Leadership in Startups

Starting Business Based Doing What You Love Four Steps Follow
 While on active duty I had the pleasure of working for ADM Bill McRaven back when he was the Commanding officer of SEAL Team 3.  He has since risen through his own abilities to fame from the successful leadership of the Bin Laden operation along with countless other special operations notable to the military.  While I worked for ADM McRaven I remember a specific incident during which he was discussing an officer who had gotten into trouble for going out drinking with his platoon, leading to what was termed an “alcohol related incident”, code word at the time for a DUI, drunken bar fight with police involved, or some other career ending incident.  ADM McRaven made a very interesting observation:  “Eric, your men will ask you to go out and get drunk with them and hang out as best buddies on a first name basis, and they may even give you a hard time if you don’t.  The reality is, however, that they don’t want you going out and getting drunk and stupid with them.  They want their officers to be a step above, if not irreproachable at least with greater discretion and holding themselves to a higher standard.”
Adm. William H. McRaven gives remarks...

Adm. William H. McRaven gives remarks during the U.S. Special Operations Command change of command ceremony held at the Davis Conference Center, MacDill Air Force Base, FL. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

I’ve listened to and repeated those words, both in the military and beyond, a number of times, and the truth of them has become clear, time after time, over the years.  This mentality applies to leadership in the civilian world as well.  Former HP CEO Mark Hurd found that out the hard way, with behavior that probably happened thousands of times at HP without note or incident, but which in the CEO was not tolerable.  When people are following a leader for their vision, they want that leader to be, or at least act, as if they are a little above and separate.

 In a start up or small company I would argue that leadership is more critical than in a large bureaucracy, with the exception of people in key leadership positions such as Mr. Hurd.  As a program or division leader in a large company, one can hide behind positional authority, a bureaucratic infrastructure, or someone else’s vision and not be required to develop or exhibit any personal leadership.  Every person that has ever worked in any company has met people in leadership positions who fit into this category, it is far more common than not.  In a startup, however, people are there (hopefully) not because they can’t get a job at a larger company, but instead because they are bought into a vision and culture of the small company to do something they couldn’t do at a larger firm.  This requires whoever is the originator and “keeper” of the vision to be able to communicate their vision to others and inspire as well as manage them.  There is a responsibility on the part of the vision-keeper to also lead those who follow, rather than abdicating the responsibility to lead, or just mis-managing.

There are some natural leaders, but I think most leaders have a combination of natural ability and desire to lead with lots of learning.  I personally look towards mentors who have aspects of leadership that I strive to emulate.  One of my former bosses and a good friend, Bruce Carothers, was a respected and loved leader by his teams, who would follow him from company to company to work for him.  Bruce was always fair, but one thing (among many others) that I learned from him was to lead with compassion.  Even when firing employees for cause, he would exhibit extreme compassion for his people.  Another mentor, Jerry Moy, was my Commanding Officer at another Navy Unit.  Jerry taught me to only focus on what’s important, and to not create stress over things that wouldn’t matter.  The President of my current company, RADM (ret) Ham Tallent, has a unique presence when he deals with people, particularly in stressful situations, that has a calming effect on those around him.

There are numerous other examples of leadership that I’ve seen demonstrated up close as well as from a distance, and whenever I note someone doing something that has a particularly strong effect on me, I try to take note and see if I can incorporate a portion of that into my own leadership style.  It’s a continuing journey and path, but it is a very good path.

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