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| Hari TN Hari is the Managing Director and Global Head of Human Resources at Amba Research. He has over 20 years of experience in HR, project management, and corporate planning. |
Startups usually depend on discovering an opportunity and finding a profitable way of exploiting it. Simple as it may sound, this calls for a rare blend of risk taking, action orientation, and clarity of thought. Interestingly enough, either firms in a high-growth phase or those attempting to build new businesses require managers with precisely these traits. Entrepreneurial managers make the right things happen with a sense of urgency. In other words, they can determine what is right, are action oriented, and make sure that actions are swift. These three factors are crucial and if even one is missing, it results in a fatal handicap. People who think clearly and often strategically but without either the aptitude or ability to make things happen would soon fail – unless they have been smart enough to recognize this and have fixed it with a structural solution that minimizes execution risks. Individuals at senior positions may have the luxury to implement such structural solutions; however, most cannot afford such fixes that cover up for low capability on any of the three entrepreneurial capabilities. Similarly, activators who cannot think clearly (or in very simple terms, do not know what to activate) fail from the curse of well-executed but random (and often irrelevant) pursuits.
First aptitude: Determining what is right
Determining what is right calls for an ability to think clearly, and it has multiple dimensions. In a managerial context, thinking clearly mostly revolves around identifying the few things that matter in any given situation, and the many things that are really distractions (and therefore, irrelevant). It is precisely because of this that thinking clearly is not easy. In my experience, some of the most so-called intelligent people struggle to cut through the smoke and noise to address these two key issues. However, entrepreneurial managers identify these few things that matter in any situation, ignore the rest, and steadfastly refuse to be distracted despite the best efforts of those around them to obfuscate matters. Those that think clearly always usually ask smart questions: questions that can help make a choice, questions that can extract the two most important issues in a given situation, questions that get to the root cause, and questions that can evoke insights.
Second aptitude: Action orientation
Making things happen calls for a high degree of action orientation. Entrepreneurial managers are by nature ‘activators’ – they get things started and do not wait until the last question is answered. They plan, but do not plan endlessly as they know that plans will always change. They know that facts and analysis is important; however, they also understand that informed judgment is the essence of decision making. Their communication (e-mail particularly) is crisp, emphasizes key messages, identifies actions and next steps, preempts questions, and leaves little room for doubt. Some people are naturally more action oriented than others, and while I would not like to have a philosophical debate on whether these traits are inborn or not, it has been my observation that those lacking this quality can reach acceptable levels with serious effort, and those already having a natural flair for it can refine and hone this capability by learning the right skills and tools. For instance, knowledge that ‘buy in’ at an early stage makes subsequent execution smooth helps an action-oriented person. Similarly, there are more sophisticated inter-personal interaction styles and techniques that form the foundation of superior execution.
Third aptitude: Speed (energy)
Entrepreneurial managers also recognize that speed is of essence. Therefore, they always demonstrate a sense of urgency in turning around things, they take swift decisions, they respond quickly to new developments, and follow through energetically, as well as with a sense of urgency. Speed, most often, is a surrogate for energy, and you cannot energize others unless you yourself have energy. Energy is therefore often contagious. People who set a high pace around them at the workplace usually engender high pace and a sense of urgency. They can make mistakes; however, they do not get dragged down by these errors. Those that come in close contact with such individuals feel inspired to take more risks.
In summary, while entrepreneurs create startups, entrepreneurial managers transform startups to become mature firms, and help mature firms reinvent themselves. All good firms consciously promote and nurture an entrepreneurial leadership culture.
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