Comments on: You’re more than the Fucking Janitor: Thoughts on Startup Leadership

By: Marc

Marc — Wed, 22 May 2013 23:51:28 +0000

In reply to jonathan.

Your candor is awesome. What you did is hard and I’m glad you’re talking about it. Not enough entrepreneurs do.

My version of stepping down is here: http://marcbarros.com/movingon/

By: jonathan

jonathan — Wed, 22 May 2013 23:15:36 +0000

In reply to Marc. Basically the last paragraph of this post sums up what led me to the decision to change my role: delegation is hard. In the case of where we're at with awe.sm, we ultimately decided that it was more valuable to have me continue to work directly on product and engineering than to have me learn how to be a better delegator this time around. I still think delegation is a very valuable skillset, and I look forward to learning from Fred's (our new CEO) example.

By: Marc

Marc — Wed, 22 May 2013 18:05:46 +0000

Great post! Would love to hear how this changed for you over time compared to your most recent post about stepping down. That’s incredibly hard to do and not enough people are talking about the role from Founder to CEO. It’s hard.

By: Ed

Ed — Sat, 30 Mar 2013 02:35:49 +0000

I am not sure why it’s less glamorous than the you-know-what janitor. At the end of the day, you can see a lot more of the effect of this work than just a shiny toilet.

By: NOT Another Platform Evangelist! | awe.sm: the blog

NOT Another Platform Evangelist! | awe.sm: the blog — Mon, 14 Jan 2013 14:01:09 +0000

[…] a small team that believes in empowering individuals to grow and learn. There are no straightforward solutions to this role—it is up to you to be creative and come up […]

By: Joel

Joel — Thu, 29 Nov 2012 01:56:05 +0000

There’s a lot to like about this post, but most of all it makes me want to invest in your company. However, I do not have 4 million dollars. Let me know if there’s a way to get in on the Strauss machine for $20 at a time, or if you need a jingle length theme song.

By: Enableship - Leadership through the Enablement of Others

Enableship - Leadership through the Enablement of Others — Thu, 13 Sep 2012 21:47:29 +0000

[…] you’re the Fucking Janitor, which then incited Jonathan Strauss to post his response, You’re more than the Fucking Janitor: Thoughts on Startup Leadership. Both were great posts on start-up leadership, and as I read them, saw the very common thread of […]

By: Welcoming Macey, Jeff, and Frantisek | The Intercom Blog

Welcoming Macey, Jeff, and Frantisek | The Intercom Blog — Fri, 03 Aug 2012 10:27:50 +0000

[…] A. But I would very strongly suggest that every seed stage CEO find a great executive assistant to help them stay focused on the key, strategic jobs that only they can do and make sure that everything else doesn’t get ignored and […]

By: You’re more than the F*ing Janitor : alexking.org

You’re more than the F*ing Janitor : alexking.org — Mon, 09 Jul 2012 18:13:48 +0000

[…] You’re more than the F*ing Janitor → 7 seconds ago Delegation is hard. I’m finding delegating well to be much more challenging than doing things myself. Leading purely by example just requires effort and a willingness to do things that aren’t fun or glamorous, and as the leader you’re usually the most incentivized to get those things done. But effective delegation requires much more than mere will, it is a skill set developed with patience and learning and painful trial and error. It requires finding great people, training them in the skills you need them to have, motivating them to share your goals, empowering them with the resources and information to be successful, trusting them to do their jobs, and then giving them feedback on how to improve. […]

By: Jason Spiegel

Jason Spiegel — Thu, 05 Jul 2012 09:48:19 +0000

In case you feel better by degrading people below you, for example janitors, you are not a leader at all but a tyrant. There are many tyrants among entrepreneurs because in companies there is no democracy. The person who has the money has the power. Leadership is about motivating people to follow you not about establishing yourself as the top dog and subjugating others.