Learning to be a CEO
What is it like starting a startup at 23?
It is realising you know near enough nothing and need to learn everything.
Learning about UX, programming, legal terms, how to pitch, how to start a startup and how to be a CEO. For me, the hardest part to pin down is the last. The other things are relatively easy, you do an online course, you watch the how to start a startup series, you read read read and you put enough together to start a startup. But being a CEO. That’s not so easy. The word alone gives me impostor syndrome. ME? CEO? Huh!?
But I am learning. I’m learning by doing, learning by observing others, learning by reflecting. This is what I have learnt so far.
1. Know what you can’t do
Being a CEO does not mean you are the top dog. No. It is knowing that you don’t know everything and you need to bring enough people together to make what you are doing happen. I know what my strengths are, I also have a good grasp of my weaknesses and for me that is where you start. I know I am not the best in pinning down exactly what we are doing, but ask me where we will be in 5 years and I won’t shut up.
Being fully aware of what you can’t do means that you will look for it in others.
2. Don’t make your team do things they don’t like
Only if you are desperate. The other half of my team HATES design, UI and the idea of coding. She loves timelines, strategies and databases. Perfect. I asked her to design something for me, she hated it, didn’t do it that well (by her own admission) and had no desire to do it. Yes, we all have to do things that we don’t want to do but don’t try and impose tasks on your team just because they need to be done. No one wants to do things they hate. No one.
Find someone else to do it or take one for the team and do it yourself.
3. Give people ownership
Being a good CEO I think starts with giving people ownership, well so my mentor Asa Bentley told me. When we first started out we were doing everything and anything in no organised manner. Then Asa sat down with me and broke our tasks down into:
- Tech
- Ops
- Social media
Honestly, that break-down made it soo simple thereafter, we also added about 5 sub-groups. I am now able to take a task and assign it to the correct category and it just makes life simpler. It also allows you to give more ownership to others as you can say take the whole of this part. People want purpose.
People want to make impact, give them something worthwhile to do.
4. Give thanks
I have been a fly on the wall of the Hassle office in London. On Friday, I sat in on their weekly updates meeting. One thing I immediately noticed is that everyone was very thankful. Whether it was Alex thanking individuals or sub teams thanking members from other teams, everyone was thankful.
Acknowledge all achievements and effort no matter how big or small.
5. Be nice
No one wants to work with an ass. Be nice. In most cases if you find yourself getting annoyed, it’s probably you and how you have managed the person or how you have given instructions.
It’s not them, it’s YOU.
CALLING ALL CEOS
What I have learnt is my age is my strength. It means I come with no baggage, no biases, I can only get better and learn. If you consider yourself a top-notch CEO and would like to help me on my journey. Get in touch as I would love to learn from others.