I recently attended an “unscripted” discussion hosted by Jeff Richards, venture capitalist at GGV, featuring an amazing founder named Deidre Paknad. Deidre is the CEO of Workboard: an OKR software platform. The conversation centered around our collective struggle this past year surrounding fear and uncertainty. Specifically, how do leaders guide their teams and measure progress in times of such turmoil?
It’s a topic that I’ve mulled over daily since the pandemic began. As I start to grow the team in my next venture, I’ve had a hard time framing this moment in time. How do I motivate my team day in and day out? How do we set our strategic goals in such a tumultuous period? Most people are dealing with some degree of loss or uphill battle: death of a loved one, caring for a sick family member, or working from home while simultaneously proctoring zoom school. It’s a lot. Furthermore, how do you evaluate the progress of your team, department or company in such a volatile time?
Deidre was both amazingly blunt and inspiring. I wanted to share a few of my takeaways:
Give permission to be ambitious.
I’ve never really gravitated toward the “fail fast” startup trope. Deidre frames a more productive operating model for startup managers. As a leader, you have to rally your team toward success, no matter the conditions. Give license and encouragement to support lofty goals.
Align on results. Focus on outcomes.
It sounds obvious but plan, document, and communicate how you envision achieving strategic goals. Get buy-in from your team and managers on the process and the steps needed to attain said outcomes.
Predictability yields mediocrity.
This one was somewhat revelatory for me but again obvious at face value. If you expect what is expected, how do you achieve greatness? Take a set of projected inputs, now consider what happens if you double them. Have a vision of THAT level of execution.
There were so many good nuggets that I could write so much more, but give her a follow at Deidre Paknad and hopefully she’ll share more wisdom publicly.
