Axios Finish Line: How to expand your influence
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Kristin Burkhalter was a Division 1 athlete at Duke University and later helped build one of the most powerful and durable pipelines of high school lacrosse talent in America called "Stars."
- Today, she's an Axios SVP who oversees our events and Smart Brevity Studio — our fastest-growing business in 2023 — as a leader, coach and sometime player, Jim writes.
- Kristin runs events like a stand-alone business inside a larger one, with full autonomy and delegated authority.
Why it matters: Kristin's approach to earning more authority provides a lens into one of the hardest decisions leaders make — when to delegate decision-making.
There's no scientific threshold to clear. But there are some clear markers:
1. Crush it. Power should rarely flow from title or tenure. You earn it. Kristin consistently meets or beats her numbers and, more importantly, always delivers blue-chip productions. Power shifted naturally to her.
2. Eliminate stress. Any CEO or top executive has an endless pile of crap to deal with. The greatest gift you can give us is the confidence that you can deliver competently, consistently and drama-free.
- My highest praise for Kristin: I have to spend zero time worrying about events.
3. Win trust. I — and her direct boss, Axios chief business officer Fabricio Drumond — trust Kristin to deliver. Why? She didn't ask for autonomy. She won it, with her actions and character.
- It's big things like never screwing up a big Axios production — but also small things like taking personal responsibility for missteps, and knowing when to bring complex knots to us to help untie.
4. Be humble. Hearkening back to her sports career, Kristin always credits her team, and all the other execs who have her back. This makes everyone want to cheer for her and have her back in return.
5. Pass it on. You'll get stuck fast if you win delegated power but fail to do the same for others. I'm only as good as my executive team. Kristin is only as good as the future coaches she is training.
- Ebonie Ambers-Blowe, a member of Kristin's team, was an early participant in our Axios Emerging Leaders program, so I got to spend some nice chunks of time mentoring her. She was clearly talented and ambitious. But it was Kristin who quite quickly tossed more power her way. She's now a VP, a home-grown success.
6. Deliver the goods. You won't keep delegated power long if you cannot keep proving you earned it. This means every month, quarter and year getting better, smarter — and ringing up more successes. The cold, hard truth of power is that it's easier to lose than to win. "The team works so hard, demands excellence, pushes each other, doesn't settle," Kristin told me. "You should join our ruthless lessons-learned sessions after each and every event."
- In a tough year for media, Kristin has grown her business 60% and expanded into the big, yearly conference business.
This article originally appeared in Axios Finish Line, our nightly newsletter on life, leadership and wellness. Sign up here.
