Because we DOn’t have enough opinion pieces on leadership …
I’d like to propose a new way to think about leadership: rather than the innate qualities we possess & learn over our careers, leadership styles are a direct derivative of the type of work we do, the people we work with and the environments in which we operate.
Using this thesis, there two types of people (don’t you love a good ol’ fashion, sweeping generalization about humanity?): creators and multipliers.
There are, of course, infinite permutations of this and humans are layered. But bear with me while I explain my draconian stance.
Last year, I was working with a career coach who pushed me to think about what type of leader I was. My initial reaction was to describe the various attributes of leaders that I admire or aspire to become. I rattled off just about everything I have ever learned from Brené Brown & Simon Sinek, two of my most favorite people who speak on the topic.
But she wasn’t asking me to list qualities or names of people; she wanted to understand how I operate and where I derive joy. I had never thought about leadership in that way.
It goes without saying that you will be a better leader if you are doing what you love. But beware, one huge misconception we have been sold is that we have to find jobs or work in industries that we are deeply passionate about. This is BS (and a bit of a slippery slope for people early in their careers). Some of us are lucky to find that, and if you do, kudos to you. But most us don’t find that … and we don’t need to.
Instead of finding jobs we are passionate about, we should figure out what ‘jobs to be done’ give us energy versus those that deplete us. You will be the best version of yourself, and ultimately the best leader, when you find roles where you are fulfilled by the work you are doing, not necessarily the product you are selling.
My coach asked me three very basic questions that have transformed how I think about leadership, hiring and the composition of teams:
What kind of work gives me energy and what kind of work depletes me?
Side note: this is a great interview question to ask candidates - you will learn a lot about (1) how they think and (2) whether they align with your company culture, values and the R&R of the job you are hiring for
Do I thrive in building the foundations of the house (“0 to 1”) or do I prefer to grow what’s already been built (“scale”)?
Do like to be external (“extroverted”) or internal (“introverted”) facing?
I’m a very visual person so I mapped out what this looked like on paper. I’ve found this to be a helpful framework when thinking about the types of profiles I am hiring for, what the business needs at various stages of growth and how different people work together.
Multiplers
You thrive in growth environments where you are scaling a proven product or service
Since you are scaling something that already has product-market fit, you are either focused on optimizing the product or forging stickier relationships with customers
The former usually takes shape in internally facing roles (though most roles will still interact with customers quite often); the latter is typically external facing, whether that be with customers, media or investors
Creators
You thrive in 0 to 1 environments. You are a builder at heart and think in first principles (this can also be true of multiplers)
You are building something from scratch - iteration and feedback are your best friends and you love to champion your product in the market
The former requires an obsession with customer pain points and creating foundational processes; the latter requires a passion for evangelising something new
Note: you can find 0-1 environments in large, established organizations with global scale. Some examples: expansion, GTM and growth teams, launching new products, innovation teams, R&D labs, etc
Multipliers and Creators span across functional roles:
You can be an account executive or BDE but thrive as a Creator with a “Test” muscle: this probably means you are fairly technical and understand the inner workings of the product
You can also be the head of finance but identify more as a Multipler with a tilt towards “Entrench”: this likely means you prefer companies that have established reporting tools & systems and are comfortable fundraising, speaking to investors or public markets
I am a Creator.
I love building & ideating and I derive my energy from people and meaningful conversations. I am most inspired (and the best version of myself) when I can take a product to market, see it in action in the early days, gather feedback and iterate. While I don’t enjoy direct sales, I do enjoy talking to customers, working with product teams to develop sellable & scalable solutions and marketing the brand externally. I’ve also learned - through much trial & error - that while I love early-stage companies (1) I don’t like the external side of fundraising (usually a necessary evil of young businesses) and (2) I prefer leading the 0-1 in companies with resources and an existing foundation.
What are you?
