Making the team go the extra mile

Co-founder Steven Storms is one of our temporary leaders. He can take the mandate to run a venture for some months, and stimulate the team to make the magic happen. 

When a portfolio company is stuck, often, the leadership team is missing the key to open the door to the future revenue. “A typical situation is a way-too-techy team, that is lacking the competences to sell to their intended clientele,” knows Steven. “Another one is a toxic leader, who blocks the team to deliver client value.” Also weak leaders are an issue — but, for sure, you already discovered and solved that issue. In all cases, true leadership is clearly missing … 

A sales rep is not the solution

If leadership is lacking sales skills, hiring a sales person is not the solution. “A sales rep will not have a counterpart in the leadership team,” explains Steven. “This person will quickly feel isolated when sales numbers are not taking up rapidly enough in the eyes of the other leaders. And, that does not help the business at all.” What you need in this case, is an extra leader who takes the team on a commercial journey. “A leader is inside the leadership team,” adds Steven, “That makes the decision taking of the venture geared towards clients, and boosts the sales numbers.” 

Take out a toxic leader asap

“There is only one remedy for toxic leadership,” tells Steven. “Take that leader out as soon as you can.” Toxic leaders destruct the company’s team dynamics, and often, they are very good at masking their real intentions to the investors who appointed them.” There are many reasons for toxic leaders to be toxic — the seven sins are a known concept for a good reason. “My partners in ImpactBuilders are quite good at determining the toxic person in a leadership team. If the investors are able to follow on, we get the whole organisation motivated in no time.” 

Teams càn do magic

A motivated team can make the numbers boom in no time. Recently, Steven had a company increase their turn-over tenfold in one month, after the former CEO was fired. “As always is the case, when we are dropped inside a business, we know almost nothing of that business,” explains Steven. “Being an outsider in an urgent situation is a great advantage, since you can easily get the team come up with solutions, and motivate them to go the extra mile. And guess what? Everyone gets better from such a renewed drive.” 

Related posts