An open letter to the CEOs and co-founders of START-UPs.
Dear Entrepreneur, Founder, CEO,
I hope you are doing good.
[Note: I am going to sound sarcastic and a bit rude in this letter. Hope you you have the strength and courage to read it in the right light.]
One fine day, you had a great idea popping in your head. You also started working on it! You worked really hard, putting day in and day out. Talking to people who liked your idea, talking to investors, doing client meetings, missing your Diwali, Holi, Bhaiya Dooj, Id and Valentine’s day too! Telling family and friends around you, “Yaar ek baar ye idea chaal jae, tab to aish hi aish hai!” (Once this idea works out, it will be smooth ride for sure!)
Six months rolled into a year and a year rolled into two and then three. You have set up a startup now. You have visiting cards, coffee mugs, chairs and tables with your company logo on it. You have a staff of 6 to 16 employees under the company umbrella. The feeling is “ab to chall padi!” So you hustle harder.
Milestone after milestone are achieved. By now a weird kinda anxiety, stress, late nights, tablet and your apple laptops have become your best friends along with some bank balance. If you really are the new age boss, the calm and collected and yoga practicing types then you are doing the right thing. You don’t need to read this further.
One day, and that is if you allow that day to make a mark on you, you will have an epiphany, that “life is important”. Family, friends and home are important. Money is very important but you can do alright with a little less too. Till then, there are some thoughts to reflect upon from the other side of the table. From the people who work for you.
Here they go:
1. Your employees are people! I know it might come as news to you (not all, but some of you), but truly the people who work for you, are actually human beings, with family, friends, hobbies, goals, interest and emotions. They have good and bad days, they may have different working patterns, and they might be differently skilled. You see, they are not your clones, so kindly do not treat them so.
2. Your employees do not necessarily share your vision: Most of us want to have jobs that utilize our skills and help us pay our bills! (it rhymed :-p).
Your company is your company because you were motivated and initiated enough to take the toil to create something.
That needs a lot of skill, persuasiveness and hard work. Kudos to you!
NOT EVERYBODY wants to do that. Not everybody has a die-hard professional goal or vision. And if they did, they wouldn’t be working for you. So stop telling people to hustle harder for your vision after an 8 hour shift has gone by.
p.s: It is not humane and against company laws
3. Weekends are for resting! Remember the story in bible which says that on the “seventh day God rested.” If gods can take a break we can too. It is absolutely ridiculous to ask someone to work on their holiday. Their time with their family, friends, even with themselves lying on the couch is their time. May be you are this combination of iron man + Hercules /
Super girl+Rapunzel but many of us are happy being us! Kindly be empathetic and let us be!
4. Do not; I say DO NOT sell experience by trunk loads!
The absence of health care, Provident Funds, incentives, promotions and a poor pay check does not compensate for the work experience you will be providing at your not-so-world class office. So save it. If people are to come to you for your work, they will.
5. Bring them under your wing and let them grow…
Most people coming to work with you will be young girls and boys just out of college. What you can actually give them is a guiding path to learning and being good at knowing the skills they have. Teach them that.
You have had so many ups and downs on the road to the station you are at. There is a lot of wisdom that you can share with them.
Help them, guide them, push them, challenge them and make them absolutely comfortable to fail and get up. Nothing is permanent. Your company, the investors, the clients are as fleeting as you on this earth. But the relationship you share with your people over the years will really pay you dividends. Teach them how to be useful in a meaningful way to themselves. Your company and the world are sure to benefit from that.
6. Also Organizational Development is a thing.
See you may be a great entrepreneur but you may not necessarily be a great people’s person. So give that job to a person who knows how to do it. A person with OD skills, who has authority and connect in the company will know how to guide you and the employees towards creating a healthy environment for your company. The money spend on this resource will definitely pay you a lot of dividends.
Note of love: Don’t let your vision blind you to the simply realities of life.
