Startups and Entrepreneurship

ou've likely seen reverse leadership in action. It happens when someone not in a formal leadership role demonstrates great leadership ability: when a field service agent steps up with a solution to a persistent problem, for example; when a customer service rep inspires her colleagues through her exemplary customer-centric behavior.

 

When someone on an account team improves dramatically after being constructively coached by a fellow team member.

 

Reverse leadership doesn't replace regular leadership. Nor is it a sign that the official leaders in an organization are doing a bad job. Quite the contrary. Rarely does strong leadership ability show up at lower levels in the hierarchy if senior leaders aren't very effective in their roles.

 

Some reverse leaders are people quite content to remain individual contributors, like the scientist who has no interest in managing a team but cares deeply about the company's mission.

 

Others are young employees just approaching or on the first rungs of the formal leadership track. Still others have some leadership abilities but lack some vital element of leadership, like the sales professional who excels in creating strategy but doesn't yet have the skills needed to manage a sales team.

I did a post a few weeks ago on “thinking outside the motivational box,” and a number of readers wrote to me saying essentially that while creative extrinsic rewards are all well and good, in the end nothing is more effective than “a sincere thank you for a job well done.”

 

This is a great point – just because something should be obvious doesn’t mean it always is. Two observations after decades of management

 

1) Recognition (or lack thereof) is always a key element of employee engagement.

2) In a business environment where people are extraordinarily busy and routinely asked to do more with less, all too often successful tasks and projects are completed without recognition for those involved.

 

The pace is frantic so when one job is done, it’s on to the next. Taking the exceptionally small amount of time it requires – by email, vmail, text, tweet, FaceBook, phone… or best yet (a novel idea) in person – to stop what you’re doing and say a simple thank you is one of the easiest, cheapest and best investments an executive can make.

 

Appreciation can be a difference maker, just as silence can. A brief story from my own career…

Back in another millennium I once wrote a speech for a chief operating officer addressing a major sales conference. The COO, a man of around 60, had made a habit of running three miles a day every day, literally never missing a day for over 700 days, even in the coldest months of a New England winter.

 

The speech focused on his running and what it meant to him, but more importantly it was a metaphor for the day-in, day-out discipline that a top salesperson needs, and ultimately the satisfaction derived from such focused efforts. It was a personal, heartfelt message.

 

I didn’t attend the conference, which was thousands of miles away, but the day after it ended I received at my home a large fruit basket. With it was a short note from the COO telling me simply how he appreciated my help with the speech and how well it had been received.

 

That was many years ago. I never forgot the gesture, and you can be sure it forever shaped my opinion of the man and the lengths I would go to do my utmost best for him.

"If you're really passionate about what you do, but it's not going to make you a lot of money, should you still do it?" What a great question!

 

What a great question! It seems like just about everyone who has ever addressed a graduating class of high school or college seniors has said "Do what you love, the money will follow."

 

Inspiring. But it is true? Couldn't you do what you truly care about and very well go broke, as the question above (recently sent from one of our readers) implies?

 

Based on the research we did for our book, we're convinced that when you're heading into the unknown, desire is all-important. You simply want to be doing something that you love, or something that is logically going to lead to something you love, in order to do your best work. That desire will make you more creative and more resourceful, and will help you get further faster.

A powerful network is the key to success in most marketing strategies.

 

Your network is your most powerful tool when it comes to spreading messages. If you didn’t read it yet, I invite you to read my article “The basics of network marketing” explaining the involvement of a personal network in any business strategy.

But to go further, to create real powerful network that you can use in a real business situation, you must change yourself into a Connector.

 

Connectors rule the world

Connectors have a power most people will never have: they always know someone.

 

In this article I will teach you how to become a Connector and make the best use of this new ability to develop your business.

 

If you do not know what a Connector is or if you would like to learn more about how to integrate Connectors in a global Viral strategy, please refer to my article “The art of starting an epidemic”.

 

To summarize, Connectors are people who naturally have tons of friends.

