Category: Leadership

“A micro-manager doesn’t trust his people and seeks to control every single detail and decision; he believes that ultimately, only he will make the right choices.” – Jim Collins

When the time comes to hire your first employees, choose carefully.  The tendency is to hire people you like that are similar to you.  Culture is important.  But err on the side of skills and experience and let your people do their job.  Share information.  Be open and transparent. Show trust.  Communicate the vision, not the method.  Inspire, then get out of the way.

Read “Beyond Entrepreneurship” by Jim Collins

“Think for one hour every day.” – Jeffery J. Fox

Get away, get quiet, go run or ride or walk, get some coffee, shut the door, disappear…  Shut down the noise for a few minutes and let your mind work.

Sometimes, answers come when you reflect.

You should make time for it.  Your day will fill up because there’s never enough time to get everything done, so plan on your thinking time.

Read “How to Become CEO” by Jeffery J. Fox

“The number one respsonisibility of a leader is to catalyze a clear and shared vision for the company and to secure a commitment to and vigorous pursuit of that vision.” – Jim Collins

As the CEO, the Leader of your new company, this is your job.  Even though you may not have any staff right now, you still have to inspire those around you to join up with you in pursuit of your vision.

If you’re the person who created the solution or the one who is developing the technology, this can be a hard transition.  Why?  Because science or engineering is what you’re good at and you’d rather do the things you know you are good at.  In fact most people, when presented with two options, will gravitate toward the one they are most comfortable. This gets worse under stress.

When you start a company, you either have to take on this leadership responsibility and find help with the technical, or keep the technical and find your leader.

It can’t happen part-time…

Read “Beyond Entrepreneurship” by Jim Collins

“If you’re going to hope to get elected, don’t mention The Great Pumpkin!” – Snoopy

It a world of social media that encourages personal branding, consider carefully how you choose to brand yourself.  On the one hand, the company’s core ideology comes from the core values of the leadership.  Transparency is a good thing.  On the other hand, if your personal ideology does not line up with what you promote in your company, it opens the door for problems; both inside and outside the company.

Freedom of speech is a foundation of our great country but the one thing that people often neglect is that great freedoms come with great responsibility…and consequences if those freedoms are not exercised with careful deliberation.

You ARE the company.

“I want to surround myself with smart people who aren’t afraid to disagree with me” – President Josiah Bartlet from The West Wing

There are three fundamental things in a startup; the idea, experience (the team) and capital.  Great ideas don’t get funded without a credible team.

Don’t hire your friends.  They will tell you what you want to hear.

Don’t hire people who are just like you in personality and background.  You need diverse perspectives.

Don’t hire people just because you get along.  It IS about the business.

At the end of the day, the decisions are yours but you need to be challenged to make sure you have seen every angle.  Your team needs permission to speak freely.

And you… don’t know everything.