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I’m not a perfect leader. Over the past few years, I’ve discovered my flaws, my gifts and my skills as I’ve worked with people across different countries and situations. At times, I tend to be fairly direct as a leader which can inhibit open discussion at times. It’s a trait that helped me to build Novakid from a “bare bones” idea to the company it is today, but I’ve learned to moderate and adapt my approach to suit the changing face of leadership in the organization.
My role has evolved from one of two primary decision-makers building a company from scratch — our starting budget was $350,000 — to creating spaces for people to thrive. I have been hiring more and more senior people to take on specific roles, so it has been important for me to make it easy for them to grow and evolve within the business. I genuinely believe that if you want senior people to be productive, you need to give them space to think for themselves and trust that they have what it takes to make ideas and plans happen.
Over the past few years, my leadership style has centered around getting incredible out of my people.
Related: Empowering Your People Is the Best Decision You Can Make. Here’s Why.
Undertake a self-audit
The ability to undertake a self-audit with honesty is rare, but learning from where you go wrong is potentially transformative. Acknowledge that you’re not perfect and spend time auditing your mistakes — this allows you to learn more about where you go wrong, pick up patterns in your behavior and find better ways of managing situations and the business as a whole.
If you can listen to honest feedback from colleagues, co-founders and stakeholders, you can use their insights to better shape how you engage with yourself and your business. An imperfect leader with the grace to recognize their faults and the drive to change them is where greatness starts. Harvard Law School calls this the “imperfect CEO” — and emphasizes how leaders who are authentic, open to new ways of thinking and admit their flaws are building workplace cultures that are equally as authentic, innovative and accepting. They also point out that leaders who are open about their flaws are more resilient and more likely to recover in times of adversity.
I don’t want perfect people in my business. I want authentic people who are aligned with the mission of the business and want to bring the company to life.
Be prepared to be wrong, a lot
Most entrepreneurs are confident. We have to be — we’re taking big chances on big ideas and we’re persuading other people to invest in these ideas. We have to drive the ship from dawn to dusk, and we have to keep on believing even when things aren’t going well.
Unfortunately, this can result in becoming overconfident or too positive, and both these traits can result in you missing important things about your business and people because you can’t see them. I think it’s important to always push myself outside of my comfort zone and proven strategies to make sure I haven’t missed something. Perhaps another way of doing things? Maybe a new business route?
Now, accepting critical information is easier said than done. Creating a safe space for others to express their ideas and feelings can be a challenge, especially when you have an asymmetric boss-report relationship. You, as a boss, can bite their head off at any moment. How can they feel safe around you? Make your reports feel they are valuable to you (with their head on) by listening to them more and directing less.
To build up this listening muscle, I enrolled in a coaching school. Coaching is all about active listening, which is exactly what we need here. I used it as an opportunity to improve as a leader and become more open to receiving and giving constructive feedback.
I still direct and I still have clear ideas, but I am also interested in where I go wrong, what I miss and what I need to change, because leadership isn’t a goal or an endpoint — it’s the car that has to make sure everybody gets where they’re going, and cars have to be upgraded. The result is that I have given my people the space they need to thrive, and the difference is notable. They are taking Novakid in remarkable directions and proving to me that I chose the right people and the right leadership path.
