When your startup progresses from the ‘STARTing to build’ to ‘BUILDing to scale’ phase, it’s inevitable that you’ll bring in new leaders with the specific skill sets and experiences needed for this new phase.
As much as you might hope for instant connection and cohesion, we humans are a tad more complex than that. Now, you've got two groups of leaders: the OGs (Old Guards), who've been with you since the beginning, helping your startup grow from a tiny seed of an idea to finding its product market fit, and the NGs (New Guards), fresh faces brought in to transform your startup with their expertise.
At this juncture, if you fail to align your OGs and NGs with common future expectations, your startup will quickly descend into an 'us' versus 'them' scenario, splitting your organisation into two camps.
Here’s how you, as founder or CEO, can stop that from happening.
Old Guards feeling like old news
When shiny new leaders join, they’re brimming with ideas and it’s natural for you to be eager for them to inject fresh perspectives to take your business to the next phase. However, your OGs, who’ve been with the company since its inception, will start to feel undervalued or worse, uncertain about their future within the organisation as they see new leaders waltz in, implement changes and replace old processes, systems and ways of working.
If this new vision isn’t effectively communicated to your OGs, it can feel as though their lifetime of work is being dismantled to make way for something entirely different.
Feeling threatened, your OGs will likely cling to the past — the good old days — and may resist change. You might hear sentiments such as:
“When we were 10 people, we used to….”
“This isn’t how we do things around here”
“They don’t get our culture”
New Guards feeling like the shoes don’t fit
On the flip side, your NGs may feel threatened by the close bond your OGs have with you. While your NGs are doing their best to implement the changes you envisioned, they can’t help but notice that the OGs could just give you a call, complaining about the changes or the new kid on the block. Occasionally, you might even halt new initiatives out of concern for upsetting the OGs.
Feeling this threat and eager to make their mark, your NGs may overcompensate by citing their past experience and success to assert their value. You might hear things like:
“When I was at ABC company, this is how we did it”
“I’ve done this at X company and this works”
“When I’ve done that, we succeeded in achieving [insert results]”
But underneath the bravado, there's a sense of insecurity, a worry that they'll never quite fit in with the established order.
How to bring your OGs and NGs together
To avoid devolving into an 'us' versus 'them' scenario, as a founder, it's your responsibility to manage this change and communicate the business transformation that the collective leadership will undertake.
Clarify the current situation and envision the future. For instance: “In the last few years, our business needed to operate in an agile manner, swiftly responding to customer feedback to build the right product for our market. Now that we have achieved product-market fit, our operations are evolving. We need to implement repeatable processes, systems, and practices to achieve consistent results as we take the product to a broader market.”
When you paint a clear picture of the future, it brings your OGs and NGs together, ensuring they're all on the same page instead of pulling in different directions.
Old Guards: Show them the opportunities and recognition
This transition also presents an opportunity for your OGs to learn from leaders with different experiences — a route to personal and professional growth. It’s important to show recognition of the immense contribution your OGs have made in getting the business to where it stands today. For example, in their 121s, take time to remind them that their deep contextual understanding of the business and customers is an invaluable asset and when combined with the experience of NGs, can ensure the continuous growth of the business. While it might be tempting to ’appease’ their concerns with a big job title or salary increase, this is a bad idea if they have not yet performed to the expected level.
New Guards: Help them leverage the past and avoid ‘lift-and-shift’
As your NGs aim to leave their mark, it’s important to guide them to approach this transition with humility and a willingness to learn from those who have been part of building the company; this also helps them to build relationships. While their experience is valuable, it’s important to steer away from a 'lift-and-shift' mentality. Encourage them to blend the company’s unique history with their own past experiences to craft something unique and best suited for your business.
Transitioning your startup from 'STARTing to build' to 'BUILDing to scale' is akin to blending seasoned veterans with fresh recruits on a winning team. Founders must lead like coaches, fostering unity and purpose. OGs mentor, NGs blend tradition with new ideas. Only as one team can your startup level up successfully.
