The one thing every entrepreneur will have to do, whether a startup environment or in an established business, is to deal with people. Here are a few things I have learnt on the way:
Surround yourself with the best people
When I meet young entrepreneurs, my only advise to them is that they should surround themselves with smart people and spend as much time with them as possible. It is said that a man is an average of the five people he spends most of his time with. The amount you are able to learn from being with them and observing what and how they deal with situations is far greater than what you will ever learn from doing anything else.
Hire people better than you
I am sure you may have heard this before, that you must always hire people who are smarter than you. There is no doubt that you may yourself be intelligent, but it can only help you, if you find and hire someone who is smarter than you. Unfortunately, I have seen people feel threatened by hiring people smarter than themselves in their organization; it kind of makes me feel sad for the company. The only time I have succeeded is when; a team of people who could do better than me, became my biggest support. Build a team that you would be proud of, treat them right, empower them and the “trust” them. If you are lucky to find some smart people with high level of integrity, then even bend backwards to hold on to them.
Don’t just go by their suit
Also, when I moved from working with Indian companies to truly international organizations, I learnt that true leaders don’t have to fit typical stereotypes. You need not necessarily be in a suit to be a CEO. It may be a functional requirement for certain industries or some may wear a suit because you enjoy wearing it, but that is it. When I was young, I saw a very senior colleague of my father, who was recognized as an ace performer, be in a trouser and shirt with his sleeves always rolled as those of a college student, but none could match his performance, deliverables, energy levels, aura and respect he commanded. I also saw similar rock-stars when I worked at Google and few other organizations during my journey. It does not mean that people should not dress well for meetings (people must dress for the occasion and even show respect for clients they meet), but it’s just that their clothes don’t define how smart they are.
Hire leaders in your team, not bosses
When it comes to managing teams, I learnt very early on the difference between a boss and a leader. I have had the opportunity to be led by people who were compassionate, showed empathy, led by example, became friends and took time out of office to travel together and were there by your side to genuinely stand by you when you needed the most. I have been fortunate to have had an opportunity to work with some of finest people in the industry since my early career. As I moved on, through think and thin, they remained. They were approachable when you seek help. It is because of them that I immediately could figure out the difference between leaders and bosses later when I dealt with others who were not as empathetic. This experience reflects in my approach when lead my teams now.
People management begins at home
The most important people to begin managing are your family. Whatever happens to your business that affects your mood; reflects in your temperament at home. Your spouse and children are the most affected in your tough times. This is more likely to happen with young entrepreneurs who leave their cushy jobs to bootstrap their startup. Their families can either be a pillar of strength or their weakness. Things are good as long as people experience success, but in tough times the family could well be the reason they either persevere to pursue their dream, or give up. It is important for people to know that “they” may bootstrap to do a startup, but it may be unfair for them to force their family to change their lifestyles. It may be worthwhile to have a buy-in of the spouse before doing a startup and make a choice only after considering how lifestyles may be affected and for how long.
To sum up, one of the lead roles you play as a business leader, is that of managing people. You may be a master seller or a financial wizard, but as a leader you cannot ignore the people part of the business. Don’t we all see the stereotypes being challenged today?
