There are two types of leaders...
Figuring out the type you are is the key.
Hi HELLO, I am back with a hot take! Should I re-title this newsletter to “Hot Takes with Cati"?”
I was talking with my partner recently about trends I’ve seen in my time working at start-ups, specifically in the early stages or during periods of transition. The consistent disconnect I see is between leaders who are “Idea People” or Ideators and leaders who are “Action People” or Doers.
We all have an unconscious affinity bias which often shows up when we build “the room where it happens”, resulting in teams full of people who think the same way. This means we get 5 idea people in a room who come up with a BRILLIANT plan but don’t actually think about how to execute it or conversely 7 action people who will get shit DONE but may not be as adept at iterating long term towards company goals because they are in the weeds of figuring out the how.
This is not to say you can’t do both! I’ve worked with plenty of Doers who have brilliant creative ideas and Ideators who stop and ask “is this possible and how do we make it happen.” But as a company is scaling, I’ve found that people are most effective and fulfilled when they figure out which is their “special sauce” and then lean on others with opposite, complementary skills.
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So how do you know what type you are? And when does this show up? Let me give you an example scenario:
Imagine you’re at work when you get an urgent slack: an internal promo code leaked online and 3,000 orders have been placed with a 50% discount. Your company is trending on Twitter and your warehouse staff is already 6 hours behind on fulfillment.
What is the first thing you think of to tackle?
If it’s:
How do we ensure we have inventory to fulfill the orders?
How are we going to communicate about this leak to customers asking about it?
How are we going to safeguard our internal promos going forward?
You’re probably a Doer.
If it’s:
This feels like an awesome marketing opportunity, how do we reference this in our future campaigns
What trending Tik Tok sound is the most relevant to this situation and how quickly can we get a video made?
Why do we even use promo codes? What if we created our own branded Crypto Wallet instead?
You’re probably an Ideator.
Knowing where your strengths lie is the first step in being a better leader—- the next step is to make sure you’re working with people who’s strengths supplement yours.
Next time you set a meeting for brainstorming or problem-solving, think about the balance of skills in the room and add people whose skills and experience make a more well-rounded group. Even better, ask your team “Who should be in this meeting that isn’t?” and make a point of adding them.
If you take anything away from this newsletter, I hope it’s that being a leader doesn’t mean having all of the answers or being good at everything. A good leader knows their strengths and knows when to lean on the strengths of their team.