Founder Performance: Levers for Excellence
❤️ As a hashtag#founder coach and facilitator, nothing brings me more joy than identifying and working with levers for excellence.
What do I mean by that? The conditions upon which their X-Factor reveals itself.
In my experience, there is a spectrum of 4 distinct types and we could all generally fall into multiple buckets to varying degrees (more below).
It is very nuanced for every individual, and, isn’t always obvious until we see them work through different operating conditions (shock events, tailwinds, headwinds, remote, in-person, isolation, and in groups, for example). Here’s my observation of how to work with the different types:
🤯 Breakers: This individual’s genius and motivation is fired up by the opportunity to develop something groundbreaking. However, the closer they get to breaking new ground, the less motivated they become. Therefore, they enjoy stacking ground breaking opportunities (new markets, new products, new company culture, etc.). Their brilliance is a function of breaking the status quo. To get the most out of these individuals, it is helpful to work with them to consciously challenge anything that is just accepted to be “the way it is” right now. Help them ask new questions and discover new answers.
💎 Diamonds: This individual shows brilliance under extreme pressure, existential threats, and negative shock events. This one is particularly highly functional for early-stage startups. Their genius and motivation is most fired up when they are close to the precipice: their creativity is not just avoiding death, but coming out of the valley of death with a new rocket ship strapped to their back. They are obsessed with winning. To get the most out of these individuals, it is helpful to offer direct, critical feedback on their business’ weaknesses (do not sugercoat).
❄ Snowballers: Momentum players shine by taking decisive action, seeing tangible results, and continually taking decisive action. Their flywheel requires motion and progress. This is especially important when you break new ground in any function such as sales, marketing, product, or even hiring top talent: these players will help snowball the effect. However, like all things in life, we sometimes lose momentum. The most important thing is to always help them find some sort of win.
🤼 Herders: Put this individual in a room by themselves and they can’t activate their genius. Put them in a team and they come online. Furthermore, they will instinctively know what people need and when in order to gel with the team. They naturally find leverage through people. Their confidence to tackle any problem increases proportionally with the strength of the team. To pull this lever, put them in a position (in-person if possible) where they really don’t want to let the people around them down.