In Part 1, I shared lessons I’ve been taught over the years that I wish I’d known when I hired my first employee. I titled the post “For Young Managers” but realized since publishing that I have worked with hundreds of young businesses over the years and how relevant these tips are for entrepreneurs as well. Starting your own company takes courage and a plan. Growing it, takes leadership. I hope the below lessons help anyone building a team at their company or starting a company from scratch.
I’m going to start with the big, hairy one - that way if you get distracted easily, we at least talk about the big stuff before you go back to your day.
6. Take All of the Blame & None of the Credit
None? None. If you’ve heard of my dad or heard him speak, you won’t be surprised that he’s taught me a few things about leadership over the years. If you know my dad, you know that he’s annoyingly humble, and didn’t get to where he’s at by shouting his own accomplishments - his managers, peers and teams did that for him. This is by far the most powerful mantra he gave me. He told me to replace my "I’s” with “We’s” and if I wanted to gain my team’s respect, I better always have their back. And if it gets to a point where I can’t ethically or morally stomach having their back - then it’s my responsibility to let them go. In the end - it’s on you, as a manager or small business owner to hire, train and fire the right people to achieve your mission. If your team isn’t performing, how can you train them better? If someone on your team screwed up, how could you have helped prevent it? If someone is beyond repair, who do you need to replace them with?
On the flip side, when someone on your team is really killing it, build them up. The quickest way to let the air out of someone’s tires is to make them feel like they don’t own their success. Don’t make your team feel like their success is only due to your sage guidance - otherwise they’ll never feel empowered to move past that, and they’ll never reach the level of performance and independence that will make your team legendary (and your life way easier, by the way). Managing is like parenting, you are now responsible for someone else’s success as much as your own, and you are measured by their success as much as your own. So find every opportunity to build them up, shout their accomplishments from the rooftop - and in the end you’ll also look good, but more importantly, you’ll be a leader worth following.
Ok, but how do I apply that?
Admit mistakes early and often, but own them as a team. Note what you would do differently next time as the leader so your team also feels empowered to admit their failure and what they learned. When talking about a failure or accomplishment of your department or company, use WE more than I. Watch how this influences the way your people carry themselves knowing they’re part of a team, with a strong leader, and not a lone wolf struggling to survive. Foster a Zach Galifianakas-worthy wolf pack.
7. Don’t answer all their questions.
This doesn’t count as much for the first, say, 6 months of employment, but after training, you want your team to come to you with solutions, not questions. Even if it’s the wrong solution. When they ask you how to do something, ask them how they would do it if you weren’t there. Tell them to bring every problem to you with a solution to talk through. Even if they are way off base, you’re developing them to be independent thinkers and you’ll get way less monotony out of your team’s work when you’re not the only one supplying ideas. One of my favorite quotes, shared with us by our company’s EOS Implementer/Leadership Therapist, Ken Dewitt, is “Your job is to create leaders who create leaders.” Whoa. Think about that for a second. You’re not just leading your team. You’re setting the tone for any teams (personal or professional) they will lead in the future. Take that responsibility seriously and challenge them to develop their problem solving skills. Set a goal to be the dumbest person on the team by the time you’re done with them.
Ok, but how do I apply that?
Resist your innate urge to share your opinion and preferences on everything. Reply with “What do you think?” if your team asks you a question but hasn’t shared their own thoughts on it. They’ll know better than to come to you next time without having thought through the problem and potential solutions - and they’ll be excited to know they’ve been challenged to contribute.
8. Get to know their story.
My dad also taught me this one. While leading the world’s most powerful Air Force, his motto wasn’t “Go big or go home” or “Rah rah something macho rah” it was “Every airman has a story.” In his speeches around the world, rallying troops, he told stories of everyday Airwomen and Airmen, doing remarkable things, small and large, in their personal and professional life. He stressed the importance of understanding the context in which your people live their lives - and learning that, before trying to lead them. This doesn’t mean quizzing your team on their childhood traumas or playing Never Have I Ever at the next team lunch - but it does mean taking them to lunch, and taking the time to learn family members’ names, their weekend hobbies, why they like to leave at a certain time every day, and why they chose that photo for their desktop background. The quicker you learn the person behind the employee, the quicker you learn what motivates them, and how to lead them to a shared goal.
Ok, but how do I apply that?
Spend time outside of the office with your team. Take them to lunch on their birthdays, invite them and their significant other over for dinner, remember big milestones in their personal lives that they share (Add it to your calendar! There’s no shame in the reminder game.) Share more about yourself than just how you feel about the company’s latest press release. Remember that you spend more than a third of your waking hours with these people and relationships are hard if you never share. (But always keep in mind #2)
9. Not everyone is an ace, not even you.
If you’re young, and either own a business or have approval to manage a team, you’re probably a high achiever. You probably live at a higher frequency than most others your age, and you know it. However, the reality is, you’re hiring because you can’t do it all. You are not superwoman - so make sure you don’t act like it. When you have a small scrappy team, you want people who are jills-of-all-trades and can tackle anything you throw at them. You will find some of those - the rockstar unicorns you can’t seem to stump even if you try - cherish them, keep them happy. But you will also find those that are really good at a few things, better than anyone else on the team, but maybe not so good at a few other things. Part of being a manager and leader is bringing out the best in your team - cultivating their strengths and helping to minimize their weaknesses. Accept early on in the hiring process that you may have to compromise on hiring for certain skills when you find someone who has something so unique you haven't seen it elsewhere. My dad (that guy really knows his stuff) once told me, when I was struggling to find a new hire, “Make a list of the skills on your team, no need to include names. Then make a list of the skills you feel you’re missing. You don’t have to find a unicorn, you just have to find someone to help fill those gaps.”
Ok, but how do I apply that?
Early on, especially for your first hire, look for a jill-of-all-trades. If it’s just you and one other person, you’ll need someone who can wear many hats. As your team grows, keep looking for the rockstars, but also look for the outliers, the people who may not have all the skills but will bring something entirely new to the team. Hire people you want to learn from, and your team will follow suit.
10. Give and take critical feedback. Often.
Especially if you or anyone on your team work remotely, I can’t stress this enough. Your team will never tell you what’s bothering them if they are not given the opportunity to tell you what’s bothering them. Occasionally you’ll have a honey badger employee who has no qualms telling you what’s bothering them, as soon as it’s bothering them. But most of the time, you’ve hired the overachieving, can-do, wearer-of-many-hats who wants to look invincible and not bug you with the details. So it’s on you to drag it out of them.
Ok, but how do I apply that?
Give your team a structured forum to give you feedback and receive feedback. Put it on the calendar so they know when it’s coming, can gather their thoughts, and write notes for themselves to follow if there’s a tough subject they’re nervous about discussing. Sit down at least quarterly, preferably monthly. Talk about failures, talk about successes, and talk about the path to improvement. Then review it next time you sit down. And don’t let yourself off the hook - ask for feedback, ask what you can be doing better to help them do their job better. Show them how to receive critical feedback and fight the tendency to get defensive. Listen and improve. You can even use an EOS tactic we use in our Quarterly Conversations at my company called the '“One thing” exercise. Share the one thing you admire most about the other, and one thing you need them to start/stop doing.
These lessons aren’t the end-all, be-all, but they would have helped me to learn quicker and earlier in my career. I hope they help other young managers be a leader worth following. Because leadership, not capital, or innovation, or intellectual property, is what builds great companies. If a great idea was the only thing needed to build incredible companies, there would be a whole lot more of them.