Michael Seibel on Leadership Attributes in Successful Startup Leaders
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Re: Michael Seibel on Leadership Attributes in Successful Startup Leaders
#2“Level Two thinking is about creating an environment and empowering people such that they do produce great outcomes without you having to tell them. If they can get into a mental model of what’s good for the company, and if they can be motivated and feel empowered, then they start doing great things. You don’t have to direct them. ”
“If you want to build a ship, don't drum up people to collect wood and don't assign them tasks and work, but rather teach them to long for the endless immensity of the sea.“ - Antoine de Saint-Exupery
Re: Michael Seibel on Leadership Attributes in Successful Startup Leaders
#3The topic of leadership seems to come up frequently in these circles and I think it's great and important.
It does strike me as odd though that there is almost no recognition or reference to the vast world of case study and literature about leadership, and technical leadership to boot.
For example, Siebel talks about "Level 2" thinking as well as self awareness as important attributes to being a good leader. These attributes can be found discussed in great detail with well worn concepts like "Servant Leadership"[1] and "Referent Power"[2].
Further, actively seeking high consequence/stress situations like Siebel discusses is a well understood way of learning leadership.
So my question is, if it is important for tech CEOs or other tech people to understand and embody these leadership principles, why not seek out the huge amounts of training and learning on this - and to that end seeking out people who have gone through a lot of it, rather than trying to start from first principles?
Let me be clear too, I'm not suggesting you can learn this stuff from a book. Far from it. What I am saying is that there are a lot of great people out there with tested leadership experience, that are overlooked by the tech world because it does not specifically select for it.
[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Servant_leadership
[2]http://www.communicationcache.com/uploads/1/0/8/8/10887248/t...
Re: Michael Seibel on Leadership Attributes in Successful Startup Leaders
#4The topic of leadership seems to come up frequently in these circles and I think it's great and important. It does strike me as odd though that there is almost no recognition or reference to the vast world of case study and literature about leadership, and technical leadership to boot. For example, Siebel talks about "Level 2" thinking as well as self awareness as important attributes to being a good leader. These at…
Interesting point. My impression is that YC/SV is a lot “sexier”, and that’s why people are drawn to Seibel rather than Greenleaf or French/Raven.
The PDF you linked looks incredibly dry; On the other hand the link in this post is very easy to digest and understand.
Re: Michael Seibel on Leadership Attributes in Successful Startup Leaders
#5The topic of leadership seems to come up frequently in these circles and I think it's great and important. It does strike me as odd though that there is almost no recognition or reference to the vast world of case study and literature about leadership, and technical leadership to boot. For example, Siebel talks about "Level 2" thinking as well as self awareness as important attributes to being a good leader. These at…
While I agree with your general desire to teach/learn leadership, I don't think true Leadership can be codified as easily as other skills/qualities can. As Siebel says at the end of the interview, the single biggest trait he looks for in a good leader is communication. How do you teach good communication? Is the combination of empathy, wit, general+specific knowledge, active listening, etc etc something you can really teach someone so they communicate better? I'd argue these traits, if teachable at all, are developed at a young age. I've frankly never seen an adult evolve from a bad communicator to a good one. And that's just one quality of a good leader. Now try to codify, much less teach, something like charisma. Or likeability. These things, while nebulous, are definitely part of the leadership equation.
This becomes even more complicated in a tech setting, where the 0s and 1s of computers clash fundamentally with the nuanced requisites of a good leader. They're not mutually exclusive, of course, but what we're talking about now is a true left brain/right brain individual with a healthy dose of X factor that makes him/her someone that developers, sales folk, and office managers alike trust and get behind.
I wish I were wrong. I wish you could teach these things, but I really don't think you can. Otherwise we'd be living in a much different world.
Re: Michael Seibel on Leadership Attributes in Successful Startup Leaders
#6The topic of leadership seems to come up frequently in these circles and I think it's great and important. It does strike me as odd though that there is almost no recognition or reference to the vast world of case study and literature about leadership, and technical leadership to boot. For example, Siebel talks about "Level 2" thinking as well as self awareness as important attributes to being a good leader. These at…
I see this pattern a lot: leadership advice in the form of general principles/first principles, but not a lot of advice on the nuts and bolts of how you accomplish those things. Human emotions, motivation, and communication are far fickler things than software, and it takes a lot of skill and work to create consistency and resilience from that mess.
