If in Part 1 you learned how to face difficulties (when everything starts to fall apart), handle conflicts between long-term vision and immediate challenges, and in Part 2, you practiced building company culture step by step by focusing on People first, then Product, and finally Profit, then in Part 3, you—like me—may be asking the question: How do you lead a company when you yourself don’t know where it’s headed? Part 3 is the shortest, but it may hold the most lasting value and help you resolve your doubts. You’ll find the answer in this important section. You are a founder, a CEO, but you don’t have to become Steve Jobs. You are yourself, with your own leadership style. So read on, name, and clearly define the 3 key things that shape your leadership style right now.
How to lead a company when you yourself don’t know where it’s headed
CEOs often fall into one of the following traps: they either take things too personally or not personally enough.
In the first case, the CEO sees every issue as extremely serious, very personal, and in need of immediate resolution. If the CEO only focuses on external problems, they may drive their employees to the point of no longer wanting to work for the company. If the CEO only focuses on internal issues, they themselves may become discouraged, leading to a lack of motivation each day.
In the second case, the CEO adopts the mindset of “It’s not that bad!” With this attitude, they see problems as not urgent and avoid addressing them. This makes the CEO feel more at ease, but eventually, the lack of action demoralizes employees. In the end, the company may be forced to shut down.
So what should a CEO do? Be urgent, but don’t panic. A CEO should be decisive and avoid blaming others. If you can separate the problem from your emotions, you’ll avoid pushing your team—or yourself—into crisis.
The hardest CEO skill
A great CEO is someone who confronts pain. They rise above hardships and struggle. An average CEO focuses on strategy, business instincts, and many self-glorifying explanations. But a top-tier CEO remains steadfast and always says, “I didn’t quit.”
Following the leader
There’s no single standard for a perfect CEO. Leaders like Steve Jobs, Bill Campbell, or Andy Grove had completely different styles, yet all achieved greatness.
Perhaps the most important factor for a successful CEO is leadership. So what is leadership, and how should we understand it in a CEO’s job?
The three core elements of leadership are: the ability to communicate a vision, a sound ambition, and the ability to achieve that vision.
Some areas may need more focus than others, but every CEO should practice all three skills.
Acting like a CEO
At first, you might not be familiar with some basic CEO responsibilities. One example is giving feedback. So how can we become skilled at these “unfamiliar” tasks?
Be honest. Don’t criticize employees in front of others, and remember that no feedback fits everyone. Be direct, but not intentional in hurting. Remember: feedback should be a dialogue, not a monologue.
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KisStartup realized that reading an entire book isn’t always practical for startup founders. That’s why we needed a more effective way to summarize than just introducing a book—a careful summary with a moderate length and key messages. Recommended by mentor Phan Đình Tuấn Anh of SME Mentoring 1:1, we discovered Paul Minors, who carefully curates and summarizes books. With Paul’s permission, we selected the most relevant books for startups. KisStartup’s team read the original texts to ensure they were suitable and translated them into Vietnamese. Throughout 2018, we will continue introducing these books in parts, each designed to fit a 5-minute reading time.
The Hard Thing about Hard Things is the first book we introduce because we found deep resonance with startups—stories that never get old about people and how they respond to the challenges of building something new. Startups are hard and demand extraordinary effort. Ben Horowitz distills critical messages and highlights what often gets forgotten. While reading it, I realized that company culture often grows out of the founder’s personal maturity—from a startup founder to a value-driven business owner.
The book was translated by my colleague at KisStartup, Tạ Hương Thảo – Coordinator of Capacity Building Programs at KisStartup. I hope that, like me, you will find value in this book. As author Ben Horowitz says: “The hard thing isn’t setting big, challenging, audacious goals. The hard thing is having to fire people when you fail to meet those goals.”
How do we build a shared vision, become a true CEO, and stay resilient in creating value? Let’s read, explore, and put it into practice.
— Nguyễn Đặng Tuấn Minh, Manager & Co-founder of KisStartup
