The Skills That Made You Successful Might Be Holding You Back - Genevieve Kangurs Customer Director

What happens when the skills, expertise and behaviours that made you successful are no longer what the organisation needs from you? In this episode of The Impact Room, Michelle Ansell speaks with Genevieve Kangurs, Customer Director at Vanquis, about the shift from functional expertise to enterprise leadership. Genevieve’s career has spanned customer, product, digital and commercial transformation across financial services, giving her a broad perspective on what changes as leaders become more senior. One of the central ideas in the conversation is what Genevieve calls the paradox of progression. We are often promoted because we are very good at something. But the next role may require us to stop relying so heavily on the very expertise that got us there. As Genevieve puts it, promotion is not simply a reward. It is “an invitation to lead.” In this conversation, Michelle and Genevieve explore what strategic leadership really looks like in practice, why many organisations fail to prepare people properly for the shift into senior leadership, and how leaders can learn to think across the whole enterprise rather than simply through the lens of their own function. They discuss: • Why functional expertise can become a constraint at senior level • What being “strategic” actually means • Why strategy is more about sense-making and choice-making than producing a deck • The difference between strategic planning and strategic thinking • Why the best leaders can move between the detail and the big picture • How customer leaders can connect customer outcomes with commercial value • Why curiosity becomes increasingly important as leaders become more senior • How AI may change what leadership capability looks like in future • The five transitions from functional expert to enterprise leader • Why senior leaders need to protect time for the work only they can do Genevieve also talks about Routefinding. Leadership in Uncertain Terrain, the work Genevieve is developing with Andy Matheson to explore the reality of strategy and leadership inside complex organisations. Because real leadership problems are rarely neat. They involve ambiguity, politics, competing priorities, partial information and different perspectives. The real challenge is learning how to make good decisions when there is no obvious answer. This episode is for Directors, senior leaders, aspiring C-suite executives and anyone trying to move from being an excellent functional leader to becoming a stronger enterprise leader. One question from the conversation is particularly worth asking yourself: “What is the work that only you can do?” Learn more and follow Genevieve.   / genevievekangurs   The Routefinding Substack "Leadership in uncertain terrain is here: https://routefinding.substack.com/ The Routefinding Newsletter can be found here:   / stepping-up-when-expertise-longer-enough-g...   Please like, share and subscribe to The Impact Room, where exceptional, diverse and impactful leadership wisdom is shared. Stay updated with our latest episodes. We dive deep into pressing topics that impact your growth and customer led business, featuring interviews with influential leaders and in-depth discussions on the future of leadership, Operations, Growth, Commercial, Customer Experience, Diversity and industry trends. Intro Music: “Podcast Background Music While Talking – No Copyright” by @PodcastBackgroundMusic. Licensed under Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 (CC BY 3.0) Hear from Chief Customer Officers, CEOs, COOs, Director of Customer Experience, Customer Success Directors, Managing Directors and Diversity and CX Advocates in this podcast designed to help inspire and share lived experiences, offering sound advice for personal and career development.