One
horse I while never stop beating, no matter how dead, is the two
entrepreneurial functions. They are: innovation and
selling/marketing. Because these two functions are all you need to
build a business, the current tend towards solopreneurs does make
sense.
That
said, some businesses do need scale if they are to succeed. And, to
scale a business means to build an organization.
Organization
building is a complicated subject, beyond the purview of any one
blog post. Nonetheless, one element that is necessary in all healthy organizations
is leadership. So, let us talk about it.
One
thing I can state, with certainty, is the fact that leaders need to
be recruiters. As Mort Mandel would say business is, “All about who.”
What is more, you can click here to view a short YouTube of Steve
Jobs's thoughts on the matter.
Whatever you wish to call it, recruiting is important.
Whatever you wish to call it, recruiting is important.
Recently
I asked John Doerr what his three favorite books are. Doerr's reply
included Laszlo Bock's book Work Rules! Click here to watch a great talk Lazlo gave on the subject of recruiting. Recruiting
is not easy and many aspiring leaders abdicate their
responsibilities.
One
thing I do believe is it becomes easier to recruit as you become
a better leader. As I have said, leadership is a thorny subject. Indeed, leadership is not a facebook meme. So, the question becomes, how do we improve our leadership skills? I think it is a good question.
The short answer is that people learn to lead by leading. Now, I do not know about you, but that answer has never sat well with me.
Of course, I believe in the wisdom of learning by doing. However, as I said last week, I believe we can benefit from both practice and theory. Trial and error is very useful but so are mental models.
So, what I have decided to do is try something new. Who knows, maybe it will end up being another error from which I can learn ;)
There are some great books, out there, on the subject of leadership (There is also utter B.S.) One leadership book, that I do get down with, is The Leadership Challenge by James Kouzes and Barry Posner.
As it turns out, I take A LOT of notes. So, here is my plan. Over the next few weeks I am going to post my notes from this book by Kouzes and Posner. Seeing as The Leadership Challenge is more than 400 pages in length, my goal is to help you save some time.
See you next week!
The short answer is that people learn to lead by leading. Now, I do not know about you, but that answer has never sat well with me.
Of course, I believe in the wisdom of learning by doing. However, as I said last week, I believe we can benefit from both practice and theory. Trial and error is very useful but so are mental models.
So, what I have decided to do is try something new. Who knows, maybe it will end up being another error from which I can learn ;)
There are some great books, out there, on the subject of leadership (There is also utter B.S.) One leadership book, that I do get down with, is The Leadership Challenge by James Kouzes and Barry Posner.
As it turns out, I take A LOT of notes. So, here is my plan. Over the next few weeks I am going to post my notes from this book by Kouzes and Posner. Seeing as The Leadership Challenge is more than 400 pages in length, my goal is to help you save some time.
See you next week!
