What are some key differences between an executive and manager? Such a question typically results in esoteric dialogue. It doesn’t have to be that way – at least not for startups.
To get a true picture of the difference, one must look at the general knowledge worker within the framework of a corporate entity. A knowledge worker pretty much assesses situations, makes decisions, and performs the necessary work. Managers frequently use the work of others (i.e., staff) to carry out those decisions. But, ultimately, the manager is combining knowledge and decision making to affect results.
Two factors really dictate how much (or, little) an executive can accomplish: knowledge and position. The position itself is actually important. Likewise, it’s fairly important to see that both knowledge and position are interrelated for the executive. It goes without saying that with position one gets exposure to more information. Information itself is not knowledge. Information fortified with experience is knowledge. Through knowledge comes better decision making. Better decision making leads to better results – or, at the least, it leads to intended results.
That said, some of this reasoning simply falls on its face at a startup. This has consequences for how a startup executive’s role is shaped and defined. The role of a startup manager differs with his big company counterpart in a few ways.
First, a startup manager does not direct large resources and staff. He won’t have to spend nights worrying about how to balance people management with getting things done. The mission is pretty clear. Get things done.
Second, a startup manager deals with an organization that is – for all intents and purposes – well informed across the board. Unlike large companies, startups generally do not need a whole layer of people to cascade down information and manage everyday affairs with a microscope. This mitigates the inherent value of position. Further, almost everyone at startups work at the edges of the organization, or front lines. Meaning, empowerment is more or less natural and people feel a sense of control over their work. For startups, the true heartburns caused by scale are also not felt until much later on.
Third, startup managers spend less time and energy on inward matters such as cross-departmental coordination, internal negotiation, process improvements, developing people, and so on. This takes away a great portion of the traditional “manager’s” job responsibilities.
So, if it is true that startup managers need to behave more like executives than middle managers, what do startup executives need to do quite differently? Well, the first thing you DO NOT want to do is to (re)introduce all of the things that do not exist (for good reason) such as cumbersome processes, extensive negotiation, wasteful politics, overemphasis on coordination, limiting information flow, and duplicating efforts.
I’ll cover a set of things (uniquely) expected from a startup executive …
#1 – SEEK DEEP IMPACT
Saying “no” is often more important than saying “yes.” Executives must be able to align resources behind programs and efforts that will have the biggest, lasting impact. A great majority of startup marketing bleeds money away – they never spill it. It’s hard to believe but I’ve seen it way too often.
The entire startup is formed on the basis of taking calculated risks but the one area that is frequently risk averse is ... marketing. Your biggest role will be to hire incredibly smart people, give them some room for risk taking, and aim their energies at a few things that you can confidently measure and control.
#2 – BRING A TITANIUM SPINE, LEATHER SKIN, AND HEAVY DUTY BATTERY
Startup executives – especially those in marketing – get hammered hard quite regularly. The VP of marketing plays a relatively minor role in most board meetings but marketing as a general topic always gets tossed around like a bad Caesar’s salad with the requisite stink of anchovies. You must have very level temperament to be a marketing VP. I hate it when someone describes an ideal marketing VP as someone who is “sort of crazy, flamboyant, and always filled with energy.” It tells me that the individual has no idea what he’s talking about. Anyone can drink Red Bull and jump on tables.
Instead, peer deeply into the person’s intelligence, temperament, and work ethic. A great startup marketing exec has a spine made up of titanium (again, you have to say “no” a lot), leather skin (losing is always personal and startups lose a lot), and a disproportionate appetite for winning (almost an irrational sense of its importance; maybe more important than air or water) – not at all cost but definitely at significant cost whether that cost is losing nights and weekends for many years or annually logging 100,000 miles in the air to visit customers and attend industry functions.
#3 – BE STRICTLY ACCOUNTABLE
Ok, everybody should be accountable. I’m referring to a higher level of accountability here. You should foster a sense of responsibility and pride across your team – in fact, across the entire organization. But, there’s a reason why accountability is tough to come by at a startup. Startups make a lot of decisions based on very limited sets of information. Said differently, it experiments a lot. It’ll do something proven or time-tested but with limited resources. Or, it’ll try something new or untested. As you see, in either case, it’s very hard to expect people to be accountable for such things. This forces the executive to exercise a degree of full accountability rarely seen at larger organizations.
There are always dependencies that temper things but such is a foregone conclusion when something is launched or ignited. If your people sense that accountability is lacking even a little bit, you are finished.
- John
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