Questions

I find myself training and teaching my team a lot of things, which is inevitable since we're a small start-up and I have team members who are quite new to the industry (they are loyal, creative, and a smart bunch). It's pretty time consuming for myself as a founder, nevertheless I want to assure that Im growing them in the right way for the long term. I'd like to know if there are any key things that you've seen in great 'team builders'? For example: Do certain members learn quicker when left on their own? Or should I be actively involved in training them? etc..Would be great to hear from experts that have learnt this the hard way.

I've managed traditional and virtual teams in different industries and have gone through building them from scratch as well.

The key thing is culture. And as the founder all culture stems from you.

Whatever you do, others will follow. However you want your team members to act, you have to do the same first.

Just saying "culture" seems simple because it is - if you all like each other and get along well, that will bind your team together for the long-term better than any other fancy management or leadership technique.

Which brings me to a second thing: leadership vs management.

The reason it's time consuming for you at the moment is you are playing both leader AND manager.

As your company grows bigger, you'll likely step more into leadership and pass on your management responsibilities to someone else like a COO or GM.

The difference is this:

Leaders get people to work well and together by highlighting one vision.

Managers get people to work well and together by highlighting their differences and knowing everyone's strengths and weaknesses. Being a good manager helps you work out which teams members learn quicker on their own and which need more hands-on training.

Right now you are doing both, which is a challenge all founders go through. But eventually you'll succeed and get to the point where you can focus on leading with a vision - and leave the management to others.


Answered 4 years ago

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