The Assembly

I’m still not a great planner.

There is a time early in the journey when your leadership is based more on principles than vision. Often that means that you may have read a lot about leadership but may lack the experience of actually taking the steps and guiding the organization toward the vision. I liken it to the difference between seeing a picture on the internet of the new shelf from IKEA and the effort required to actually follow the instructions and finish the assembly. I’ve learned (the hard way) that planning is the key ingredient to taking a vision from a dream to a reality.

I had a great vision for my company when I started it back in 2007. I really did. I also had tons of energy and was able to bring a lot of people into the organization in a relatively short period of time. Yeah, I was growing something, but it wasn’t until later that I realized that I was trying to build a masterpiece without any thought or consideration for following a plan or a set of instructions.

It’s common when you are running a start-up to work with what you have. Beggars can’t be choosers, and to be honest there is only a certain element of talent that is drawn to the fast pace and uncertainty of the start-up environment. Eventually you’ll start to get people in your organization who want to slow things down with process, planning, and strategy. Depending on your leadership style, these may come as unwelcome hinderances to your autonomy and agency; however, you should not only embrace these individuals, but understand that they are a necessary part of realizing the vision. In fact, the further you choose to go along the journey without embracing the process of planning, the more you risk a catastrophic organizational failure with far reaching consequences. I have learned this the hard way, multiple times.

The sooner you as the leader can submit to a planning process and develop the patience to acquire the right talent and skills to your organization, the sooner you can start building a strong foundation. The temptation early on is to try and find a way to create foundational elements with the parts available to you at the time. If you have a heart for mentorship and people development, you’ll let your decisions be guided by the belief that you can train anyone to do anything. This is one of the first critical junctures in the life of the organization. You’ll need to slow down long enough to develop a consistent and effective process for evaluating talent and understanding their long-term potential for growth. This activity will set the precedent for career discussions which may feel a little uncomfortable so early in the life of the organization; however, this is the perfect time to get this process implemented into the fabric of your culture. Not only will this be an exciting and engaging process for your team, but it will also force you as the leader to examine and define the fundamental needs of your vision.

If you haven’t picked up on it already, people and talent selection is often the most critical thing leaders struggle to get right. Based on my experience, too many young leaders wait too long to get a human resource professional involved in organizational growth. Many CEOs and entrepreneurs are not highly proficient at evaluating the skills and personality types that have strong organizational alignment with the needs of the vision. This is where a talented human resource professional can bring incredible gains to the growth process. Not only can they help identify the critical needs of the organization, but they can also prevent you from making hiring mistakes that are difficult to undo and can have harmful consequences on important organizational growth initiatives. If you want to get through the early stages of organizational development as quickly and painlessly as possible, bring on a human resource professional as early as possible and make sure to keep them close as an integral part of your growth strategy.

Once you know that you are working with the right pieces, you can start the process of building your team. The confidence that comes from growing your team with great talent creates a culture that will move you ahead so much faster than those that try to build too quickly with subpar materials.

Take five minutes and consider the state of your organization. Are you trying to force something to work based on what you have instead of being patient enough to get the right pieces in place? Have you built up some areas of your organization too quickly that are in danger of falling apart because of some bad parts in the foundation?

The assembly of an organization can either be done with intentional planning, or you can allow it to grow unchecked while you stay out in front of the organization and blaze the trail. Today commit to giving your organization the time, attention, and resources to set a solid foundation that is ready to support the vision you are pursing.

Now Go, Lead…