Leadership from the other side of the fence
Two biggest issues in any startup team: Ego and Communication.
Lose your ego or you’re not gonna survive here. In high performing teams, it’s never I, it’s always WE. This is the foundation for building a team that will function as a wholesome organism. Ego correlates directly to how coachable individual is and how likely is she/he to share valuable information with others to help everyone grow. It reinforces trust and everyone's eagerness to share their insights.
This makes an unstoppable team of “assassins”, that can turn water into wine if needed. Morale goes up — everything goes up.
Communication.
I can’t stress enough how important it is for every team member to be on the same page and clearly understand what’s going on, why and how it is connected to the big picture.
You never say it can’t be done, unless it’s actually impossible, even in this case most likely you just missed solution.
Over-communication is not always good. If it’s not justified, you distracting strategic leaders from the most important task and what’s even worse — stealing their time. There is no excuse for that.
Before asking a question think it through.
Is this something CEO 100% would want you to ask him/her and get approval?
Is this something CEO would like you to do without bothering him/her?
Take the CEO’s perspective and think what would you do if someone in your position asked this?
The reason why they brought you in, is not that they need one more person to point out problems, but they need someone who can take ownership and actually solve problems, giving them more free time and improving their business. That’s why they pay you, otherwise, you just stealing their time.
To take ownership, establish your range of actions — how far you can go on your own and when is the point when you need to stop and get approval before going full steam.
I developed a thinking framework to improve my communication approach and how I deal with tasks.
Here’s an example:
- What is Strategic Goal?
Ex. sell 10.000 units of your product within the next 45 days. - What is the immediate Tactical Goal you need to achieve in order to be one step closer to achieving Strategic Goal?
Ex. increase level of trust and credibility of your product.
(What is the galaxy of all possible approaches to tackle immediate Tactical Goal? Which one is the most effective and efficient?)
This one can be broken down into smaller sub-goals. - 5 Why’s:
- Why specifically this solution?
- Why it will work?
- Why now?
- Why this is the best way to execute this approach?
- Why/How it can fail?
(What are the potential casualties and their impact if it fails?)
Always be Ultra Focused on the most effective approach that will drive results, don’t get sidetracked, don’t get in a rush. Stay cool and keep your brain sharp. If necessary press “Pause”, take a step back, dedicate 10 minutes to really think about the issue you dealing with from the founders perspective, identify the best approach, act.
Working with high performing individuals forces you to grow or you out of the game.
Growth at times painful, but it teaches you a lot of important things you missed when you were a kid.
