This is an anonymous post from an Elpha member.

How would you answer "how do you want to run your team"?

Zandra26·Mar 07, 2023

Tl;dr: I just got asked the question "how do you want to run your team" during a 1-1 and I'm not sure how to answer it, so looking for the Elpha wisdom.

Context: we're a new VC company, some of us worked together before, so we're still pretty much figuring out how we all work together best. It's 5 senior people FT in the core/initial team (3 of us in investment + 2 in ops) + 2 co-founders. The co-founders are at GP level, 3 of us in investment at principal/jr partner level and 2 ops people are operating partner and fund ops. I'm reporting directly to the co-founders, one of them taking lead on people management, and now we're hiring more at junior level. The principal split is: me mostly on deals and process design (with ops person implementing); one on research and deals; one on fundraising and deals. One co-founder is coming from corporate world, one co-founder is coming from startup and vc world (taking lead on people).

Situation: We're now hiring a couple more people at analyst and associate levels and I was asked how I'd like to run that team of analysts and associates. It seems I'll be doing more of the direct management as they'll be doing mostly deal work with some help on fundraising and research.

Question: I'm not sure what the answer should focus more on, so seeking advice of more experienced Elphas. I managed people before for a year in a similar role, different company. I asked for a bit more detail during the 1-1 but didn't get much clarity.

How would you answer "how do you want to run your team"?

natalielieurance·Mar 08, 2023

I have a pretty strong set of personal values about the way I work. This includes things like taking the extra time to do something right the first time instead of being reactive and slapdash, and also working on one thing at a time (not multitasking). Of course, these are not management principles and don’t affect how I actually lead. That being said, I’ve always found that these principles have been core to the way I manage work being produced by my direct reports. I am positive that you also have some core tenets to your working style. I would definitely include those in your answer.

kellymccallion·Mar 10, 2023

Hi @Zandra! Because this was positioned pretty generally, I would likely focus this around values in your leadership style. Sometimes a great way to figure this out is to pull not just from what you experienced from past leaders that was amazing, but also thinking about what you did NOT like from previous leaders because there is so much that can be learned from that as well. To offer you more of an example on how you might reply (though using your own values and words), I would say something about how, I lead with empathy to create a space where the team feels safe, respected and trusted. These are all a bit buzz wordy, but the general idea being that it's important to listen, support, guide and help problem-solve, but with the understanding that this team was hired for a reason, and their opinions and solutions are welcomed (and expected). I come from a place where I hire people smarter than me, and then they have the freedom to perform. Another key piece is that I try to lead with the big picture for the business, which is transparently shared (as much as allowed) so the team can align with a vision and feel inspired to execute toward a larger goal. I hope this helps a little!