For example: how do you tell someone that they're underperforming while still motivating them? There's a lot of partial advice out there like "frame it as a growth opportunity." But how? What words do you use? Half of the new managers will flinch before they give the feedback, and the other half will flub the delivery. It's a hard-earned, fundamental leadership skill.
MBA programs actually encode a lot of time-tested wisdom on leadership and management for the students who go looking for it. Huge emphasis on the caveat because not all MBA students are looking for that. They even do simulations to give you practice in a low-stakes setting. As a risky generalization based on my own observations, I think Silicon Valley has thrown the baby out with the bathwater with its historical hostility towards MBA's.
Speaking of which, I think executive coaching is worth its weight in gold for younger startup leadership.
Re: Michael Seibel on Leadership Attributes in Successful Startup Leaders
#7The topic of leadership seems to come up frequently in these circles and I think it's great and important. It does strike me as odd though that there is almost no recognition or reference to the vast world of case study and literature about leadership, and technical leadership to boot. For example, Siebel talks about "Level 2" thinking as well as self awareness as important attributes to being a good leader. These at…
While I agree with your general desire to teach/learn leadership, I don't think true Leadership can be codified as easily as other skills/qualities can. As Siebel says at the end of the interview, the single biggest trait he looks for in a good leader is communication. How do you teach good communication? Is the combination of empathy, wit, general+specific knowledge, active listening, etc etc something you can reall…
How do you teach good communication? Is the combination of empathy, wit, general+specific knowledge, active listening, etc etc something you can really teach someone so they communicate better? I'd argue these traits, if teachable at all, are developed at a young age.
They are definitely teachable. I had to learn them. I won't say I'm great at it, but there was a drastic difference between my effectiveness as a leader early on vs. later on.
Just like technical acumen, you have to start with building low level muscles, and then you build on top of that to develop increasingly complex, integrated skills.
Here's an example breakdown of how to build communication skills from a set of low level skills. I've seen adults (including engineers) improve dramatically with direction and practice:
1. Learning to tell when you are getting angry and building the habit of stepping away instead of escalating
2. Learning to tell when you are reacting in the moment vs. analyzing, and practicing the habit of moving to analysis during tense conversations
3. Learning to stop automatically attributing bad motives to things other people say that you dislike
4. Learning the formula for conflict handling: (1) acknowledging their point, (2) repeating it back with a charitable interpretation, then (3) responding with your point
5. Learning to make exploratory statements and ask questions to establish common understanding
6. Learning to identify and not make overconfident/dismissive/glib statements
Re: Michael Seibel on Leadership Attributes in Successful Startup Leaders
#8The topic of leadership seems to come up frequently in these circles and I think it's great and important. It does strike me as odd though that there is almost no recognition or reference to the vast world of case study and literature about leadership, and technical leadership to boot. For example, Siebel talks about "Level 2" thinking as well as self awareness as important attributes to being a good leader. These at…
I see this pattern a lot: leadership advice in the form of general principles/first principles, but not a lot of advice on the nuts and bolts of how you accomplish those things. Human emotions, motivation, and communication are far fickler things than software, and it takes a lot of skill and work to create consistency and resilience from that mess. For example: how do you tell someone that they're underperforming wh…
A concrete example of motivation: when someone on my crew identifies and issue and dispalys just beyond a moderate amount of interest - boom - just just volunteered to drive that issue, direct resources and own the outcome. People grow fast with responsibleity and accountability. Sometimes it's a little messy. Play a long game.
Re: Michael Seibel on Leadership Attributes in Successful Startup Leaders
#9Looks like leadership characteristics are mostly "manufactured" kind. For example, you manipulate (motivate) people into doing stuff you will benefit the most in the long run. This might go against the values of some people.
Re: Michael Seibel on Leadership Attributes in Successful Startup Leaders
#10“Level Two thinking is about creating an environment and empowering people such that they do produce great outcomes without you having to tell them. If they can get into a mental model of what’s good for the company, and if they can be motivated and feel empowered, then they start doing great things. You don’t have to direct them. ” “If you want to build a ship, don't drum up people to collect wood and don't assign t…
but what happens if number #1 doesn't like the ship they built?