{"id":58309,"date":"2018-02-13T13:48:25","date_gmt":"2018-02-13T18:48:25","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/avenuetalentpartners.com\/?p=58309"},"modified":"2023-11-05T18:39:42","modified_gmt":"2023-11-05T23:39:42","slug":"world-class-startup-leadership-looks-like","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/avenuetalentpartners.com\/2018\/02\/13\/world-class-startup-leadership-looks-like\/","title":{"rendered":"What world-class startup leadership looks like."},"content":{"rendered":"

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My experience has shown me time and time again that the direction and tone of an organization come from the top down. Leadership matters, period! <\/span><\/p>\n

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I know being a leader at a startup isn\u2019t easy \u2013 I\u2019m getting a serious taste of it myself right now at ATP. \u00a0But sadly, I know first hand what it looks like when it\u2019s not done well too. It\u2019s not pretty \u2013 failures in leadership dramatically impede a startup\u2019s chances for success (not to mention destroy the morale of the people who work for them). <\/span><\/p>\n

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That said, there are a lot of people in leadership out there who are making a tremendous difference in business… and fortunately I\u2019ve had the opportunity to work for a couple of them that have had an indelible impression on my career. <\/span><\/p>\n

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So rather than focus on everything leaders get wrong (there are <\/span>PLENTY<\/i><\/b> of postings that do a great job of covering that topic), I want to take some time to highlight what great leadership in the startup space truly looks like \u2013 and call out some of the people I\u2019ve personally seen get it right.<\/span><\/p>\n

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Here are the 5 most critical qualities that the best startup leadership embody, the ones that exemplified it for me, and what it did for their businesses.<\/span><\/p>\n

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World-class leaders create psychological safety.<\/b><\/h2>\n

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Of all of the qualities a leader can possess, this is unquestionably the most important. And I\u2019m not the only one embracing this idea\u2026 <\/span>Google spent a lot of time and money studying psychological safety<\/span><\/a> in 2012 and found this single factor was THE thing that determined how productive a team would be.<\/span><\/p>\n

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For those that aren\u2019t familiar, psychological safety is <\/span>\u201cthe shared belief that the team is safe for interpersonal risk taking.\u201d<\/span><\/i> Or simply put, the ability to be and express yourself without the fear of negative consequences on your reputation, status, or career.<\/span><\/p>\n

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Great leaders make it easy for their team members to be themselves, and to express their ideas without being or feeling judged for them. They create a transparent, open environment where people don\u2019t think twice about sharing their thoughts.<\/span><\/p>\n

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This in turn keeps your team focused on finding the best solution, rather than spending a significant portion of their efforts navigating a political game. And as a result, people are much more engaged (side note: <\/span>high engagement boosts productivity as much as 22%<\/span><\/a>).<\/span><\/p>\n

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The leader I\u2019ve seen do this best.<\/b><\/h3>\n

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When <\/span>Daron Robertson<\/span><\/a> hired me at Jacobson, I was a “guinea pig” with a lot of unknowns. The market was shaky thanks to the economy at the time and there were no promises that what we were trying to do was even going to work. <\/span><\/p>\n

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However, Daron was incredible at creating a safe place where I had room to grow, learn, and contribute. He always listened to feedback from me and our customers (and not just a passing \u201cyeah I hear you and I\u2019m still going to do what I want to\u201d kind of listening). And even more importantly, he acted on it \u00a0\u2013 he worked tirelessly make sure I got what I needed to be successful.<\/span><\/p>\n

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The result? I quadrupled the revenue for the entire organization. The only way I could’ve ever done that was thanks to his efforts as a leader. <\/span><\/p>\n

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World-class leaders are master listeners.<\/b><\/h2>\n

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I\u2019m of the belief that there are few skills more important in life or business than listening. It\u2019s been my secret weapon for years, and it has single-handedly allowed me to crush quotas in every role I\u2019ve been in.<\/span><\/p>\n

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So when I saw <\/span>the work that Gong.io has been doing<\/span><\/a> on analyzing sales conversations with AI, I wasn\u2019t surprised that the data backs this notion. Top performing salespeople spend on average just 43% of the time talking on a call, while most salespeople spend way more time talking than they think.<\/span><\/p>\n

