Leadership

This page contains leadership pointers. The first couple of headers indicate which group they apply to, using the groupings defined on our team structure page [TODO].

Lovia Team Members

1. At Lovia, leadership is requested from everyone, whether an individual contributor or member of the leadership team.
2. As a leader, Lovia team members will follow your behavior, so always do the right thing.
3. Everyone that joins Lovia should consider themselves ambassadors of our values and protectors of our culture.
4. Behavior should be consistent inside and outside the company, just do the right thing inside the company, and don’t fake it outside.
5. Lovia respects your judgment of what is best for you, since you know yourself best. If you have a better opportunity somewhere else don’t stay at Lovia out of a sense of loyalty to the company.
6. In tough times people will put in their best effort when they are doing it for each other.
7. We work asynchronously. Lead by example and make sure people understand that things need to be written down in issues as they happen.
8. We are not a democratic or consensus driven company. People are encouraged to give their comments and opinions, but in the end one person decides the matter after they have listened to all the feedback.
9. It is encouraged to disagree and have constructive debates but please argue intelligently.
10. We value truth seeking over cohesion.
11. We avoid meetings, when possible, because they don’t support the asynchronous work flow and are hard to conduct due to timezone differences.
12. Start meetings on time, be on time yourself, don’t ask if everyone is there, and don’t punish people that have shown up on time by waiting for people or repeating things for those that come late. When a meeting unblocks a process or decision, don’t celebrate that but instead address the question: How can we unblock in the future without needing a meeting?
13. We give feedback, lots of it. Don’t hold back on suggestions for improvements.
14. If you meet external people, always ask what they think we should improve.
15. Following from Paul Graham’s advice: Strive to make the organization simpler.
16. Saying something to the effect of “as you might have heard”, “unless you’ve been living in a cage you know”, “as everyone knows”, or “as you might know” is toxic. The people that know don’t need it to be said. The people that don’t know feel like they missed something and might be afraid to ask about the context.
17. Don’t use someone else’s name, remind people of your title, or otherwise “pull rank” to get things done.

CEO

Objectives & Key Results (OKRs)

• Writing Effective OKRs – Upraise
• OKRs for Quarterly Planning – Wrike
• The Ultimate SaaS Metrics Cheat Sheet by ChartMogul. You can download PDF directly.

Company Strategy

2. Biggest Risks

Planning Methodologies

• Scaling Up vs EOS vs OKRs – Align (Align is affiliated with Scaling Up)
• Scaling Up vs EOS/Traction – Riel Manriquez
  • Scaling Up & EOS vs Business Canvas Plan/Lean Startup: “You may be asking if you should use Business Plan Canvas or Lean Startup methodology instead of these frameworks. The answer is not really. Those two popular ideas are not comprehensive company frameworks.”

EOS vs Scaling Up vs OKRs Glossary

Scaling Up	EOS	OKRs	Description
One Page Strategic Plan	The Vision/Traction Organizer		Central document containing strategic vision for company.
Rocks (Priorities)	Rocks	Objectives & Key Results	3-7 Top things you need to accomplish in a quarter to move the business forward
Critical Numbers	Scorecard	KPIs	Leading indicators for how your business is executing on key objectives
Daily Huddles, Weekly Team Meeting, monthly management meetings, quarterly planning	Level 10 Meeting		Suggested meeting rhythm and structure
Rockefeller Checklist	Organizational Check-Up		Self-assessment for how well your business is operating.
Core Values	Core Values		5-10 guiding principles for your company.
Functional Accountability Chart	The Accountability Chart		Tool to ensure the right people are responsible for the right functions
Process Accountability Chart (PACE)	The 3-Step Process Documenter		Tool to ensure every process is assigned to an owner
DISC Personality Assessment	KOLBE		Preferred personality assessment
Scaling Up Scoreboard (Powered by Align)	Traction Tools		Associated software

Given the comparisons, Lovia is adopting the EOS methodology.

Gazelles (Scaling Up)

This well-documented program walks you through the creation of a “One Page Strategic Plan”. It covers everything from setting goals to reviewing progress and making decisions on what to do next. It serves as a blueprint for building an effective strategy. While I always modify it to fit a particular business, this is the structure I use when developing strategies for my companies, and for my clients.

More at: https://gazelles.com/

Entrepreneurial Operating System (EOS/Traction)

EOS Model provides a visual illustration of the Six Key Components™ of any business that must be managed and strengthened to be a great business.

There are several similarities between EOS and the Gazelles’ Scaling Up program. Traction spends more time on meeting rhythms, feedback loops, process documentation, and organizing documents and workflow. I tend to use EOS in conjunction with Scaling Up to flesh out the operational strategy that supports the larger BHAG and creative goals.

Good scorecard example:

Source: https://www.malartu.co/blog/why-you-should-implement-a-business-management-system-and-how-to-do-it

EOS L10 Workbook (Google Sheets) by Malartu: https://www.malartu.co/eos-l10-workbook (our copy)

Level 10 Meeting Agenda Templates: https://tobycryns.com/eos-level-10-meeting-template/

Level 10 Agenda Template using Trello Board (convertible to Notion): https://trello.com/b/qJM2ESlK/eos-level-10-template

The Lean Startup

For those of you that are less interested in a structured program for developing a strategic plan, and simply want to learn more about how companies are creating flexible, scalable businesses, I suggest researching and following The Lean Startup movement. Here, Eric Ries uses stories and examples to describe how executive teams can apply lean manufacturing principles to business management.

More at:  http://theleanstartup.com/