Keep Your Composure, Keep the Team on Track

Originally part of our Founding Voices newsletter series. Read more insights here.

Keep Your Composure, Keep the Team on Track

Setbacks and adversity are unavoidable during the company building journey. It’s also natural for your confidence to waver after a series of tough outs. But you need to stay centered and relentlessly look for silver linings. Not just for yourself, but for your team.

“Early startups are founded on energy, meaning there’s going to be a lot of downs, a lot of bad news, and a lot of rough spots. If as a leader, you’re not bringing a mindset of abundance, you’re not getting everybody up, you’re not making everyone believe, you’re not re-centering everyone on the vision, the startup fails and it falls apart. As a founder you have to make people believe in something that doesn’t exist and yet it could change the world.”

MANNY MEDINA
Co-founder and CEO, Outreach

Your team is here because you sold them on the vision. But while your people can be as scrappy and as gritty and as tough as they come, there are going to be days where it’ll be hard for them to see the forest for the trees.

In moments of apprehension, your team will naturally look to you to light the way and remind them of the big picture. For that reason you must project optimism and clarity of purpose, especially when there’s turbulence ahead.

“Building a company is really hard,” says Rajeev Batra. “You’re fooling yourself if you think otherwise. But if you have to commiserate, do it with your mentors, or your peers. Because in the trenches, with your team, you need to be steadfast. If the sky is falling but you keep your cool, people pick up on that, and it’ll help them to power through.”