Dora Nagy

Having a team, preferably a leadership team, that can execute is what makes or breaks most CEO’s mental health. You have built a great tech and product, now it’s time to build a business. Can you do it alone? Absolutely not. Does it often feel like you still have to? Hell, yes. Of course it all starts at the top. You set the vision, you might even set the top priorities for the company (or Objectives if you have adopted OKRs), and then get out of the way. At least, that’s wha

When you are running a startup, it seems that you can work all the hours of the day, and even that doesn’t feel like enough. Doing tasks most of which won’t matter in the long run anyway because there won’t be a long run. There are only 4 things that founders need to focus on and get right. The rest is noise. Cash Either from your founding round and / or revenue, this is your number 1 priority. As Google’s Eric Schmidt says ‘revenue solves all problems’. Unless you start gene

‘Can I give you some feedback?’ - is the question that makes us want to run away, or in the virtual world, to pretend that we have just lost wifi connection. Evolution has taught us to always scan the environment for danger. Not only the external danger, such as animals that might contemplate us for lunch, but also dangers within our own tribe. If you weren’t accepted or cared for by your own people, your chances of survival went down pretty fast. Now, let’s put that into the

Having effective 1:1s is probably one of the most underrated things in a manager’s toolkit and as such, one of the first discussions I have with my coachees. There are lots of Do-s and Don’t-s, but if I had to get to the core of what makes a 1:1 great, I would say this: People (regardless of their age, title, experience or expectations) fundamentally want to be heard, understood and appreciated. Once you embrace this, you will make a conscious effort to listen, focus on the i

People’s capacity to achieve is determined by their leader’s ability to empower. John C. Maxwell One of the biggest challenges I hear...

Managing a team is a bit like managing a family: you have different needs, opinions, fears and personalities to navigate. The challenge is that while a ‘dysfunctional family’ can still be charming and loving, a dysfunctional team (especially if that’s your leadership team) can be catastrophic for the organization and your business. I have come across a lot of high-performance woo woo, but Patrick Lencione’s classic is a must read for any leader. If you are busy running the bi

It is great to reach an agreement. It sucks to bulldoze people into it. The challenge is, the more you do it, the more you teach people around you to keep quiet, smile and nod. This is what happens: People start to challenge you less Important concerns are not raised (at least publicly) It trickles down into the team, so people stop challenging each either, especially in front of you Here is how to make sure you are not sabotaging healthy discussions: Adopt a ‘yes, and’ attit

It’s easy to get distracted by all the perks that you can give and the salary increases that you can afford. Only to find out that people leave anyway. Here is the 5 things you need to get right: Create trust and safety: Do people share what they truly think? Can they be vulnerable with you and with each other? Is it safe to fail or make mistakes? Normalize healthy conflict: Can people disagree respectfully? Is it safe to share candid feedback with one another? Can they add

If you don’t have a clear strategy, don’t even bother implementing OKRs. OKRs are great. But they can't make up for the lack of: 💰...