I took one of my “discuss complex problems”-walks with my dear friend David Hite, cofounder of Bridge 37 Ventures, today. I love talking about hard, sticky, interesting problems while walking — there is something magically which happens when you’re moving instead having your bum planted in a seat inside of a stuffy meeting room.
David and I talked about the role of leadership in a startup (and really any stage company) when David summed up his long-time experience at Intel with a simple statement:
“Leaders set the pace of execution.”
We talked a bunch about your role as a leader in the past. Add this to your list: As the leader of your organization you determine how fast you move, how fast your people move, how hard you push.
Your people look to you for their cues. Model the behavior you want to see in others and walk the talk. Any organization is a manifestation of its leaders.