Ep 57. Leading Across Different Stages & Contexts—Laura Warden
After 19 conversations with some of the sharpest operators around, I’m closing the year** with someone who rewired how I think about building process: Laura Warden [https://www.linkedin.com/in/laurawardenfolklore/].
Your job as an operator is to make things work. So you do. You patch. You duct-tape. You make something 10% better, then 15%, then 20%. Over time, you get excellent at optimising a system that (maybe) shouldn’t exist in the first place. Laura brought me back to the idea of constructing or reconstructing from first principles: “If you could build this optimally from day one, would it look like this?”
She’s operated across different scales and contexts—running recruitment and talent at Hays, managing ~500 people at Google, and now supporting dozens of companies as Head of Operations at Folklore Ventures.
We touch on her journey and:
* How dyslexia shaped her superpowers
* Scaling hurdles: moving too fast without process, founder span-of-control failure, and insufficient communication
* Why leadership teams need to feel visible (and Google’s multi-modal comms example)
* The management triangle: Empathy + Business outcomes + Clear direction
* Why your job isn’t to be the hero—it’s to build an environment where heroes can emerge
* Your network as an external brain (and why it needs to be small and value-driven)
* Rising above the weeds: asking, “What have I missed? What’s going to derail this or make it less impactful?”
* Hiring observations: companies hiring a generalist operator first, then building specialist teams around them
* Laura's motto: "Sh*t happens. Accept it. Then figure out how you pick yourself, your team, and the organisation up from that.
**P.S. Catch my solo episode, "What the Year Taught Me", on December 23, before we tuck into the cauli' cheese and Christmas cheer.
Mentioned in this episode:
* Teresa Lilly [https://www.linkedin.com/in/teresalilly/]
* Savannah Black [https://www.linkedin.com/in/savannahblack1/]
* Dianne Ward
* Nicole Hopkins [https://www.linkedin.com/in/itsnichop/]
* Alister Coleman [https://www.linkedin.com/in/alister-coleman/]
* Rochelle Ritchie [https://www.linkedin.com/in/rritchie1/]
* Sundar Pichai [http://linkedin.com/in/sundarpichai]
* Romy Bundy [https://www.linkedin.com/in/romy-bundy/?originalSubdomain=nl]
* Naomi Browne [https://www.linkedin.com/in/naomibrowne/]
Guest ideas?
Do you have an operator on speed dial who could be perfect for the show? Please share your suggestions with me via LinkedIn. [https://www.linkedin.com/in/lauranicolpr/]
A note from your host, Laura:
My goal for Calling Operator is to open-source stories from startup operators across various functional areas and learn how they excel at building and scaling companies. As a Chief of Staff, I often find myself in (virtual) rooms with people facing similar challenges and reinventing the wheel. I want this podcast to open a line for operators across Australia and New Zealand to learn from fellow operators. Each episode shares personal stories, the execution behind big ideas, career-defining moments, successes, failures, and lessons.
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