Here are five habits of a highly successful start-up employee

I started my career at a large steel company where at one point I worked as an EA to one of the VPs. The Executive Team met every fortnight to discuss important issues. For one of the meetings, the EA of the CEO wasn’t present and I was asked to substitute.

The meetings were held in the board room where the CEO would be seated at the head of the table and the VPs (six of them) were seated on both sides. The senior most of the two VPs, like always, were seated to the left and the right of the CEO.

There was never any confusion on who sat where! I had to sit in the second row behind the main row of chairs and take notes. At one point when the discussion was about the sale of a division, one of the VP’s differed with the CEO and there was some argument (but arguments with the CEO never ever got heated).

It was very evident to me that what he (the VP) was saying made a lot of sense, but there was no support forthcoming from anyone else. During the bio-break, I overheard one of the other VPs telling this VP, “What you were saying made eminent sense. I wish the boss had understood”. My thought was, "if this was so obvious to you (as it was to me), why didn’t you speak up in the meeting"? If he had spoken up, maybe someone else would have done the same and the decision would have been different. It was proved some years later that the decision taken that day was wrong.

From this large company, that moved with the speed of an oil tanker (where I was accustomed to ‘listening’ to a boss rather than speaking my mind), I moved to a start-up with the agility of a fighter jet.

In my first one-on-one with the CEO, I was in the old mode - a note pad and pen in hand listening - and in less than two minutes, the CEO asked me curtly, “will this monologue continue or will we have a dialogue?”

These are the habits for being successful in a start up

1. Be Assertive
· Assertiveness needs Passion. It needs the skills to translate this passion into organizational outcomes without breaking too many eggs along the way, but the willingness to break a few when needed.

· Assertiveness is about recognizing the importance of constructive tension. It needs Perseverance and Stamina.

· Assertiveness is about having a view point. And, the willingness to work hard to gather data to substantiate that view point. And the willingness to state this point of view where it matters. Without Assertiveness, you can’t create a great product, or provide a great service. You can’t build consensus on a difficult issue, or take tough decisions. You can’t meet deadlines or fight in a tough market place. You can’t have crucial conversations either.

2. Unclutter
I think it was Einstein who had said, “If you can't explain it to a six year old, you don't understand it yourself.”

Persons with an uncluttered mind are always asking questions such as, What problem are we solving? Is this needed? Can this be done any other way? Are we designing for extreme conditions or the most common conditions? Who requires it to be done this way? etc.

They cut through the smoke and jargon in meetings. They ask insightful questions that help get to the root of an issue. They cut to the chase and get to the point. They have the uncanny ability to translate the intangibles into dollars and cents. They tend to make the right approximations and ignore the unimportant variables.

3. Manage Time
There are 3 components to managing time:

· Prioritize –The smart-hardworking types make excellent staff officers! In effect, the smart-lazy types prioritize well. The word ‘lazy’ is obviously metaphorical, because they can be actually working very hard on the 2-3 most important things like a Steve Jobs.

· Create Capacity – Creating capacity is about figuring out the capability of your/your function’s to deliver on goals, identify weak links proactively and shore them up before cracks begin to show up. This is an important component of managing time. You can never manage time well if you or your team lacks capacity.

· Manage Monkeys – Taking a Monkey is about consciously or unconsciously taking ownership/ commitment/ accountability for something that someone else is responsible for. Consciously, and more often unconsciously, we pass on (and receive) monkeys every day and creating confusion where we should have been striving for clarity. This confusion is one of the biggest derailers in a start-up! The reasons why monkeys are created and passed on are many. This is a topic for another day. Develop the habit of avoiding monkeys (passing or receiving). Establish clarity on ownership and accountability.

4. Envision
“Envisioning” is not about Strategizing or dreaming of the Big Picture in a Vacuum. It is about being Strategic in the Context of Execution. And, that is a BIG Difference.

In a goal sheet, one of the goals of a training head stated: “Audit and Adherence”. This was a goal set without envisioning. After envisioning, the goal was modified to, “Strengthen the quality and consistency of training implementation through appropriate reporting and audit”. With this change in goal definition, the training head would be able to make mid course corrections in activities that are needed to reach that goal. Too narrow a definition ignores the primary purpose of a goal, or a role for that matter.

5. Anticipate & be Proactive
Being proactive is about taking initiative to prepare for, participate in and/or control the events rather than reacting to the events.
Those that are proactive are not victims – they take things in their stride when they do not receive support. Those that are proactive do not procrastinate – they take timely action.

In Conclusion
One typical question or comment I hear often is, “Are these habits not helpful in a mature company”? Of course good habits are helpful everywhere, but like the smart and lazy general, we need to discriminate. If these habits are not demonstrated everyday in a mature company, hell won’t break loose and the world around you will still be in one piece. In a start-up all hell WOULD break loose!

(The article is authored by Hari T.N, Head HR at Big Basket)

(Image: Thinkstock)