02/27 Define Your Management Style
Ownership #2: Take Ownership by Defining Your Management Style
Taking ownership of your company comes down to your management style. Again, we've heard about Founder's Mode, which is one type of style. But it's not universal. Founder’s mode has degrees — it should be more of a gauge that you adjust accordingly. Defining your style with just a few employees will help you hire and manage your team. It's early practice as you scale.
Your management style determines how closely you must know what your colleagues are doing and/or how much to assist them. It's like a gauge, adjusting up and down based on your priorities. That’s right: your priorities determine how closely you must work with that aspect of the business. Take some time today to decide how to manage in-person and/or elements of the company based on your most impactful Q1 priority.
Let me give you an example. When I joined Boku, Mark Britto (veteran founder/CEO) told us how he would manage. It was simple but crystal clear: Let me know what you do weekly. Provide clear product feedback to us. Let me know if you need me to join a deal or have any problems or deal blockers. Let's do a monthly review. I’ll assume all is great if I don't hear much from you. Let's grab a wine later.
His management style made it clear to me: He expected us to own our jobs and hired people who could step in and do them from day one. We were responsible for making a plan and providing the information he needed. When things weren't going well, he joined us at meetings, worked on the pitch deck, and closed a few deals. When things got better, he stepped back. His management style was like a retractable dog leash, but at all times, he owned it.
A CEO / Founder can't always be close to all aspects of the business. It's nearly impossible. So, at some points, you have to give full autonomy to your colleagues while digging into something else, like financing, an acquisition, scaling sales, etc... Yes, that comes down to the ONE THING you need for your needle-moving objective that quarter.
In the Masters of Scale Application (now closed down), Reid Hoffman talks about navigating the forest while keeping an eagle's eye view of the product from the sky above. He says that, early on, you must speak to customers, work with product and engineering, and pitch to high-level investors – all at the same time. Then, as the company grows, your role will change. You must hire domain experts, step out from among the trees, and lead your team. You may need to do this earlier than you think.
There is a lot of talk about Founders' mode, but I don't think it's for everyone, all of the time. There are degrees of founders' mode. So, today, when thinking about different aspects of your business, ask yourself: Do I need to get closer to this aspect of the company? Is this in line with my current priority? Do I need to step away and let the talented people I hire do their work? Define and adjust your management style to make optimal progress. Remember those hats you wear and how much time you spend on each — apply that idea to your business and quarterly objectives.
