When you start a business you have to do everything. You become what people call a generalist. Marketing, accounting, HR, you name it, you have to deal with it. And if that business survives, and we hear that few do, it becomes apparent what you are good at. It also becomes crystal clear what you suck at, and if you are honest with yourself there are many things that you do poorly, too many to mention here.
As the cargo on the ship of fools that is your new business grows, so too do the holes that are causing it to begin to sink, and you find the need to add talent. And we all know the key to success is surrounding yourself with people smarter than you, which by the way I have never seemed to have any trouble doing. If you are smart, not as smart as the people you have surrounded yourself with of course, but smart enough, you are adding expertise in the areas that you are weak in, those being the aforementioned ones you suck at. And as you add expertise you quickly realize you really didn’t know what you were doing to start with, did you. Rhetorical question, no question mark required. Sometimes not knowing what you can’t do is a great trait in leading a startup, but you must also understand that approach is not sustainable for obvious reasons, and perhaps is the reason that so many new businesses fail.
When you start hiring people you also engage in a management method that is well documented and not well appreciated, that being the micro-management stage. If you aren’t that smart, but smart enough, you will realize that someone, almost anyone in fact, that is working full time on something and is hired because of their expertise in that certain something, is most likely doing a better job at it than you would or could. If you do realize this you quickly graduate from the micro-management stage to that of delegation. Delegation is tricky, I have always struggled with it and I am still learning. In fact I have one of my people reading a book on delegation for me right now.
There comes a time when you have to create a vision and mission for your company. One that will inspire people to do their best, to be their best, and to give you their best. My only advice is to create a vision you are passionate about but be careful. “Hoping to make next week’s payroll” may be something you are very passionate about right now but it is not a long term goal that will inspire your team, unless you are trying to inspire your team to leave.
You read the books. You try management by walking around but twist your ankle on the stairs to the shop. You try management by exception and discover that you aren’t that exceptional. You try management by objectives but find it rather objectionable. And you discover that management by the seat of your pants seems to be the method that best suits your leadership style.
If your company is successful it ends up having little to do with your own prowess, because we have already determined that the only thing you were ever any good at is building a team. And of course, once you build your initial team it is your team that is building their team. In fact, initially you only hired a few friends you had worked with before so your team building skills are also in question. It seems like the key to your success is luck.
But that is not quite true is it. Initially you were astute enough to pinpoint the many, many, many, areas that you are not good at, and you plugged the holes in your sinking ship with people smarter than you. As the famous management and leadership guru, Dirty Harry once said “A man has got to know his limitations.” Apologies for the gender specific reference but that was a different time.
So a leadership trait known as self-awareness turns out to be your strongest trait. A bit humbling to know that the only thing you are good at is recognizing all the things you suck at. But I would suggest you go with what works, it worked for me.
very true words Roy. It was easy for me to figure out what I sucked at but finding those smart people is always the biggest challenge and the ultimate reward.