Cultural challenges for CEOs during COVID19. At least challenges for me.
1/ I’ve hesitated to share much through this crisis about the impact it is having on me/us. The health & economic impacts are far more important than startup culture.
1/ I’ve hesitated to share much through this crisis about the impact it is having on me/us. The health & economic impacts are far more important than startup culture.
2/ There are people far more informed to talk about those things.
But this relatively small impact on company culture has been a really big one for me. So recognizing the bigger picture, here it goes…..
But this relatively small impact on company culture has been a really big one for me. So recognizing the bigger picture, here it goes…..
3/ I told our product team this week that cultural challenges are the things related to our business that keep me up the most. That’s always been true- but especially true now. I want to share what some of those challenges are. Intention is to help others know they aren’t alone.
4/ Tough communication channels: For those that aren’t used to WFH, everyone being WFH makes it easier to let things fester. Easier to not be direct. To misinterpret short emails. And long ones. Harder to connect personally. And that unpredictable lag on video really kills humor.
5/ Teams that are used to talking on the way to lunch, or in the kitchen, are showing growing pains learning how to communicate as effectively. Harder to joke around right now. Scheduling meetings is inefficient, particularly for information that can be delivered asynchronously.
6/ Drained Energy: The conversations on @zoom_us are more draining – because of constant eye contact and lack of pre-meeting banter.
7/ Zoom calls tend to stack on top of each other to the minute; whereas physical meetings 3 months ago required travel time, even if just for 100 feet…….which we now realize was a time to have a mini-decompression.
nationalgeographic.com/science/2020/0…
nationalgeographic.com/science/2020/0…
8/ Impact on Health: Health for employees, their families, friends. Mental health and physical health. Inability for employees to get the relaxation and release time (i.e. going to the gym) that they would normally get.
9/ Increased fear: Fear about everything. Fear of the changing world- because of the virus and the recession (particularly for those that haven’t worked through a recession). Fear for themselves, their loved ones, their country, the world.
10/ Changing macro-environment: More than 1x in past 8 weeks I’ve been told “but that isn’t the plan we agreed to in [pre-COVID19 date].” I often find myself having to remind myself and others that the world has changed. *Dramatically*. Hard to process the magnitude of change.
11/ There are teammates that crave stability and struggle to recognize that initiatives that were Important 3 months ago are now deprioritized because they are not Urgent.
Urgent v. Important.
Urgent v. Important.
Urgent v. Important.
Urgent v. Important.
Urgent v. Important.
Urgent v. Important.
12/ Transparency vs. Perceived Stability: Some team members ask for stability. Some ask for transparency. Those are almost never the same thing….for any startup….at any time.
13/ I feel relieved when our team wants transparency- it helps me feel less alone. More honest. Many CEOs (not all) I know feel something similar regardless of performance.
14/ But over the last 8 weeks I have seen a great disparity- more than at any point in my life- between what teammates want. Some teammates want transparency -to know the ups and downs. Some want stability – to believe everything they believed last year is still true today.
15/ Optimism v. realism: I have been told more in the past 2 months than the previous 4 years that teammates want hope. “People need hope Ryan, help them believe we will be fine through this.”
16/ I’ve also been told a similar amount, and with equal gusto, that teammates want realism- just want to know what’s really going to happen. “Don’t sugarcoat it!”
17/ Sometimes realism for a startup means we don’t know – and that can be scary. And can be perceived as not optimistic or hiding the ball. The irony is, saying “I don’t know” is often the most honest.”
How do you balance that?
How do you balance that?
18/ Bonding- how do you bond remotely? We’ve tried so many things. Remote trivia. Remote talent shows. Remote happy hours. Remote workouts. Entrance music during All Hands. A lot of them fall flat. It takes courage for teammates to put themselves out there and try these things.
19/ Lack of understanding: CEOs have told me so many cases of employees not recognizing the importance of what’s happening around them.
20/ Real quotes:
“I think we should hire more people for me to manage right now. It will help with my professional development.”
“I think the company should send all employees meals because normally we get free meals in the office.”
“I think we should hire more people for me to manage right now. It will help with my professional development.”
“I think the company should send all employees meals because normally we get free meals in the office.”
21/ In situations like these it takes a lot of strength for me not to say “80% of tech companies are laying people off and you want a free burrito each day?”
techcrunch.com/tag/layoffs/
techcrunch.com/tag/layoffs/
22/ Harder to celebrate: We try to email and Slack celebrate. But celebrating on Zoom…..is just awkward IMO. Or maybe I’m just insecure that I’m being awkward.
23/ There are also some things that are working.
There are teammates stepping up, there are teams that are seeing a huge opportunity and live “Don’t let a good crisis go to waste.”
There are teammates stepping up, there are teams that are seeing a huge opportunity and live “Don’t let a good crisis go to waste.”
24/ There are teammates that recognize this is a chance to build. Build product, build the company, build relationships, build.
25/ For all the reasons mentioned above, it is an easy time to lean away - to put yourself on mute and zone out of a meeting, to avoid a hard conversation, to opt out of that optional Zoom culture event.
But I’ve also been proud to see teammates lean in. Really lean in.
But I’ve also been proud to see teammates lean in. Really lean in.
26/ In 5 years people will talk about what you did during this time.
How do you want your teammates to remember you? When you start a new company you’ll draw on this experience.
How do you want your teammates to remember you? When you start a new company you’ll draw on this experience.
27/ When you interview with other companies you’ll get asked about difficult times and how you showed up.
How do you want to be remembered?
How do you want to be remembered?
28/ Courage is born out of fear.
There is a lot of fear right now. Teammates and organizations have the opportunity to demonstrate courage to each other, to the market and to themselves. That is opportunity. So while there are tremendous challenges, there are also opportunities
There is a lot of fear right now. Teammates and organizations have the opportunity to demonstrate courage to each other, to the market and to themselves. That is opportunity. So while there are tremendous challenges, there are also opportunities
29/ Opportunities to demonstrate leadership, perseverance, courage. Those are things that can propel individual careers, relationships and companies. Those are things that can have an enduring impact on company culture long after the dust settles.
