Marcia's Leadership Q and As: Smart Does Not Equal Wise Leadership
/
Q. My partners and I run a private equity company and have invested in more than 20 start-ups over two decades. We are all successful executives—and we have also experienced our share of failures. Our investments range from a few successes to marginal successes to mostly failures. We try to help the start-ups. We’re all smart, but we’re not making progress. How can we experience more success for our start-ups and our firm?
A. With more than 6,000 startups in Silicon Valley with a failure rate of over 90%, there are many investors who would like to experience more success. First, let’s challenge a few beliefs, and we can see why so many fail. Because you and your partners have been successful in the past does not mean you have the knowledge to guide your start-ups to be successful in the future.
Your team may be smart in an industry or a role like engineering or IT, but do you have a management philosophy as your foundation and the ability to teach it? Much depends on the start-up team’s knowledge about managing systems and developing and leading people (vision, team, culture, values, customer identity.) Most entrepreneurs have ideas, but they lack the management knowledge and business acumen to launch and scale a company. The ones who succeed are in continual learning and experimenting mode. They don’t use old thinking.
Second, when a team grows a company, they often grasp onto traditional business practices, management fads, tools, and “best practices.” Often, they learn these in college or from mentors who tell them to do what they did ten or twenty years ago. They are applying old thinking to innovation and new technologies. When 90% of companies are failing, why would you invest in a startup doing the same thing? Innovators question everything. They take bold actions to lead differently. Innovation in leadership thinking is essential.
You can best help your startup teams and your own firm by investing in yourselves and the teams. Accelerate your knowledge of strategic, systems thinking by having a consultant work with your team and the startup leaders. Invest in management team offsite meetings to focus on new learning, not spreading the thinking and practices you used 10 or 20 years ago. For resources, see my website.
Your firm and the companies you’ve invested in have a better chance of wild success if you focus on learning how to be a resource to them; guide them to learn a philosophy of management; ask better, more relevant questions on how they are working together to serve their customers; and, look at the data over time. The results/profits will be an outcome of great management. (In other words, take your Focus off of the bottom line! It’s a Pivot you must make to succeed.)
A. With more than 6,000 startups in Silicon Valley with a failure rate of over 90%, there are many investors who would like to experience more success. First, let’s challenge a few beliefs, and we can see why so many fail. Because you and your partners have been successful in the past does not mean you have the knowledge to guide your start-ups to be successful in the future.
Your team may be smart in an industry or a role like engineering or IT, but do you have a management philosophy as your foundation and the ability to teach it? Much depends on the start-up team’s knowledge about managing systems and developing and leading people (vision, team, culture, values, customer identity.) Most entrepreneurs have ideas, but they lack the management knowledge and business acumen to launch and scale a company. The ones who succeed are in continual learning and experimenting mode. They don’t use old thinking.
Second, when a team grows a company, they often grasp onto traditional business practices, management fads, tools, and “best practices.” Often, they learn these in college or from mentors who tell them to do what they did ten or twenty years ago. They are applying old thinking to innovation and new technologies. When 90% of companies are failing, why would you invest in a startup doing the same thing? Innovators question everything. They take bold actions to lead differently. Innovation in leadership thinking is essential.
You can best help your startup teams and your own firm by investing in yourselves and the teams. Accelerate your knowledge of strategic, systems thinking by having a consultant work with your team and the startup leaders. Invest in management team offsite meetings to focus on new learning, not spreading the thinking and practices you used 10 or 20 years ago. For resources, see my website.
Your firm and the companies you’ve invested in have a better chance of wild success if you focus on learning how to be a resource to them; guide them to learn a philosophy of management; ask better, more relevant questions on how they are working together to serve their customers; and, look at the data over time. The results/profits will be an outcome of great management. (In other words, take your Focus off of the bottom line! It’s a Pivot you must make to succeed.)
Send your leadership questions to Marcia Daszko at md@mdaszko.com. She works with Boards, C-suite leaders and teams to pivot, innovate, accelerate and achieve bold results never before imagined. A provocative keynote & virtual speaker, strategic Deming advisor/consultant for 25+ years, and executive retreat facilitator, she is the bestselling author of the book “Pivot Disrupt Transform.” www.mdaszko.com Call for her help today!
