Читать книгу Lead Upwards - Sarah E. Brown - Страница 22

Due to systemic and internalized bias, many qualified people never go for leadership roles in a startup, even if they want them. About ten years into my startup career, I noticed that many startup leaders had backgrounds that looked comparable to mine on paper before going for the executive role. I wondered what their resumes were missing that made them qualified.

It turned out that these individuals were not necessarily more qualified. Once in the roles, they'd learned the skills of the role, which was something I (and many others) were perfectly capable of doing too. If you're comparing your resume to someone else's, you may not see the work they've done or the mentorship they've received outside of their official roles. And, truth be told, many startup executives get their first “shot” based on perceived potential and learn the skills they need on the job. So let's unpack the skills and backgrounds that are necessary to become an effective startup leader.

Here's what you do need to make the leap from mid‐level contributor to startup leader:

 Valuable and measurable expertise and track record of success in a key startup functional area (e.g., engineering, marketing, product, sales, customer success, operations).

 Some experience in management. If you're a first‐time startup executive and first‐time manager, it will be much harder.

 Willingness to learn how to work with financial shareholders. Until you've done a board meeting (we'll talk about how to prepare for these), you won't know what it's really like.

 Willingness to learn how to communicate effectively at scale, with multiple stakeholders. Make great slides and write clearly and persuasively.

 Be data‐driven. All startups require data to inform their decisions, and today's startup executives are expected to develop data literacy.

 Willingness to fail and improve. Startups are built around learning and iterating. You'll need to do this constantly in your role to see which areas of yours are underperforming and need adjustment, using data (see above).

The key element in all of the above is a willingness to learn. If you want to be a startup leader, don't fret if you don't have all of the skills and experience at this very moment in time, because, in reality, no one does before doing the job. You can do it and learn along the way. (We'll talk about the “how” for addressing skill gaps in the next chapters.)

The phrase “growth mindset” coined by Carol Dweck is a Silicon Valley favorite for a reason; it's crucial for people at any role in a startup to learn, adapt, and grow, but the executive especially must grow their abilities as their startup grows.

Empactr co‐founder and CEO Chris Senesi says the key skill he looks for in startup leaders is that they, above all, are initiators.

“I like when an individual is passionate about something and they champion it,” said Senesi. “Taking initiative and ownership in an area builds trust. Leaders then get to create something new and show their skills and expertise. You don't have to be a startup founder to initiate.”

This leads to the next big takeaway for “essential skills and experience” in startup leaders: prior “big‐company” or other scaling startup expertise.