“YOU Mode”
Let’s talk about one of the latest phrases to hit the news… Founder Mode.
What is “Founder Mode” you ask? Well, according to Paul Graham who coined the term in his blog post, it seems that it is all about the Founder being hands on, into the details and every aspect of their company even as they grow. This is as opposed to “Manager Mode” which is about delegating to experienced managers.
His post is a little light on details about what Founder Mode really looks like. Examples of people who do (or did) “Founder Mode” are:
Steve Jobs, Apple
Brian Chesky, Airbnb
Jensen Huan, Nividia
Elon Musk, Tesla Motors
Mark Zuckerberg, Meta
Sam Altman, OpenAI
Howard Schultz, Starbucks
Notice something there?
As I read the blog post and articles on this topic, I couldn’t help but think Is this another view of all or nothing? You are either so into every detail of the business or not at all?
What We’ve Been Told
As women, we have had our fair share of society telling us what to do.
We have been told that we can “have it all” - the business or career, the family, the partner role, personal time, health…I could go on - but you all know the gist of the phrase. AND at the same time, we have been challenged to focus on traditional women’s roles - caregiving and homekeeping.
We have been told to we are more suited to “softer skills” and roles. So we are not always viewed in the same way as male founders or leaders. In response to Graham’s post, Sara Mauskopf, co-founder and CEO of the childcare marketplace startup Winnie, tweeted: "Remember when the female founders did founder mode and all got canceled for it?"**
Do We Need a Specific Mode to Follow?
Graham and other commentators of his post tend to lay out two distinct mindsets. And in reading the articles, it sounds as if they are on two opposite ends of the spectrum. One that is micromanagement in disguise (Founder Mode) and one that is a very “hands-off” approach (Manager Mode).
I know as leaders and business owners - we often like having a formula, recipe or perhaps “mode” to put in place and follow. It’s why systems like EOS, Scaling up, Pinnacle, the Business Model Canvas, etc. are popular. In essence, you “plug and play.”
The problem I have seen people run into when you think about fitting into a mode or system, is that you tend to lose the uniqueness that is you. And what works for one person doesn’t always work for another.
Graham does write “Whatever founder mode consists of, it's pretty clear that it's going to break the principle that the CEO should engage with the company only via his or her direct reports. "Skip-level" meetings will become the norm instead of a practice so unusual that there's a name for it. And once you abandon that constraint there are a huge number of permutations to choose from.”
So my focus goes to those “permutations.” What permutation will work best for you?
How About “YOU Mode”
We all know that micromanagement doesn’t work and neither does a “hands-off” approach. You just have to look at the focus on culture and key messages in books like The Future of Work is Human, Love + Work or Dare to Lead to know that there is a need to use not only both ends of that spectrum but all the things in between throughout the course of running your business or team.
But how do you do that well?
The key is to figure out what works best for you as a founder or leader and then build your own way of working. That’s our premise in The BWC Way of Working - it starts with you.
Here are a few things to consider when defining your own “mode”.
Step 1 - Be Clear on who you are, what your business does and what you want to achieve.
How well do you know you?
What are your strengths?
What do you like doing? Not like doing?
What gives you energy and what takes it away?
What do you want your “work-life flow” to look like?
What do you know about your business?
How do you make money? (No really - where does the revenue really come from?)
What do you hope to achieve with your business?
Who are your best clients/customers? How do you best interact with your clients/customers? (Engineers are different from Creatives…)
What problems do you solve for them?
What kind of culture are you trying to create?
This applies whether you are a solopreneur, employer or leader.
Are your purpose and values clearly defined?
Are you clear on your key strategies?
Who are your best partners/team members? (Like customers - what kinds of attributes do people bring to the team that you work well with.)
What is your team/parntership promise? (Think brand promise but for the people you partner with or who work for you.)
Step 2 - Knowing the above, build out what an ideal organization looks like for you to achieve success. This includes processes and people.
For Solopreneurs - processes are key, how much can you get done by yourself, through technology and through others (partners and contractors) that bring the skills and knowledge tha tyou need.
For Employers and Leaders - people are key. What roles, skills, knowledge and abilities do you need in your team that will support you and your goals with your organization? You still need good processes - but the people you work with will be key.
Step 3 - Build a system or “way of working” that will help everyone stay in the know, be on track, move forward and work for YOU.
The key is to take the time to put a system in place that facilitates clarity, communication, collaboration and the ability to flex and evolve as needed. This may be a system like EOS or perhaps one that already works.
Start with something and mold it into a way that works for you to achieve what you want to achieve.
While this is a quick view of what can be - the happier owners/leaders are those who figure out what the YOU Mode is for them and create the organization that helps them achieve their goals and stay in that mode.
**FOLLOW UP - article that talks about why “Founder Mode” doesn’t work for women: Canceled, Ousted, and Taken Down: Why Founder Mode Doesn't Work for Female Leaders
