The Vision

                       

Back during my days at the university, I spent a lot of time studying about leadership.  What are key components of being a good leader? This is something we pondered and debated in class regularly.  One overarching characteristic we always arrived at was a leader must have an inspiring vision. Sure, that makes perfect sense, I thought to myself.  I understood it on a theoretical level, but at that time, I hadn't had the chance to experience it in a practical sense.

Over the years, I've worked at a several companies and have had the opportunity to see this realized in a practical sense.  I have been lucky enough to experience great leadership early on in my career which set the bar for every company afterwards.  This leader was able to inspire us all towards our common goals.  He also instilled a sense of excellence in each of us.  We learned nothing less than our best was acceptable. Not only did he continually inspire us to reach toward these goals, we were filled with excitement and passion on the journey.

As time went on, the inevitable job changes occurred.  With this came a few different companies each with strengths and weaknesses and more opportunity for me to listen and learn - and sharpen my own skills.   I spent some time in companies where the leadership was not so strong.  Working in a place with no vision or, worse yet, a place where the leadership team itself had a misguided understanding of their own purported vision, the value of a vision began to sink in on the practical level.

The most detrimental atmosphere is when the leadership itself proclaims an inspiring vision but fails to back it up. There is no worse tragedy than having a great group of talented people become frustrated and disheartened by being told one thing by the leadership team yet held to different and unspoken expectations. When the vision is one thing, but the reality is something far different, it becomes a recipe for disaster. Working towards one goal only to be told you aren't doing what you are supposed to be doing creates confusion and disillusionment. As I stood watching brilliant, capable, and dedicated people stifled, publicly admonished, and punished by the management, my own disillusionment grew.

I've taken good and bad things from every place I've been lucky enough to be a part of.  My outlook on it is this: it is something to learn from -simply a lesson. The flip side of seeing the not so good stuff is how much it can strengthen my own resolve to do better.  All those debates from college still whisper in my head - and now, not only do I understand on a theoretical level, I get it on the practical level.  A company will be made (or conversely broken) by the vision of the company.

For a little more reading on the topic, I recommend an article by John Ryan on Forbes.com.  He outlines three fundamentals of effective leadership: vision, communication, and judgment. One point he made is how ineffective the vision is when communication remains in your head. It truly is imperative to not only talk to your team, but to listen.

Stopping to talk and listen can seem a waste of time. It’s easy to cut off debate too early, especially in this economically trying moment.
Still, mustering the discipline and time to share strategies with your staff or talk directly with your clients is only half the fight. You still need to communicate effectively–and that means being your organization’s chief listening officer. 

At EMITTI, we are committed to fostering an environment where we actively listen, encourage, and challenge each person who is part of our team.  If this sounds like a place you'd like to be a part of, contact us today.

The price of a hero culture: how quality plays into growth

Startups are a blast.  Talk to anyone who has ever worked in one and you will undoubtedly hear a few wild stories.  Legends are created in these places.  Tales of flying helicopters, break rooms filled with pool tables, fuse-ball tables, and a stocked refrigerator.  Among the more "epic" startups you might even find a fridge stocked with beer.

Taking the company to the next level - this is what each person is working towards.  The excitement fills the air.  There is a sense of urgency at all times.  There is no such thing as down time.  Every minute is used and is valuable.

If you want to learn? A startup is where you go. The breadth of exposure is significantly larger than that of a bigger company.  You may have a say in the marketing plan or a chance to go to industry trade shows - things which could be quite different from your actual job. You are probably on a first name basis with the executive team.  The CEO typically knows your spouse's name and what your hobbies are.  It is one of the best way to build your network and experience quickly.

But with any company, there are always challenges.  Growth in startups often stagnates once it hits a certain point.  The executive teams do not always have the experience or the wisdom to move the company forward. At times, heroism culture gets in the way.

For those of you who have worked in a startup, you know exactly who the hero is.  He's the guy who will promise anything at any cost or loves to be the star of the meeting.  He might be the one who comes up with the great ideas; the one who works until 4AM to get the product out the door.  The culture of heroism values "delivering" complex products in such a short time.  It becomes a celebration of a single person "making it happen". "We get sh*t done!" becomes the battle cry.

The darker side of this celebration is it often leads to an unspoken view that heroism culture is more valuable than quality.  It is not outwardly declared, but everyone knows it. The company inadvertently and maybe even unknowingly stands behind delivering poor products at the expense of allowing the hero culture to take root.

There might be a certain appeal when 2 year old Jordan acts like a clown at the dinner table despite being told to eat his dinner.  However, when Jordan grows up to the ripe age of 15, we no longer find his actions quite so endearing.

Valuing fast work over quality works for a while, particularly, when the company is young. But you ultimately grow up whether you chose to or not.  No longer can any naiveté be claimed at this stage of the game.  There will be a heavy price to pay when quality is ignored: growth.