Some Of The Traits Of A Great Start-Up Leader

The truth is that, a Leader irrespective of the maturity of an organisation plays an extremely challenging role. A Leader sets the direction and steers the fate of an organisation and is the decision maker, the leader, manager, executor and also the communicator. Having said that, the role of a start-up Leader is much more challenging as, such a Leader must establish and nurture an industry transforming organisation. Charisma takes a backseat to authentic leadership in a start-up.

In my opinion, a good start-up Leader must be like a coach; helping the team set goals, planning for the future and realigning the team whenever they deviate off course. As the coach you must ensure the team moves alongside you, dynamically converting challenges into immediate and long term opportunities.

I Thoroughly Enjoy Start-ups

Relocating from United Kingdom to Canada is more of start-up. I find venturing into the unknown; establishing and implementing a vision; all very exciting. While every start-up faces challenges such as; time constraints, no safety net of a large and established budget, impatient people around you etc; no two start-ups are the same. When I relocated from Nigeria to United Kingdom years years back, the start-up then was quite different to the start-up I faced to the start-up relocating from United Kingdom to Canada. Only that the expectation then is different from now. In bringing this to business level shown that every start up comes with its own set of unique challenges and it is crucial that you are able to chart the organisation accordingly.

Below, I have highlighted some of my key learning through my experiences in various different start-ups vis-a-vis business and personal experiences 

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Leading by action is key in any organisation and more so in a start-up. It has a huge impact on moulding the culture and setting the standard for your team and organisation. Leading by your actions will earn you respect, credibility, and loyalty, all of which is critical as your organisation expands.

What doesn’t kill you makes you stronger:

As a leader you should be able to function under stress; or to put it more bluntly, you need to revel and be happy to wallow in it. The path to success is strewn with stress and chaos and as the Leader you have to be extremely comfortable dealing with the abstract and be able to create a vision and charter from that abstract. Your vision must inspire, motivate and allow your team to feel a deep sense of ownership.

I have seen some leaders that do have a great and clear vision but avoid conflicts and work for a consensus; however such a strategy could result in slowing down the execution and decision making process, the accountability and even stop creativity. Tension and in particular creative tension is positive. Great start up leaders are like swans on water; calm and collected on the surface, directing traffic perfectly under the most stormy or chaotic conditions but under the water their feet are moving at over 18 miles an hour. Of, for and By the People It is always about the people!

In every organisation my employees are always my first priority. It is them who will make or break an organisation. traffic perfectly under the most stormy or chaotic conditions but under the water their feet are moving at over 18 miles an hour. Of, for and By the People It is always about the people!
                                                                                                            
Start-up Leaders must know how to sell their vision and inspire their people with energy and the belief to do more than they thought possible. Being a leader means inspiring everyone in your organisation, every single day; to have the same passion as you, to achieve the vision you have. Get your team to visualise and genuinely believe the end game as well as today's task. The energy you build will be phenomenal. A start up Leader must be able to create deep relationships. This is so critical and not something that can be faked. As the leader you must engage with everyone in your team, inspire them and even carry them on your shoulders if required. Some of the worst behaviours  arise from having incompatible or unengaged people trying to work together. In order to be effective and drive effective behaviour, you need to connect with your entire team. Personal engagement and belief is critical and it means that you engage them, coach them and inspire them knowing what is important to them.

The Weakest Link:

I strongly believe that a good start up Leader must be exceptionally good at two basic things - hiring and firing. You need the ability to read people quickly and have a natural knack for hiring great talent and cultural fits. Similarly you must be good at firing people. In Start-ups it is always about cohesive energies, teamwork and belief in the mission. You don't have the luxury of time to procrastinate, it is your job as the leader to motivate your team but if you have reached a point of no return with a team member; it is time to make the call. I firmly believe that good Leader's do not compromise and are great at hiring A class talent but are also equally good at getting rid of misfits or wrong hires.

Give a little, Live a lot:

As a Start-up Leader, I take it upon myself to understand every aspect of the business. I like knowing the details and understanding all the pieces involved in running a well-oiled machine and the knowledge allows me to get involved if I need to. However, with that being said; looking back I do empower my team to make and own their decisions. I delegate authority when I feel that someone is ready. This I believe it essential and directly correlated to their motivation, growth and the level of engagement in the company's mission.