Recognizing a Connector is pretty easy: if you have around you someone who goes out almost every day to meet some friends, this person is most probably a Connector.

Health care, long ignored by VCs who didn’t understand it, is now so obviously broken that it can’t be ignored, Rock Health, the crusading seed incubator in San Francisco where I’m a mentor , has done a study of VC-funded healthcare startups. According to Rock Health’s survey, which is admittedly incomplete, 35 companies have received $2 million or more in funding in 2011 alone. But that’s only 2% of the startups. The rest, we can assume, are bootstrapping in one way or another. And although 2011 shapes up to be a record year in venture funding for the segment, surpassing the previous record year 2010, much remains to be done.

 

I see a fair amount of business plans – it’s an occupational hazard. And over the years I’ve been asked by a few angel investors to assist vetting companies seeking financing.

 

Not long ago I sat with a company to discuss their business plan. The CEO and founder of this start-up presented his operating and growth plan. His basic plan was to achieve a level of sales and raise another $8-10M in a future round of financing.

 

They had all the charts, financial data, revenue forecasts, market studies, etc. Every chart was up and to the right — every conclusion was a tremendous return in years 3-5.

What kind of leaders do we need today? Steve Jobs — mysterious, charismatic, intriguing — is often cited as one of the recent greats, and there are clearly benefits to his style. A recent study showed that leaders like him — those perceived as having an almost magical aura — are seen as visionary, with employees and customers clamoring to touch the hem of their garments. But that kind of leadership also has its limitations.

 

Succession is made harder by a towering and mysterious personality (good luck, Tim Cook). And, even more importantly, there's no formula for becoming charismatic. You could try to model others — emulating Jobs' cool reserve, exacting standards, and mercurial temper, for instance. But the nuances are subtle; you're just as likely to come off as aloof or entitled, rather than intriguing. The harder, but more rewarding, path as a leader is to make yourself known — to your employees, your customers, and the public. Here are three reasons the new leadership imperative is all about transparency.

If I had to pick one skill for the majority of leaders I work with to improve, it would be assertiveness. Not because being assertive is such a wonderful trait in and of itself. Rather, because of its power to magnify so many other leadership strengths.

 

Assertiveness gets a bad rap when people equate it with being pushy and annoying. But that shouldn't stop you from learning to apply it productively (that is — in service to your strengths). More harm is done when people aren't assertive enough than by being too assertive. At least you know what pushy people think, but those who don't assert themselves can be keeping vital ideas hidden and useless when they don't speak up or speak too softly. So I'd assert that when you are able to balance this critical skill with your other leadership abilities, you greatly amplify your power and impact.

"Leadership" has changed when a decentralized group of people can take down a government. "The Value Chain" has changed when the customer is no longer just the "buyer" but also a co-creator.

With so many “experts” clamoring to be heard above the din online, it can be hard to stand out. However, I’ve found several sites that do seem to give consultants and small business owners the leg up when it comes to establishing expertise. Each of the sites lets you answer questions in your field, which expands your reach and helps build trust with potential clients.

 

In Blanchard’s work with culture clients, a key part of a successful culture initiative is the transition of the senior leader from a self-serving leader to a servant leader. Self-serving leadership is, unfortunately, a very strongly modeled approach to influencing others in Western society. Servant leadership is gaining strength – and high-performance, values-aligned cultures require it from their senior leaders.

 

Source: www.drivingresultsthroughculture.com

The Context for Ethical Leadership is Broader Than You May Think

The context for understanding ethical leadership is evolving as we connect information from a wide variety of disciplines that have not traditionally worked together. Here are some quotes from the Leading in Context Blog that illustrate the edges of its context:

We hear a lot about how important it is to have a vision, whether for an organization or at the individual level. During my (too) long career in government I was part of numerous vision and mission-building exercises. Similar to those done in the private sector the results were often tepid and short-lived. This is not surprising since the North American mentality of wanting instant results without sustained commitment, combined with limited attention spans, pervades our organizations.