In Stage 1, leaders are ideally spending 40 percent of their time and energy wearing the Visionary Face, 10 percent wearing the Manager Face, and 50 percent wearing the Specialist Face. Stage 1 is almost equal parts providing the vision for the company and executing on that vision.
Stage 1 leaders need to devote half of their time to being actively involved in the work of the company—creating the products for customers, delivering the services to clients, or applying their personal expertise to the company’s offerings. Often, the leader is contributing significantly to the overall output of the organization. Wearing the Specialist Face can also include time the leader spends in business development, whether it’s sales, marketing, or customer service.
Setting the vision for the company and tying that back to the organization’s activities should occupy 40% of the leader’s time and energy. Without this time spent in critical thinking about where the organization is headed, it is challenging to get buy-in from the team on that vision. The team must be confident in the company’s future so that they can create forward momentum in this early Stage.
With a focus on surviving the Start-Up Stage, it’s common that a Stage 1 leader spends too much time wearing the Specialist Face. They may have started the business because they are naturally talented in wearing the Specialist Face—they are a great electrician or talented designer. Wearing the Specialist Face is where they feel comfortable and accomplished. But a Stage 1 business needs its leader to be more than a Specialist.
The over-emphasis on Specialist typically comes at the expense of wearing the Visionary Face. Being a Visionary is a new responsibility for many business owners. To build an organization takes more than being an excellent doer of the work; it takes a leader who is willing to spend the energy to paint a vision of the future that inspires others to want to help achieve it.
If a leader doesn’t spend enough time in this early stage intentionally setting a vision for where the company is headed, they can’t share it with the staff. Without a clear vision, it is hard for the staff to buy into the company or see how their daily tasks contribute to the end-goal. The leader will struggle to build a strong, dedicated team that can help the organization grow through Stage 1 and beyond.
Three Faces of a Leader Misalignment
A medical doctor has an innovative idea for a device that will improve the administration of certain drugs. He decides to quit practicing medicine and invest his time and energy into developing the product and getting it to the market. He hires a small team of engineers and starts marketing and selling the device. His vision for the product and his company is crystal clear in his mind, and he has no trouble attracting investors.
After several months, however, the device is still far from ready. Several pieces of the project have stalled, and he is constantly frustrated by the inability of his team to execute on his vision. By this time, he has already begun planning for a second device to complement the first and has drummed up interest in the market. He finds replacements for his team in the hopes of speeding up production, but they too seem unable to finish development.
This CEO is very comfortable wearing the Visionary Face. He attracts talent and investors easily because he’s adept at sharing his vision and building excitement. What he fails to do, though, is wear the Specialist Face. He needs to roll up his sleeves and get involved with product development if he wants to see progress in that area, because he is the one with the clearest understanding of what is needed. Otherwise, the gap between the vision and getting things done is too great for even very talented employees to bridge.
The concepts from this article were taken from The Start-Up Stage: Organizational ReWilding Rules for Business Growth. Available through The ReWild Group and Amazon, the book explores this and other concepts in-depth while providing illustrations to help business leaders incorporate the ideas into their organizations. Get your copy today to learn the rules for growth for companies with 1-10 employees.