How to Transition from a Top-Down Leader to a Servant-Oriented Leader

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Google was a complete opposite and it was forced a really hard shift for me.
In recognizing hey, my job here is I have to really invest in making sure the team has context and are bringing people along. There I saw the power of what was possible when I played my role in making sure my people had information, context, and then space to go execute and operate. I think that really opened my eyes for what was possible when you combined incredible, highly motivated people with a great teamor-antic culture with clarity of vision and with the information they needed while you could achieve so much as the team. That was for me a recognition that I can build on what I learned in the Marine Corps. I can really do a better job now with empowering people and creating an environment where they can do great work. My role now becomes how do I make sure that they have what they need so they can run as fast as they can.

Our guest today is Don Faul, CEO of CrossFit.

Don has a fascinating background where he’s been able to find success in environments as different as a combat zone and a corporate board room. After spending 8 years as a platoon commander in the U.S. Marine Corps, Don had stints at some of the most vaunted companies in tech, including Google, Facebook and Pinterest, the latter of which he served as the Head of Operations. It’s a really unique set of leadership experiences spanning very different cultures.

In today’s conversation, he answers some burning questions like if micromanagement is always a bad thing, how to create a long-term company vision that genuinely gets people fired up about the future, and what folks tend to get wrong in their all-hands meetings.

We also discuss what it takes to lead in this current environment, and how leadership looks different when things feel like they’re going off the rails, which plenty of startup folks are feeling right now. Don unpacks his biggest lessons on how to embrace transparency when things aren’t going well, and candidly shares his own experience of having to wind down a company.

Read the article Don penned for First Round Review: The Pivotal Stories Every Startup Leader Should be Able to Tell.

You can follow Don on Twitter @donfaul

You can email us questions directly at review@firstround.com or follow us on Twitter @ twitter.com/firstround and twitter.com/brettberson