Following Your Principal Into a New Job with Danielle Skowronek

Guest: Danielle Skowronek, Chief of Staff to the Chief Merchandising Officer and head of strategy and business planning, Under Armour

Host: Scott Amenta, Founder, Chief of Staff Network

Episode Overview

Following your principal into a new role looks like the easy version of a job change. Danielle Skowronek did it at Under Armour, moving from the Americas business into merchandising, and found her principal's trust stopped at the door. Her new peers still had to be won over, and her reputation for running a tight operating rhythm made that harder.

About Danielle Skowronek

Danielle grew up a Phillies fan outside Philadelphia and worked for the team for three seasons, then at MLB headquarters and Monumental Sports. When COVID stopped ticket sales, she moved into real estate and ran a marketing team of 20. She joined Under Armour in strategic projects and became Chief of Staff to the President of the Americas six months later. When her principal was named Chief Merchandising Officer, she followed her into a function she'd never worked in.

Key Takeaways

- Your principal's trust doesn't transfer to your peers. Danielle had to build those relationships from scratch, and leading with questions did more than leading with a playbook.

- A strong reputation can work against you. New teammates expected a strict operating rhythm, and what she needed first was to learn the business.

- Keep the baseline of your operating rhythm and flex the rest. Weekly staff meetings and quarterly offsites stayed. Everything else had to fit around product creation milestones.

- You know a leadership meeting works when leaders bring you the agenda and it runs while you're on PTO.

- The role influences everything and owns nothing, so ask to own something. Danielle put strategy in her development plan, and now runs strategy and business planning alongside the Chief of Staff seat.

Join the Chief of Staff Network

The best thing Danielle did in her transition was talk to other Chiefs of Staff. That conversation continues at chiefofstaff.network.