Leadership Style for the New Business World

“Blockchain is not only crappy technology but a bad vision for the future. Its failure to achieve adoption to date is because systems built on trust, norms, and institutions inherently function better than the type of no-need-for-trusted-parties systems blockchain envisions. That’s permanent: no matter how much blockchain improves it is still headed in the wrong direction.” – Kai Stinchcome

(A futurist for Medium online magazine in 2018.)

A search for “Leadership” on Google shows hundreds of books, videos and programs. Many of them conflict advice with each other. I have viewed/read a lot of them. All I gain is a sense of how pathetic my leadership style is.

I say that tongue-in-cheek of course. There is no one ideal leadership style.

What is most common in the business world is a lack of leadership. So many abdicate responsibility and hide behind meetings to make themselves seem important. They pretend to be busy behind closed doors when in reality they are booking a hair appointment, or torture staff with weekly updates and performance reviews; all to make them seem necessary.

Most CEOs are not necessary but the conventional system says otherwise.

I prefer Sun Tzu’s definitions:

1. Lead by Example, Not by Force
Sun Tzu believed a leader should cultivate wisdom, benevolence, sincerity, and courage, as well as self discipline. These qualities, he believed, would inspire the troops to follow that leader out of respect. Leading by example is far more effective, he felt, than simply using strictness and punishment.

2. It’s Better to Do Nothing than to Act out of Fear
According to Sun Tzu, it is never wise to be driven by fear or desperation. These emotions cause you to take desperate risks and make mistakes. Instead, he counselled: ‘The wise leader will always patiently wait and observe when times are tough, and only make a move when there is a clear advantage.’

3. Never Make Decisions When You’re Angry
He believed it was always a bad idea for a leader to act out of anger. This, too, will only lead to rash decisions and fatal mistakes. The best leaders act out of reason alone, and never let emotions interfere. When you are upset, take a break, and don’t come back until your temper is under control.

4. Always be Thinking Several Steps Ahead
The best leaders, according to Sun Tzu, think several steps ahead of the current situation. Thinking several steps ahead allows one to be ready for anything the opponent tries, and to use ones resources with maximum efficiency.

5. Play Your Cards Close to Your Vest
He repeatedly said that wise leaders are very secretive about their plans. “Let your plans be dark, and as impenetrable as the night, so when you move, you will strike like lightning.”

6. Keep on Learning
The best leaders are always learning new things, according to Sun Tzu. Learning new things allows them to consistently best their competition and achieve things that most people cannot. Being a good student will make you a good leader.

7. Morale Is Important
Sun Tzu stressed that morale is a critical part of success in any competition, so a good leader must endeavor to keep morale high. He also stressed morale is important for ALL of the team, including those with the lowest positions. Never neglect the rank and file employees, or even those with the most menial jobs. “Remember: For want of a nail, the battle was lost.”

8. Encourage Teamwork
Sun Tzu advised that the most successful leaders do not rely too much on individuals. Instead, he advised, pick the right people to form teams to handle every situation. Using teams maximizes the effect of combined energy and wisdom, and does not over-stress individual people.

9. Neither Be Hasty nor Hesitate Too Much
Sun Tzu believed long delays were foolish. He also believed haste was shortsighted. Instead, he said, a leader should always act with deliberation, not making a move before everything is ready, and not waiting an instant once everything is ready.

The Takeaway

Sun Tzu’s ideal leader is a person of deliberation and knowledge. With patient study and self discipline, you can become the kind of leader who, as he said, need not fear the outcome of a hundred battles.

I myself have lived in the hub model by Lao Tzu’s axiom: ‘A leader is best when people barely know he exists, when his work is done, his aim fulfilled, they will say: ‘we did it ourselves.’ “

As your intention is to lead a non-employer start-up, I suggest you filter out anything written by anyone who has not built such a company. That leaves very few. No consultant can understand what it takes to actually build and sell a successful company. Yes, they can observe and comment. It might be useful commentary like a food critic commenting on a chef or restaurant critic describing the ambience. As my mother used to say, ‘if you want to know how to cook, seek the advice of a chef.’

In my regular career some of the best leaders I worked with had no leadership training at all. Some of the worst were avid readers of leadership books. No one can learn to be a leader from a course or a book.