Contrary to some traditional schools of thought, I don't agree with the view that if a Leader asks questions, it is a sign of weakness. I am always asking questions such as - "how much does this part costs, what is its life span and where and how long does it take for us to procure it… etc.”      

Need for Speed:

I make it a point to coach my son in football. During quarterback drills, I always tell them: "Set Fast, Set early, make your reads, Get the ball out, own the play, and take the yards, does it again. Quick. Win win"

Being an excellent decision-maker seems almost too obvious to state but from my perspective it is the differentiator and a critical aspect of a good start up Leader. As the captain in the cockpit, a professional athlete or the frontline general you must train yourself with enough repetition and practice to make split second decisions, own them and communicate them crisply to your team.

As a Start-up Leader you need to be comfortable taking large Risks. There is no time for second guesses. Make decisions, own those decisions and keep moving. You have to execute, execute and keep moving. "Talk" if you must, but "do" and keep doing more.

In reality you won’t necessarily have the time to scroll through pages of excel sheets and data points; you are racing to capture potential opportunities with a first mover advantage while ensuring that capital spent for that day and even every hour has a return. The key for me is speed. Equally important for me is to clearly declare my views, own the decision and communicate the direction clearly. This, if done well from my perspective has an extremely positive ripple effect. It builds and inspires confidence in the team. I have learnt that nothing can deflate morale, momentum and confidence; like lack of clarity and competing group or personal goals.

Furthermore, the best Start-up Leader keep learning every day. This allows them to be extremely adaptable, nimble and agile. When I was in school, I was not motivated by scoring the highest in class; I was more interested in understanding the practicality of everything we were learning. I loved sciences because I could test what I had learnt. I was fascinated by history and saw a lot of real learning in them. Management and economics came easier as they were straightforward and rational.

As a Start-up Leader/ Project Manager, I strongly believe that being street smart is more important than being Book smart. Similarly, the end is often more important than the process. You need to be ok with things not going accordingly to plan or being perfect. How you deal with imperfection or disruptions is rather much more important. Having a sense of urgency is also critical and if you are used to multi-tasking, stress, chaos and frustrations you learn to internalize that and show the calm, collected and rational decision marker when things go off plan or haywire. Getting out and talking to my customers, competitors and team members was always more important to me than tons of analytical data and computer research. In my role over the last five years at one of my most tasking moments I have held 5 critical roles myself working nights and weekends to help my team members. As a leader you are the pace maker and you work to set the vision, quick wins, discipline, culture and ethics.

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In a start-up it is crucial that you are accessible to your team and are able to schedule regular one-on-one sessions with every single person. As the head coach of the organisation, remember that you cannot coach a player without understanding their skills, goals, challenges and concerns.

Feel the Pulse:

As a leader you are expected to know and understand the fast changing environment that you are operating in. Technology is constantly advancing and as unreasonable as it sounds you must always remain two steps ahead of the industry. A clear vision that is communicated well will inspire your team. It is also important to be realistic; pace your wins and achievements and thus make even the challenging goals very achievable. As the leader, you must chart the course and re-navigate as and when required. The smallest error could mean a loss of market share and profits and in some cases, even extinction. In my opinion, a mistake is usually a learning opportunity; however a mistake caused due to a poor understanding of your working environment is not tolerable.

I, have a Dream:

Everyone in today's world must have courage and the ability to take risks. This is an absolute must for Start-up quality. You need to be comfortable in taking massive risks and staying undeterred even when the whole world calls you crazy, inexperienced or an amateur. Believe in yourself and there will be no stopping you.

It is OK, in fact necessary, to be different and unconventional. A start-up is all about creating something new while challenging status quo and going against the tide. This needs fortitude and bravado and also persistence. All in all, you are going to have failures. That is a given. It's not an "if" but rather "when" and "how much". For me, some of my best learning have been due to failures and how I pick myself up and turn it into learning.

Have the courage to dream big, and even more courage to take the plunge to make the dream happen; no matter what conventional wisdom says. Be special, be different and ultimately, be extraordinary.