The hard thing about hard things
By Ben Horowitz
The hard thing in a company is…
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when “great” people develop a sense of entitlement.
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getting people to communicate with each other in the structure you have designed.
There is no formula
Everyone writes a book, there is no recipe for really complicated, dynamic situations.
You need sleep
You only ever experience two emotions—euphoria and terror. And I find that a lack of sleep enhances them both.
You need friends
In life, you need two kinds of friends. When good happens to you, you need a friend whom you can call who will be more excited about it than you. When things go wrong, you need a friend to talk to.
You need focus
People ask me, “What’s the secret to being a CEO?” There is no on answer, but the one skill that stands out is the ability to focus.
CEOs should tell it like it is
When you are a CEO, there is an in-built pressure to stay positive in communication. Good CEOs tell it as it is, that’s the best way.
Be transparent
There are three reasons why CEOs need to be transparent about company issues:
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Trust
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The more brains working on the problem, the better it is.
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A good culture is where bad news travels fast and good news travels slowly.
Deal with layoffs
Laying off people is unfortunately a part of the scenario today. As a CEO, get your head right, do not delay, train your managers and explain to the company why the company needs to shed costs.
People leaving fall into three categories
Tech companies bucket three types of people who leave them:
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people who quit
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people who got fired, and
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people who quit, but the company didn’t want them anyway.
Appreciate good work
Everyone says take care of people, products and profits in that order. Good work should never go unnoticed. A lot of politicians in companies try to make their work look good. CEOs should be careful.
Appreciation leads to fulfilment
In good organisations, people focus on their work, and have confidence that if their work is good, good things will happen to them and the company. This makes their jobs motivating and fulfilling.
Create a good company
Being a good company is an end in itself. Being a good company doesn’t matter when things go well; it matters when things go wrong.
Why should companies train people?
They should do so for
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Productivity
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Performance management
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Product quality delivery
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Employee retention.
Good and bad product managers
Good product managers know the market, the competition, and the product line extremely well and operate from that confidence.
Bad product managers have lots of excuses: not enough funding, not enough help from other functions, competition has more funds etc. etc.
Tracking and discipline
Good product managers send status reports on time because they realise its importance and they value discipline.
Big fish, small pond usually doesn’t work out
Big company executives cannot work in small companies because there is a rhythm mismatch and a skillset mismatch.
Management debt
Like you have financial debt, you also have management debt. The three management debts that are bad are:
- Putting tow in a box to do the same job
- Overcompensating an employee because he threatens to leave
- No performance management or employee feedback system
Good CEOs don’t take the easy path
Good CEOs I know always tend to opt for the hard answer to organisational problems and never take an easy route.
Traits of a good HR person
A great HR person has the following traits:
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a good diplomat
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industry knowledge
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trusted advisor to CEO
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understands things that are unspoken.
A CEO’s job is to minimise politics in an organisation
Good CEOs do two things:
- Hire people with the right kind of ambition. The wrong kind of ambition is self above team.
- Build strict processes in the following areas: performance evaluation and compensation, organisational design and promotions. They ensure that the correct principles are followed.
Culture is about performance
Bringing dogs to the workplace and having yoga at work is not culture. Culture finally has to be about great performance.
Keep your balance
CEOs make the mistake of taking things too personally and in some cases being too detached.
Dealing with a lonely job
A CEO s job is a lonely job. Good CEOs put things in writing a lot to get the loneliness out in the open.
What good CEOs do
They focus on the road, not on the wall.
They know what to do and then get the company to do what they know.
Build courage
Courage, like character, can be developed.
Knowing when to follow or break protocol
Peacetime CEOs know that proper protocol leads to winning. War time CEOs break protocol to win. Good CEOs are a combination of both as and when needed.
Being a good CEO
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Be authentic
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Give people candid feedback
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Don’t get personal
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Don’t be mean and revengefulFeedback is a dialogue, not a monologue
You need a network
CEOs need both a skillset and a good network. Without a network, a CEO can rarely build a great company.
The Hard Thing About Hard Things
By Ben Horowitz