We write guides on how to do all the things we do at New Atoms. These serve to teach, but also to reassure. I made this guide mainly to reassure myself whenever I have doubts or questions about my role, which I have all the time.

The goal of this guide: To give you an understanding of what it means to be a Managing Director.

Clearing the way by Kenny Louie

How to be a Managing Director

Great, so you’re the Managing Director of New Atoms. Congratulations🎉!

Lets take apart what that means for a second:

1. Managing: According to the dictionary this means “having executive control”, but what it means to us is “the responsibility of dealing with the shit that is in the way of progressing”.

2. Director: This is the person who is in charge, meaning you are the person responsible for everything going well. But the word also means this is the person who gives direction; you can help determine what path would be the best travelled.

Okay, that is quite something to deal with. Perhaps being in charge is uncomfortable or intimidating, but you will find a way in which it doesn’t need to be.

Responsibilities

So what is it that makes up your job? These are the things you need to take care of:

Help the company grow sustainably

Make sure the company grows, and is structured in a way that is durable and sustainable: not faster than it can, not slower than it should.

We want to bring both what we can do for others and the experience of being a part of what we’re doing to as many people as possible, but we don’t want to build some kind of bubble that grows and grows until it implodes and leaves everyone unsatisfied.

Neither do we want to create a company where the people who work here settle into a comfortable but boring job they’ll have for the rest of their lives.

Make sure everyone gets what they need

Make sure everyone gets to live a good life if they are a part of our company. A core assumption of what we do is that people perform best in groups, when they are developing, and when they are happy.

Find out how to keep everyone happy, fulfilled, developed and enthusiastic.

Also very important here is not to forget that this also applies to yourself.

Safeguard the process

Make sure the business keeps evolving and changing as the world around it does, which involves ensuring that the working process — which is the secret recipe of our company — is good.

This does not mean that you need to decide how everyone works, but more that you need to make sure that the process keeps developing and improving. This involves everyone in the company taking ownership over it.

Help solve the problems no one else can

There are problems that are too hard to solve within a team, customers too hard to deal with, disputes too painful to confront. This is where you come in.

Your role as the Managing Director means you are the doctor and therapist of the company. You need to be able to be there for everyone involved, to help them solve the problems they cannot figure out for themselves.

Be available for anyone who can’t figure something out on their own, and helping them tackle their problems head on.

Be the public face of the company when one is needed

Speak on behalf of the company when the company needs someone to do so. This means taking flak at times and receiving praise at others. Be sure to convey what is important for the company as a whole and spread its values and promises.

Be honest, be vulnerable, be strong, be enthusiastic and be curious, just like our company.

And what about the rest?

So you’re probably thinking “but hey, there are these gazillion other things that I want to do.” Sorry man, it’s not your job.

Make sure you find a way to effectively integrate all your ideas into the teams and the process. Since for everything the company is dependent on you, it needs to wait for you, and that is no fun for anyone.

Things that are not inherently natural to the company or that the company could better do at a later time can be delegated to other talented folks and companies, especially when those skills are so hard that they can’t, realistically, be learned by our people within a reasonable time frame.

You need to keep your eyes on the prize. Right now you might think “lemme just do this,” but keep realising that the company needs to move forward organically, and should learn how to do everything on its own as well.

So stop being duty-bound by things other than these and focus on the future. Focus on building the best company, perhaps ever.

Oh, and have fun.