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But with leadership, the table stakes are even higher. And as Daron showed me above, one of the key ways that great leaders create psychological safety is to be remarkable listeners. I mean, how eager will you be to speak up if you don\u2019t believe your boss is absorbing what you say, right?<\/span><\/p>\n

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Great leaders take their team\u2019s contributions seriously, and go out of their way to show their people that they\u2019re valued by truly absorbing what they say. It\u2019s no different than what you would expect from your friends, family, or significant other, right?<\/span><\/p>\n

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The leader I\u2019ve seen do this best.<\/b><\/h3>\n

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Zac Lowder<\/span><\/a> is the epitome of a great listener and a great leader\u2026 if you look up EQ in the dictionary, I\u2019d bet money his picture would be front and center. <\/span><\/p>\n

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When Zac is involved in something he gives it 100+% every time. This includes how he interacts with those around him \u2013 when you speak, you always have his undivided attention. And this quality is something that has directly impacted the performance of his team at Inspire. He has created a culture and team that would gladly fall on their swords for him and are killing it as well.<\/span><\/p>\n

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World-class leaders are incredible communicators.<\/b><\/h2>\n

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As the old adage goes, <\/span>\u201cpeople don\u2019t care what you have to say unless they know you care about them first.\u201d<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

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This is especially true for leaders. How will your people trust the direction you are setting without trusting that you have their best interests in mind?<\/span><\/p>\n

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I believe there are few skills in leadership and in life that are more important than communication. Communication done right can turn a tense situation into a calm one, make a bland message inspiring, and take otherwise unmotivated people and get them fired up. But the opposite is also true too \u2013 it can totally demotivate people to perform at higher levels when done wrong.<\/span><\/p>\n

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I\u2019ve said this before but it bears repeating: <\/span>humans make decisions emotionally<\/span><\/a>, not logically. That means as a leader, you need to make sure you <\/span>connect<\/span><\/i> with people first before they\u2019ll ever get on board with your authority. <\/span><\/p>\n

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You <\/span>must<\/span><\/i> ask yourself, how are you inspiring the team to get behind your mission? Keep in mind, doing this is more than just your words. It\u2019s everything you do to connect, including your presence, actions, attitude, tone of voice, the way you phrase things, your timing, and more. <\/span><\/p>\n

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And as a leader, you have to be on point with all of these elements to earn the respect of your team and create a culture of psychological safety.<\/span><\/p>\n

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The leader I\u2019ve seen do this best.<\/b><\/h3>\n

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Aline Eastwick-Field<\/span><\/a> hands down was one of the best leaders I\u2019ve ever worked for. During our time together at Indeed, I never had to guess what she was thinking or if she cared\u2026 she just nailed it every time! <\/span><\/p>\n

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Aline was a pro at setting clear goals and had regular team brainstorming sessions that were actually productive (where she listened hard). She was always insistent on finding better ways to engage prospects and customers and used these sessions to deepen the communication on our team. <\/span><\/p>\n

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To put things in perspective regarding how effective her communication was, the day I found out I wasn’t going to work for her anymore, I actually cried <\/span>(note: if your people are crying when they leave you, you\u2019ve done something right)<\/span><\/i>.<\/span><\/p>\n

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Speaking of crying, <\/span>Frank Schneider<\/span><\/a> tops the list of remarkable leaders that when it was time for him to move on his team was passing the Kleenex box. He\u2019s a gem of a leader that is a combination of all of these qualities wrapped into one amazing human being!<\/span><\/p>\n

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World-class leaders have an unwavering vision.<\/b><\/h2>\n

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How are your people going to follow you if you\u2019re not sure where you\u2019re going? (Answer: they\u2019re not)<\/span><\/p>\n

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The best leaders I\u2019ve ever worked for always have a strong sense of where they are going and what needs to be done to get there at all times. Not only that, they are exceptional at communicating and articulating what that vision looks like to inspire those around them to greatness. <\/span><\/p>\n

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But most importantly of all, they are really good at showing their people <\/span>why<\/span><\/i> they should get excited about it. In fact, I\u2019d go as far as saying that true vision is about knowing \u201cwhy\u201d you\u2019re doing something, not just what or how you\u2019re doing it. <\/span><\/p>\n

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This is exactly why I just love Simon Sinek and why this video below always ends up in my posts \u2013 the guy just nails it:<\/span><\/p>\n

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