Category: Team

“Everything that irritates us about others can lead us to an understanding of ourselves.” – Carl Jung

When the time comes for you invite people on the bus, you should be very deliberate about some things that may not be obvious. Being able to get along and collaborate are important, of course, and the time to start thinking about company culture is with the first employee.

But in the startup days, time is of the essence and it’s about getting to the market as quickly as possible. The people you bring on need to be aligned with that goal whether they are engineers, programmers, finance or marketing people. If they are good at what they do, grab them. They may irritate you but you need to surround yourself with smart people who are willing to disagree with the boss. That way, you will get the information you need to make good decisions.

Draw the line at fighting and insubordination but ask yourself this, if someone who is good at what they do takes issue with you or you find them irritating, figure out why. You may learn something about yourself.

BloggingGazelle is published daily by Shawn Carson

“You’re only going to be as good as the people you surround yourself with” – Austin Kleon

Jim Collins says to get the right people on the bus even before you decide where the bus is going to go. This is bold advice, especially when you are trying to attract people to your vision – you should probably at least have the vision. But I think it’s about tactics more than vision. Of course you need to have an idea of the problem you are going to solve but you should get the team together before you start to figure out all the details.

This is for two reasons; you can’t know everything and you can’t do everything.

Success and sustainability depend on execution more so than planning. And there’s always more to do in less available time. Highly motivated people will naturally gravitate toward doing the things necessary to get the job done, even if those things are outside their experience or comfort zone.

Read “Steal Like An Artist” by Austin Kleon

Blogging Gazelle is published daily by Shawn Carson

“I may not have led people who would take a bullet for me but I’d like to think they would at least push me out of the way.” – Gil Cruze

Gil Cruze is one of those guys who tends to speak in “tweetable” quotes. This one was about picking your team. He spoke of the profound friendships he has formed over the years with people who came on board to share in the dream of his startup. He said that he is not always right about things and looks for smart people who will disagree with him.

Integrity, trust and respect go along with technical and marketing talent when forming your team.