Newsletter #12: Notes on Leadership

8 minutes reading time. Thoughts on startups, growth, and technology 🚀

Apr 05, 2020

Hey there,

Running a business in such turbulent times have pushed me to reflect on what is my definition of leadership, especially in the context of dynamic organizations like startups, and in times of high uncertainty.

The thing about leadership is that we all believe we know what it is, yet it's hard to be articulated. Similar to how the Supreme Court of Justice Potter Steward defined pornography when he said:

"I know it when I see it."

Perhaps a better definition comes from former Secretary of State Colin Powell who said:

“You have achieved excellence as a leader when people will follow you anywhere if only out of curiosity.”

But ultimately it boils down to the quality, quantity, and diversity of the people who want to follow you.

Ben Horowitz describes 3 key traits of leadership:

The ability to articulate the vision
The right kind of ambition
The ability to achieve the vision

The ability to articulate the vision - the Steve Jobs Attribute

Some people are born better storytellers than others, but that's definitely a skill you can improve through practice. Here, we are reflecting on whether a leader can articulate a vision that's interesting, dynamic, and compelling. Especially, when things are hard, the financial targets are not met, layoffs take place, the investment does not go through, customers disappear, etc. When such events take place, will the leader still be able to articulate a vision that's compelling enough that the team continues to support her, if only out of curiosity?

It's called the Steve Jobs attribute because Jobs is one of the most visionary leaders who ever lived. After all, he managed to save Apple when it was weeks away from bankruptcy. I cannot think of any other popular example of a leader who was so compelling when articulating his vision to turn a desperate situation in one of the most successful companies on the planet.

The right kind of ambition - the Bill Campbell Attribute

For those of you who have not heard of Bill Campbell, he is an ex-football coach who ended up becoming one of the most effective and beloved people in Silicon Valley history. He coached Larry Page, Sergey Brin, Eric Schmidt, Sundar Pichai (Google), Steve Jobs (Apple), Brad Smith (Intuit), John Donahoe (eBay), Marissa Mayer (Yahoo), Dick Costolo (Twitter) and Sheryl Sandberg (Facebook).

A lot of people have the impression that business leaders are selfish, ruthless and callous. While it's true that you may meet people like that, most successful CEOs have the opposite traits. After all, being a leader you need to attract really great people to work for you, and the thing about smart people is that they don't want to work for people who do not have their interests in mind.

Great leaders create an environment where the employees feel that the CEO cares about her employees more than she cares about herself. In such environments, people have a lot of ownership of the company, their tasks and even what other people are doing.

Bill Campbell is the very definition of this trait, everyone who worked for him would refer to Cambell’s businesses as "my organization" or "my company". Here we are talking about an authentic approach to leadership where the leader is ready to sacrifice his own economics, fame, glory, and rewards for her employees.

Ability to achieve the vision - the Andy Grove Attribute

By now we have a leader who is a great storyteller and cares deeply about me, but do I think she can actually achieve all that?

Andy Grove is the very model of competent CEO for many people, he earned a Ph.D. in Electrical Engineering, wrote one of the best management books (High Output Management), and achieved remarkable results at Intel. Grove changed the primary business of Intel when it was already a 16-year-old, large, public company, yet everyone trusted him. And he delivered, rebuilding the company around an entirely new business.

As the famous profession at Harvard Business School, Clay Christensen once said:

"Management is the most noble of professions if it’s practiced well. No other occupation offers as many ways to help others learn and grow, take responsibility and be recognized for achievement, and contribute to the success of a team. More and more MBA students come to school thinking that a career in business means buying, selling, and investing in companies. That’s unfortunate. Doing deals doesn’t yield the deep rewards that come from building up people."

To be truly successful in building up people, one needs to be a great leader, and that's especially true in turbulent times. Our ability to articulate a compelling vision, while showing authentic care for our people and delivering on their trust through great execution results in great leadership.

Share the Struggle

Articles/podcasts worth checking out:

📝What Makes a Strong Startup CEO | Gigi Levy-Weiss | NFX Blog - In all the companies I founded and invested in, one thing was always clear about leading a startup — it’s hard. Really hard.

📝 The Sad Truth About Developing Executives | Ben Horowitz | a16z Blog | March 16, 2015 - How could a great practice for a functional manager be a destructive one for a CEO?

📝Three Differences Between Managers and Leaders | Vineet Nayar | HBR | August 02, 2013 - A young manager accosted me the other day. “I’ve been reading all about leadership, have implemented several ideas, and think I’m doing a good job at leading my team. How will I know when I’ve crossed over from being a manager to a leader?” he wanted to know.

A quote worth remembering:

Novelist and playwright Edith Wharton on being a positive force:

“There are two ways of spreading light: to be the candle or the mirror that reflects it.”

A book recommendation:

Steve Jobs by Walter Isaacson - “…you can quote them, disagree with them, glorify or vilify them. About the only thing you can't do is ignore them. Because they change things. They push the human race forward.” Written by one of the best authors of biographies, including the bestselling books about the lives of Benjamin Franklin and Albert Einstein

Available as an audiobook as well, check it out.

Positive news worth sharing:

How was smallpox eradicated? Vaccination. Why are polio and diphtheria so rare? Vaccination. How are the world’s children protected from a serious illness? Vaccination.

Check out the source here.

Onward and upward 🚀