Building a Culture in a Small Starting Group Environment

“The best leaders and founders I’ve worked with have the ability to have conviction about a vision and an opinion, but also the ability to open up the decision or the moment and say, ‘OK, is there something I'm not thinking about?’ or ‘What could I have done differently?’” Claire Hughes Johnson draws on her experience leading and managing teams at Google and Stripe, and reflects on all things people management on this episode of Moonshot. Delving into insights published in her book, Scaling People: Tactics for Management and Company Building, Claire discusses the difference between leadership and management, how to build trust and set expectations with early hires, and how startup founders can effectively give and receive feedback.

Show notes:

• The four operating principles of leaders and managers [03:34]
• Seek feedback: “What could I have done differently?” [12:19]
• How self-awareness helps you receive feedback [15:43]
• Scaling: “Repeatedly being able to do something incredibly well.” [25:29]
• Play to your strengths when developing your leadership style [33:16]
• Build trust and set expectations with early leadership hires [35:21]