Recently I had the great pleasure of attending the dinner honoring a collection of National University of Singapore (NUS) interns who were leaving after spending a year in various Philadelphia area early stage companies. NUS Overseas College sends students to spend a year learning about entrepreneurship by being immersed inside a small company while taking several courses in entrepreneurial related areas at a local partner university, in Philadelphia, the University of Pennsylvania.
It is a wonderful learning experience for the students while the companies have an enthusiastic, smart, and well educated employee for a year. A win for both.
Each year there is a student speech at the dinner. At the last dinner it was given by Weida Tan and was exceptional. A bit of humor, some observations, and the reason I mention it here, a wonderful analysis of what it takes to be a successful entrepreneur and leader. As I listened I was impressed with how Tan had managed to distill a year of watching an exceptional leader into four guiding principles for entrepreneurial…and leadership…success.
1. Communication: First and foremost success comes from continuous communication with everyone. This communication is not one directional but involves listening and questioning and engaging in discussion as much as it involves sharing your own ideas. It’s all about creating an organization that has total clarity about what is going on and communicates continuously.
2. Focus: Next is a laser focus that enables the leader to keep their attention on the business in spite of anything that happens around them. This focus enables them to keep their eyes on the target and not wander off down random paths following whatever happens to appear in front of them. It guides the leader in knowing what to do and what not to do.
3. Culture: The leader sets the culture and the culture guides everything that happens in the company. A good leader sets a culture of openness, experimentation, energy, enthusiasm, and inclusiveness. The culture brings people in and encourages them to become their best and aim for new heights of achievement.
4. Knowledge: The leader knows what he or she is doing and how to guide the company forward. Employees are encouraged to use their existing skills and expertise and continuously educate themselves further. Actions are based on facts and ideas generated based on deep understanding.
As I listened I was intrigued at how Tan had managed to distill a year’s worth of observations into these four simple ideas for success. Simple and yet so hard for so many to understand and follow. The odd thing is, following them leads to greater success with less effort, surely a goal of most leaders and executives.