This document discusses several topics related to building and leading teams in a business or company context. It addresses why humans are needed in businesses, how to attract and retain talented people, why employees may leave jobs, different views of what work entails, and how a company can be thought of as a micro-society. It also touches on the importance of values, making fewer errors by prioritizing empathy, enabling leadership, understanding one's social contract, and leading change. Finally, it provides some brief lessons learned about creating a winning team through common spaces, setting expectations, encouraging help-seeking, removing bad influences, communication, and being a leader rather than just a boss.

1. What is this talk about?
Am I qualified to talk about it?
labor
business
humans
society
change
leaders
humans
How will it go?

2. Why do we need people in our business/company?
Because we can’t do it ourselves
They also bring ideas, energy, and experience… and a whole lot more
Your ability to succeed
is built on your ability to
create the best team

3. How do we convince talented people to join our business?
Alignment of purpose (theirs and ours)
A great place to work
A great opportunity to learn and advance
Rewarding – financially, and mentally
Would people work for
you for less $ than they
might work for someone
else?

4. Why do people leave their jobs?
There’s a better opportunity somewhere else (overworked and underpaid or underappreciated)
They’ve stopped learning – and there’s no paths for advancement in the company
Their boss sucks
The whole company sucks
Would people still work if
they didn’t need the
money?

5. What does work look like?
A set of tasks, within a defined timeframe, at a defined level of quality, for a defined
compensation/reward
Is that all?
What about creativity? Ideas to improve the product or the company? Or identifying ways to
do things better? Encouraging/inspiring colleagues? Ideas for new products or services?
Bringing other talent to the business?
What are you paying for?
Time? Effort? Results?
Something else?

6. When you build your first product you are building a business
A society, really?
When you build a business you are building a company
When you build a company you are also building a micro society
A micro-society – when you have a business you are like a million businesses.
When you have a company you have a differentiation – Microsoft and Google,
Kijami and <insert any other company in the same field>, KarmSolar and
<insert any other energy company>.
Google and Microsoft and Kijami and KarmSolar are micro-societies.

7. A company is a micro-society
If everybody thinks in the same way in a society the society dies… same with a company
If everybody has the same skill-sets (all farmers or all soldiers) a society does not flourish
A society needs different minds and different kinds of people, with different backgrounds
and experiences, and so does a company
A society is defined by some form of shared values
Do you have values that
you can live up to?

8. Values
Values are human…
They are a construct, but they have powerful meaning on an individual and societal level
Ethical
Transparency
Impactful

9. What are we doing wrong?
Plenty
We are dealing with humans, but not with empathy – we prioritize our needs over the
humans/people we work with, and their needs; their lives
We make a lot of errors in the name of business needs – I need this now! We need this
tomorrow! Everybody is working late today! Your team needs to work the next 4 weekends!
What we are doing is expecting our people to bear the burden of a lack of planning and lack
of resources (our responsibility)
Let that sink in…
Who will pay the price of your lack of planning?
Are you being an
unreasonable asshole?

10. What should we be doing?
Plenty
Enabling leadership – create leaders
Creating the environment for the real value of the human
Let that sink in…
Understand that we are in a social contract which needs to be equitable
Should you create leaders
in your org?

11. Change
We are in the biggest transformation period since the industrial revolution
All forms of labor, and how people view work, are changing, rapidly
You compete globally for human capital
How can you lead the
change?

14. Some of the things I’ve learned about creating a winning team

15. Create common
spaces
A company is not a
family
Set expectations
Create a sharing
mindset
Tasks and
deadlines should
be negotiated
Encourage asking
for help
Thinking is work
too

16. Remove bad
apples quickly
You will get things
wrong
Don’t be cheap
with your people
Create a respect
culture
Communicate the
‘why’
Understand the
‘cost’ of things
First contact sets
the tone
Be a leader, not a
boss