We learn leadership by leading. Just start and figure it out. No one is born a leader. We learn how to lead when we start to lead.

If I were to judge myself by the attributes of leadership praised by all those consultants then I am not a good leader. I’m more visionary than doer which often means I do not communicate with a lot of detail. That can frustrate people. They have to guess what I want and mean. I have a very direct and sometimes confrontational style which can be construed as cold or aloof.

My opinions on leadership in the hub model are not from any book or course. They are from actual experience of building and exiting several companies.

There’s no magic or secret sauce. All you have to learn is how to direct a small group of highly talented and experienced people who already know what’s required to get the job done. You can trust them to get it done and go lie in a hammock. You have to do very little leadership at all other than offer a milestone, target, or expected final result of their work.

Share all the feedback from any part of the hub with the whole hub. It’s important to be clear and ensure everyone knows what everyone else is doing. That doesn’t mean you call regular update meetings, they slow down progress and annoy vendors. Instead, take responsibility for passing along all updates.

No matter how small a role a vendor plays they are part of the success of the whole. Make sure you regularly point out how important their role is to the benefit of the business and share every bit of good news.

Set up a place for sharing files and documents so vendors don’t have to ask for them.

Supervisory skills are usually unnecessary. If you find yourself needing to supervise you probably hired the wrong vendor or contractor.

Limit meetings to short, agenda-led, specific topics. There is no need for burdensome, ‘are we there yet?’ or ,’how did you do this week?’ nonsense. I have a 20 minute rule. If the meeting can’t be concluded in 20 minutes, it is poorly led.

The true measure of freedom is to be independent of the GOOD opinion of others. As the leader your job is not to make friends. You can be friendly without being friends.

Your decisions must be in the interest of the whole. This means you must make what you think are the right decisions regardless of what it means to you or others.

If you do not have the courage to fire your own granny, do not go into business.

The buck stops with you.

A leader is best when people barely know she exists, when her work is done, her aim fulfilled, they will say: ‘we did it ourselves.’

My Two Maxims:

I am no Sun Tzu, but I have formed a couple of opinions or as we say today hacks:

1.) Lead by making decisions that balance analysis with intuition. Always allow intuition to rule.

2.) Lead by always doing what you consider to be the right thing no matter what it means for you or others.

Regardless of the job or title, my main role in all my regular jobs was the leading of a small group. If you can lead a few people, then you have what it takes to be a successful leader of any size organization. You don’t need an MBA or some other management course. You just need to be authentic, self-confident, and discipline oriented.

There is no one-way to lead and there is no common element between great leaders. For instance, Google’s CEO Larry Page has degrees in engineering and computer science. Richard Branson dropped out of school at age sixteen. Neither could be said to be similar or to have similar traits, nor were they born leaders. Some leaders are extrovert and some are introvert. Some are tall and some are small. Some have humor and some take themselves seriously.

The short answer, when you put yourself in a position to lead, then you have to lead. People may judge you as a good leader or a bad leader depending on how they feel about you. Just lead anyway. Ditch all those books on what it takes to lead and just start leading.

My Three Leadership Imperatives:

1 – The Customer Comes First

2 – The Customer Comes First

3 – The Customer Comes First

Yes, the customer comes first. The rest is just detail.

Your customer is now your closest family. Their needs are more important than anyone’s, including your own.

When they speak, you shut up and listen. When they complain, you accept responsibility and improve. When they praise you, ensure everyone involved in their happiness gets to hear about it. When they call, you answer or call back.

When they need something, you help them, and regardless of whether there is a benefit in it for you. You exist to provide benefits to them. You are not in business for you, you are in business for them. Your main goal is to delight them.

Here’s a fantastic example:

Todd is a highly successful entrepreneur, it’s been my pleasure to know him for the last fifteen years. We have worked on many projects together and I hold him in the utmost regard. His customers adore him. It’s not just because of his exceptional business skills, it’s because he goes out of his way to help customers in any aspect of their lives. Whatever they need, he tries to find a solution for them simply because he cares.

