I can’t help but cringe when clients ask me about relaying R&D metrics to the CEO or the board of directors. These KPIs, which usually have no business being discussed in those forums, are often something tech executives bring up themselves, not realizing that doing so is handicapping their own authority. Like the cat that […]
Everyone and their dog nowadays seem to be working on “strategies.” However, virtually none of the startups I work with have a clearly defined strategy. Instead, they often suffer from a complete disregard for long-term vision (“We’re a startup, who knows?!”), or they think they’re strategizing when in fact, they’re merely coming up with partial […]
As part of the quest to help tech executives maximize their leadership potential, a recurring theme is the dreaded concept of politics (cue spooky sound effects). Not all that you think is politics is, in fact, so. Further, sometimes, you just have to learn how to play the game. Let’s break it down and help […]
This one is for those founders who don’t have a technical founder that wants to lead R&D/Engineering and also for the hired VPEs/CTOs who want to understand their bosses better. Running a startup, especially in the first 3-4 years, without a technical cofounder is a bit like deciding not to castle in chess. It’s possible, […]
This might be a bit of an unpopular opinion, but I think most tech organizations have way too many specific and niched-down roles too soon. Some companies feel like a weird scene from Downton Abbey where there was a different servant to take care of every utensil and minor task. Tiny teams have project managers, […]
Eddard Stark famously said, “The man who passes the sentence should swing the sword.” It’s often one of the worst parts of the job, yet I believe it is imperative for any self-respecting leader. You might be surprised to realize that there are a bunch of scenarios where you might be (unawares?) passing the buck. […]
I love making my clients go through thought experiments to help them better assess a certain scenario and also as a way to accelerate decision-making. I’ve shared before about one for making your day-to-day more productive by holding the vacation thought experiment. This time, let’s consider one you can do today to better flesh out […]
I recently had chats with a bunch of founders of early-stage startups, and they all happened to ask me the same question: What problems do I repeatedly see in my work with startups their size? While I listed a handful, I thought that hyper-paralysis is an interesting one to delve into. It sounds like an […]
My previous | articles touched on the subject of cultivating a better communication culture in your organization. As part of that, I mentioned shibboleths as an agreed-upon way to fast-track certain scenarios. Given that I got a few questions about this, let’s consider some examples. Hint, you’ve probably just seen one in use recently when […]
Don’t you hate it when you say something and the other party doesn’t answer? You’re left wondering if they didn’t hear you well and repeat the request, wait in silence, or just give up. Oh, I’m not talking about choppy Zoom calls. This is just how badly too many leaders seem to be communicating nowadays. […]