People who don’t work in revenue operations usually imagine it as one of two things:

  1. You’re the strategy person pointing at charts,
  2. You’re the person quietly fixing everyone’s reporting problems behind the scenes. 

The funny thing is that it’s kind of both, and also neither, and also… a whole lot more than people expect. You’re constantly leading, delivering, and learning all at the same time. But the hard part isn’t doing any one of those things – it’s switching between them in a way that doesn’t make you lose your mind. It’s the reality of the function: if you want to do it well (not survive it, but actually excel at it) you have to stretch yourself.

This is my “70-30-25 Theory”:

1 - Leading - 70%

Leadership in RevOps isn’t just a people-management responsibility – it’s the engine that determines how well everything else actually works. Most of the success in this function comes down to how clearly you set expectations, how effectively you support your team, and how consistently you create alignment across projects and priorities.

It shows up in moments that don’t always look dramatic from the outside: helping someone sort through a complex problem, resetting a project’s direction before it veers off course, or creating enough clarity that your team can move quickly without second-guessing themselves. These small interactions compound into real organizational impact.

You’re also the person who sees across all corporate functions, so the way you communicate, unblock, and guide your team has a direct effect on how smoothly the entire GTM machine runs. For me, this is why leading ends up taking almost 70% of my time. It’s not reactive or “soft” work – it’s the part that ensures our collective output meets the standard of excellence I expect. 

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Good RevOps leadership isn’t loud or flashy, but it sets the tone for everything else your team accomplishes.

2 - Doing - 30% (because you’re still part IC, whether anyone admits it or not)

Even as a leader, there’s always a portion of work you need to produce yourself. I’ve learned that your team pays attention to the things you build more than you think. It sets the tone. If you deliver something thoughtful, clean, and well-structured, they take it as the baseline. If you rush or cut corners, they’ll pick up on that, too.

Some weeks this means building a deck that needs a specific voice, or taking on a cross-functional project that’s too messy to throw at someone who’s already juggling six other priorities. Other times, it’s stepping in quietly because someone on your team looks overwhelmed and needs a break, even before they admit it.

I don’t think of this 30% as “extra work.” It’s more like showing, not telling, what quality looks like.

3 - Learning - 25% (which doesn’t happen inside the workday, no matter what people say)

If there’s one thing I wish someone had warned me about early in my career, it’s this: you cannot be an effective revenue operator if you stop learning – and learning never fits neatly into a work calendar.

Most of the valuable learning – at least for me – happens while I’m doing something else. Listening to a podcast on the treadmill. Reading a chapter of a book half-awake in the morning. Watching a lecture or an interview while I make dinner. Grabbing a coffee with someone who works at a company I admire just to compare notes for twenty minutes.

One other benefit is your brain’s momentary elasticity. Learning in your “free” time also allows your brain to breathe and open itself up to new, creative thinking outside the workday stress when you’re managing twelve different things at once. 

It doesn’t feel like “studying,” but it still compounds. You get better without even noticing. And you suddenly find yourself bringing fresher ideas back to your team because your brain has been gathering kindling all week.

The part people push back on is the time. Yes, it happens outside normal working hours. But the reality is: if you want to stay sharp in a role that evolves this quickly, it’s kind of non-negotiable.

Managing a major product change with Jordan Shaheen [Video]
Jordan Shaheen dives into his experiences of managing the revenue strategy while moving from DTC selling to a B2B strategy. Watch the video.
Revenue Operations AllianceRebecca Stewart

How the 125% Actually Fits Together

The balance isn’t perfect. If anything, it wobbles all the time. Some weeks, I’m mostly leading. Other weeks, I’m buried in execution. And sometimes my brain just wants something new, so I lean harder into learning.

They don’t compete with one another as much as people think:

  • When you lead well, your team handles more, better.
  • When you do the work, you model the quality you expect.
  • When you keep learning, you don’t stagnate – and neither does the team that looks to you for direction.

RevOps has never been a clean “40-hour, neatly categorized” job. It’s more like a craft that evolves as you do. You guide people, you produce things, you expand your toolkit along the way, and somehow all of it blends together into a rhythm that works.

And once you get comfortable with that rhythm – imperfect as it is – the work becomes a lot more rewarding. So, always remember the “70-30-25 Theory.”