Sam Chandler 💥 Customer Success and Experience and Startups

We tend to think of work-life balance as a notion of how many hours we've devoted to work or life in a given week. But when you're building a company you don't always have that luxury. Life is a series of choices & consequences. Every minute you spend building your company is one that you don't get to spend doing something else. But that doesn't mean your time spent building a company isn't also time spent building something for your family. Maybe you're working your butt off building something great now so that you can provide *for* your family. As long as you understand what you're working towards and the trade offs for the decisions you make.

If you can't give your team an objective, a timeline, and a process for raising their hand when they need help then you've either hired for the wrong skill sets or you've done a bad job of communicating your strategy. Great leaders hire for the right skills, tell those people what needs to be done, and leave them alone to get that job done.

Do or do not. There is no try. Often those who are *trying* to be a leader are not seen as such by those around them. Leaders do not try - they do. They are. Startups are hard. Businesses are hard. If you are beginning that journey by asking how to become a leader then you're asking the wrong questions. Get experience. Talk to as many people as possible. Collaborate and network. Experience is just another word for learning. And it works as laterally as it does chronological.

Be visible and open to collaboration! So often I hear that remote work makes collaboration difficult. But that doesn't have to be the case! The more you make an effort to expand your "network" at your organization, the easier it becomes to spot opportunities to collaborate across that organization. Sometimes opportunities arise that you would never have dreamed up if it weren't for getting to know your colleagues.

Don't assume the change is the issue. Most startups professionals understand the fast-paced, every-dynamic environment they've entered into. If you are hearing of issues with change within your startups org, ensure that it's not a symptom of a different issue. Talk to your team, understand their concerns, do better where you need to do better as a leader.

Emotional Intelligence (EQ) is one of the most important soft skills a retention professional can hone in this new era of digital efficiency and AI advancement. Even when not in the same room, it's important to be able to "read the room." Make sure you're picking up on non-verbal cues, tone, and the situation. This also requires some homework - who are you talking to? What is their perspective on your company? What do they need to accomplish? How can you make their life easier? Being cognizant of the whole person and empathetic to their needs is possible in any environment - virtual or IRL.