person likely didn’t walk a conventional path, instead forging a career from seemingly disparate interests and a unique set of skills. This describes Adrian Owen Jones to a tee: a Classical Studies major who started her career in the nonprofit and philanthropy world, went on to transform the way the LSU Foundation utilized data, and is now serving as the CGO at ThreeSixtyEight – an agency with a drive to make Baton Rouge and Louisiana the creative, entrepreneurial, and growth-oriented epicenter of the South.
Adrian describes her leadership journey as a process of continually “looking past the wall.” The wall represents limits or boundaries around what you think you can accomplish – but she points out that it’s often just a mirage. “You think you have to ask permission, but you don’t. You just have to think creatively about how to get through the wall.”
Understand and use all of your tools.
Part of thinking creatively is being able to apply insight from unexpected places, while breaking down the proverbial wall between different aspects of your experience. Adrian is a gamer who has been ranked top player in the world in World of Warcraft. Gaming taught her the power of using data to optimize your play. It’s a skill she brought to her donor relations role at LSU, where she realized that they were not leveraging data as effectively as they could.
This realization led her to move into a Business Analyst position under IT, which may have been considered a lateral career move. But this move allowed her the opportunity to learn and build out the tools the Foundation needed to push its growth potential: visualizing portfolios and metrics, analyzing performance, and operationalizing its goals.
Be willing to stretch - and question.
After almost 9 years leading the LSU Foundation to be a fully data-driven organization, eventually serving as Assistant Vice President of Advancement Services, Adrian chose to move into the Chief Growth Officer role at ThreeSixtyEight. She recognized that it would give her new creative challenges with a focus on comprehensive growth and teambuilding.”
I love that there’s no stasis in growth mode. You’re constantly having to acquire new knowledge, processes, techniques, and people.”The people variable is key to growth. Having the right team in place is vital, yet it can be a challenge to lead a team into unknown territory. Adrian recommends setting a clear vision, and helping your team visualize the end goal while remaining energized for the day-to-day work. Otherwise big, audacious plans can feel deflating.
Her approach to talent management is the same “look past the wall” mindset she applies to her own work. It’s a process of constantly challenging assumptions in order to encourage people to be creative, take risks, and grab ownership of the outcome.”
Sometimes I refer to my coaching style as ‘hand-to-hand combat.’ I ask a lot of questions to challenge the assumptions the other person might be having. Sometimes, the other person might not even be aware of the behaviors that are limiting their ability to effectively lead and problem solve. But in the growth space, you always have to question why you do things the way you do.”
Growth doesn’t happen alone: Leading others along the journey
Adrian has long been active in the Baton Rouge community, with a special focus on mentoring women. As Vice President for Training and Organizational Development with the Junior League of Baton Rouge she is driven to invest in the potential of women, creating an exponential positive effect on the communities where these women serve. And whether she’s mentoring through the Junior League or with the Early Career Women Collective, she is always challenging others to think about the long term.
She points out that a lot of women only take jobs they feel they are 100% qualified for, when in fact true growth happens in the stretching. It’s why she only takes stretch roles: “My mentality in life is that everything is a learning opportunity. Even if the worst case scenario happens and you fail, you’ve learned something.”
Her advice for people who are afraid to stretch is to rely on your strengths. As a Gallup-Certified Strengths Coach, Adrian often refers back to her strengths – like Strategic Thinking – to re-center herself and work through a problem. She also finds that helping other people see their strengths is a great way to coach and mentor them. “It eliminates frustration and helps people understand how they work together to make each other stronger. A strong team needs a mix of strengths.”
Ultimately, growth is about feeling the fear and doing it anyway. Use your strengths, push yourself, and inspire (while challenging) the people around you. As Adrian says, “the wall isn’t there.” Embrace the process – get excited about the journey – and bring others along with you.
Originally from Edmond, Oklahoma, Adrian calls Baton Rouge home. She serves as Chief Growth Officer at ThreeSixtyEight and volunteers her skills with a number of organizations, including the Junior League of Baton Rouge, the Boys and Girls Clubs of America, the Early Career Women Collective and the Capital Area United Way.
Success Labs is a leadership development and management consulting firm in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. For more than 25 years, our expert team of consultants has worked with hundreds of companies to grow leaders, build teams and drive results through great people strategy. Contact us to get proactive about expanding your company’s potential, and stay up-to-date with our latest news and leadership development updates here.