I first met Todd while promoting a product at an exhibition. I listened as he struck up a conversation with an attendee. As they talked, she expressed frustration that a key member of her staff had resigned. Todd thought he knew someone who would be a perfect replacement, but it had been several years since their paths had crossed. He spent hours tracking her down. When he found her, he set up a meeting with the prospective employer and it was a match made in heaven.

Neither employer nor employees were ever Todd’s customers, but over the years both referred dozens of people to him who became his customers. Todd does not do those things for any potential gain, he does them because they are the right things to do. It’s in his nature to put other people’s needs first. That’s why he is also a successful businessman. Todd treats everyone as if they were VP of purchasing at Wal-Mart because for all he knows, they might be.

Every time you communicate with someone, whether by letter, handshake, or voice, they are your number one customer in that moment and must be treated as such. You have no way of knowing who they know, or who they work for, or the influence they have. So, assume they are all friends of Bill Gates and treat them that way.

Continuous-Improvement

After WWII, American occupation forces brought in experts to help with the rebuilding of Japanese industry. One group was tasked with improving management skills and they introduced a film to teach the three “J” programs (Job Instruction, Job Methods, and Job Relations)—the film was titled “Improvement in 4 Steps” (Kaizen eno Yon Dankai), thus the original introduction of “Kaizen” to Japan.

During the 1950s, a culture of kaizen, or continuous improvement, developed in Japanese manufacturing, and we can see the results of their success in the number of Japanese products in world homes today. Kaizen is synonymous with quality and with a desire across the organization, and in every employee, to suggest ways, systems, and quality might be improved.

Many MBA-type courses fixate on Kaizen as it applies to the manufacturing process and largely miss the point of the philosophy. It is not about increasing production efficiency, although that is certainly part of it. It is about improvements in all aspects of a business, in every department, in every person, and in every system. It is about never resting on your laurels, or feeling that you have arrived at some destination.

MBA courses also like to make Kaizen mysterious and complicated by getting the student to consider subjects like statistical analyses or quality circles. It is, however, a much simpler philosophy. It is simply a mentality that you always strive to do better tomorrow than you did today.

A culture of continuous improvement is essential for a successful small business, and it is the passion behind a virtual business model.

By bolting on expert functions, each with their own desire to continuously improve their functional expertise, you automatically become Kaizen in nature. When selecting vendors, it is important to ascertain whether they also continually strive to improve and one of the key questions I ask during the due diligence phase is about their future plans to improve the systems they have in place now. How do they monitor performance and what processes do they have for continuously improving.

For a small business it is important to constantly ask yourself how you can improve in every aspect. What small changes or updates can you make to your Internet presence? How can you improve your sales information sheets? How can you improve your customer service function? Is your auto attendant greeting original and relevant? How cutting edge is your accounting procedure? How can you improve your product to increase customer satisfaction? How can you improve your sales skills? How can you manage time better? How can you reduce costs more and raise more profit? This attitude should permeate every part of the business and be lived enthusiastically by everyone.

Fun

Does Richard Branson seem like he hates his job? Ray Dahlio? Bill Gates? Warren Buffet? Are they not all happy, smiling, having a grand old time?

Life is not meant to be a struggle but a joyful process, and so is running your own business. I can think of few things as exhilarating as becoming your own boss for the first time and waking up with that sense of child-like excitement at the day ahead, a day that is as unpredictable as a child’s game. Whatever your dream, please feel free to adopt my company mission, vision, and values statement:

Our Company (Insert Name):

• Makes a positive difference in the lives of others
• We have fun doing it and
• We enjoy the material and other rewards that flow to us as a result
  

Homework Time:

So, what type of leader are you? Does it matter?

I find the hardest thing for some entrepreneurs when they start out is that they had previously been a ‘doer.’ They had a job and they went to work. A leader creates the work for others to do. Stepping back and letting others become the doers is not easy. I call it the art of sitting on your hands.

As Sun Tzu proclaimed “The best leaders are the ones whose people said “we did it all ourselves.”

As you contemplate your startup it helps to analyze your leadership style and look for areas that may be useful and others that could be issues. For instance, many new entrepreneurs realize they were previously control freaks. Others realize they always had difficulty making a lone decision. Discovering these things after starting a company is not an issue, but perceiving them before starting is helpful.

In my opinion good leaders just lead. Style is irrelevant.

‍