Startup land is incredible in many ways. It’s a place where world-changing companies are built. It’s the arena where the biggest talents congregate. It’s a scene where the ‘pay it forward’ concept of helping others is in full effect.
But, conversely, it’s also a realm where some of the most toxic leadership and management styles imaginable converge. That’s part of the reason we wanted to start C-suite, our ‘lifetime learning platform for executives’. More on that later.
Now, with all that said, disclaimer time. While I’ve worked for some startups over the years, my background is very much media and events.
I started out as a journalist and although I climbed the management ranks over the years, I’ll always think of myself as a journo first. Therefore, I’m not a full-blown creature of the startup scene just yet.
However, many of my friends and industry contacts are. Because of that, I know how bad things can get. I’ve seen people on the verge of a breakdown due to toxic work culture. Their whole lives dominated by trying (unsuccessfully) to rationalise the lack of professionalism and humanity in the workplace.
I’ve witnessed people being relentlessly belittled by those higher up in the hierarchy. And it’s not just limited to early-stage startups –where the pressure is admittedly immense due to the threat of failure, and the inexperience is palpable– as portrayed in the Netflix documentary Print the Legend.
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No, in his brilliant book Idea Man, Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen laments the lack of compassion for colleagues shown by his co-founder Bill Gates; even after unicorn status was achieved and chasing revenue, and users no longer meant the difference between survival and success.
Why is this negative scenario more of a norm, rather than an exception to the rule? Why have many first-time managers decided the Steve Jobs book of dysfunctional leadership (Apple design genius Jony Ive famously felt he had to present Jobs with two solutions, in order that the CEO could slam one of them and feel righteous) is the way to go when chasing their startup dream? And why does tech rival politics, in terms of the elevated level of skullduggery in play?
The answer is simple –a lack of training, feedback, experience, and self-awareness. Disclaimer time again (sorry if this leitmotif is getting annoying, but bear with me – it serves a purpose).
I’ve come to realise that at times in my career I wasn’t always the best leader myself. My Damascene moment came via some candid feedback from colleagues, microscopic leadership training, and a progressive career mentor who helped me along the way.
Seeing the benefits of these things first-hand inspired me and my co-founders Don Tsai (COO) and Alan Yudhahutama (CTO) to create C-suite.
All three of us believe deeply in its mission to nurture leaders, managers, and aspirational professionals across all of the knowledge economy industries (not just in tech).
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So what is C-suite exactly then? You might ask.
Here’s a blurb from our pitch deck (which I’m happy to send out to anyone with even a passing interest, just drop me an email): “C-suite is a lifetime online-to-offline-to-online learning platform for executives, where management becomes leadership. It is an exclusive community hub, a social network, news and views forum, and a recommendation engine – in the coming ExecTech wave.
“Super-serving Singapore and Asia, but in a global context, our mission is: ‘To help managers become high-performing leaders. To help leaders become better managers. To help aspirational professionals join the C-suite ranks. And, as a result, to help businesses win.’
“We do so through a paid-for app, virtual gatherings, real-world conferences, and much more besides. Our focus is to support the three pillars of community, content and connectivity.”
Ok, that’s enough of the spruik, back to the matter in hand. Sticking with the startup scene, I mentioned earlier the ‘pay it forward’ behavioural tendencies. As a new co-founder, I’ve found this to be somewhat of a revelation. The camaraderie among those starting new companies is breathtaking.
People are so willing to help you – whether it’s providing free advice, making introductions, or even revealing their trade secrets. You reciprocate. It’s beyond quid pro quo.
In short, you want to help every startup founder in the same boat and they want to help you back. It would be great if we could somehow bottle this altruism and provide the same level of support to our own teams, don’t you think?
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Only through mutual learning, as opposed to command and control, can we achieve this. That’s the crux of it all. Indeed, the startup paradox of altruism juxtaposed with toxicity is a topic I want to explore further in our ‘Leadership Mixer’ series of virtual events.
Beyond that, I’ll be blogging on a regular basis in order to take you behind the curtain on the journey of a startup. At times, it might be warts and all. My hope, though, is that the transparency about the challenges faced along the way will provide some value to others on a similar path or to those in a leadership position.
Of course, speaking honestly, the goal of these tasters is also to start building a community around the C-suite brand before our product even launches. For you can expect our MVP app in quarter four of this year. In the meantime, enjoy the free content and please do donate to our cause if you like what you see.
Also, we are running a Kickstarter campaign whereby the first 1,000 contributors can get lifetime C-suite ‘professional’ membership for just US$100. Check it out here.
Well, that’s all from me for now. I hope you enjoyed this first installment of the blog. If you did, I’d love to hear from you, so please do email me at dean@c-suite.sg. And if you didn’t, I’d still be delighted to receive your constructive criticism.
For with everything we do at C-suite, we want to listen deeply to users so that we can iterate and evolve. Only with this agile approach will we be able to create a sustainable platform that gives you the added value you need.
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