The hottest Management Substack posts right now

And their main takeaways
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Surface Geography of Leadership Land (1/2)

Adventures in Leadership Land • 0 implied HN points • 18 Aug 23
💼 Business Leadership Management Decision-making Organizational Culture
  1. Leadership Land has diverse terrains like Boss Forest, Career Swamp, Desert of Good Intentions.
  2. Institute of Conventional Wisdom is a prestigious place for leadership best practices but may hinder innovation by turning secrets into common knowledge.
  3. Leaders in Leadership Land face challenges due to the Fog of Uncertainty and must navigate through conflicting interests and build trust.

Some Thoughts on Operations

The Elbow • 0 implied HN points • 11 Feb 24
💼 Business Operations Management Productivity Creativity
  1. All work involves some degree of operations; it's about the 'how' in achieving tasks rather than the 'what'.
  2. A good operations mindset combines persistence like a golden retriever and boldness like Larry David.
  3. Operations work requires creativity, detail-oriented thinking, and an iterative approach to problem-solving.

Peak Performance #21 | What is Leadership?

The Leadership Lab • 0 implied HN points • 06 Feb 22
💼 Business Leadership Management Responsibility
  1. Leadership is not just about managing a team but about taking ownership and responsibility for your impact and influence in the world.
  2. Being a leader is a way of moving through the world, embodying principles and practices of responsibility, personal growth, and team development.
  3. Good leadership involves avoiding blame, taking responsibility for emotional impact, personal development, and supporting the development of those around you.

Alert: Central Bank of Nigeria Circular FPR/DIR/PUB/CIR/001/070

RegAlert • 0 implied HN points • 24 Feb 23
💰 Finance Regulation Banking Management
  1. The Central Bank of Nigeria has implemented changes to the tenure rules for Executive Management and Non-Executive Directors in Deposit Money Banks, limiting the maximum tenure to 10 years for certain roles.
  2. For an Executive Director who transitions to Deputy Managing Director, there is a maximum cumulative tenure of 12 years. Across the banking industry, there is a cap at 20 years for Executive Directors, Deputy Managing Directors, Managing Directors, and Non-Executive Directors.
  3. This Circular FPR/DIR/PUB/CIR/001/070 outlines the specific details and guidelines related to the tenure requirements established by the Central Bank of Nigeria for banking industry executives.
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Book Review: "Good to Great" by Jim Collins 4/5

Poczwardowski Notes • 0 implied HN points • 18 Jan 22
💼 Business Management Leadership Books Learning
  1. The book 'Good to Great' by Jim Collins provides valuable insights on how to lead a company to greatness and avoid settling for just being good.
  2. The content is supported by extensive research involving twenty people over five years, making the concepts and findings quite profound.
  3. The book presents its ideas through stories and key points in each chapter, making it easier to digest and apply the lessons learned.

Happy Holidays!

Build To Scale • 0 implied HN points • 20 Dec 23
💼 Business Entrepreneurship Management Tech Books
  1. Zack Urlocker is taking a break from his newsletter Build To Scale to focus on other projects, but promises more topics in 2024.
  2. The articles "The Power of Disruption," "Listen More," and "What Went Wrong with the OpenAI Board" provide important insights on technology, communication, and executive roles.
  3. Zack plans to compile his articles into a book for release in the second half of 2024, catering to founders, managers, and executives.

Taming the Annual Budget

Build To Scale • 0 implied HN points • 24 Oct 23
💼 Business Finance Management Strategy Operations Budgeting
  1. When setting an annual budget, use a top-down approach for better efficiency and success in funding key initiatives.
  2. Departments need to create their own annual plans that align with overall company goals to ensure success and mitigate risks.
  3. As the business evolves, flexibility is key in budget management, with regular check-ins to adjust spending and headcount based on actual performance.

How And When to Do Layoffs

Build To Scale • 0 implied HN points • 21 Sep 23
💼 Business Management Layoffs Efficiency Strategy Leadership
  1. If you've missed your targets significantly for two quarters and haven't adjusted costs, it's likely time to consider layoffs to prevent worsening financial situations.
  2. When doing layoffs, it's better to make deeper cuts of at least 15% rather than small reductions to significantly impact the company trajectory.
  3. Focus on top initiatives during layoffs by identifying key projects to prioritize, being clear about what will be stopped, and re-aligning the organization for critical goals.

Build A Strong Middle Management

Build To Scale • 0 implied HN points • 08 Sep 23
💼 Business Management Decision-making Company Culture Leadership Scaling
  1. Developing a strong middle management layer is crucial for scaling a company. They have a significant impact on work and culture, even more so than the executive team.
  2. Push decision-making down the organization, close to the action. Empower front-line managers to make decisions based on shared values, fostering a culture of trust and responsibility.
  3. Executive role is to add value by creating a high-performance culture. Empowering managers to make decisions and grow in confidence is key. Trusting managers to make informed decisions enhances problem-solving and communication skills.

The Pleaser

Build To Scale • 0 implied HN points • 18 Aug 23
💼 Business Leadership Decision-making Management Startups Communication
  1. Trying to please everyone in business can undermine your effectiveness as a leader.
  2. Making strategic decisions often requires being decisive and not getting caught up in trying to find compromises that may lead to worse outcomes.
  3. Executives should focus on making timely decisions with the best interest of the company in mind to earn respect and move the organization forward efficiently.

Founder Fuck-up Story: My $4.5 Million-Dollar Wake-Up Call

Founder Fuck-ups • 0 implied HN points • 28 Sep 23
💼 Business Entrepreneurship Finance Management Growth Mistakes
  1. Success stories often overlook the valuable lessons that come from failures. Learning from mistakes can pave the way to eventual success.
  2. Sudden abundance can lead to a decrease in value perception. It's challenging to adjust to rapid growth or success, whether it's in money, fame, or power.
  3. Maintaining spending discipline is crucial even in times of surplus. Lavish spending without validation can lead to wasted resources and impact various aspects of a business.

Fall of Beepi: Did $149M Funding Fail or Was Mismanagement the Culprit?

Founder Fuck-ups • 0 implied HN points • 30 Aug 23
💼 Business Startup Finance Management Failure
  1. Beepi faced financial challenges due to mismanagement of funds and a high burn rate, showing the critical importance of responsible budgeting for startups.
  2. Losing a key strategic investor like SAIC Venture Capital hampered Beepi's ability to raise additional funding and highlights the need for startups to diversify their investor base.
  3. Beepi's failure to understand customer preferences for in-person interactions and test drives led to high return rates and operational costs, emphasizing the importance of aligning the business model with customer expectations.

Sequential vs. Parallel projects on a small team

The Daily Developer • 0 implied HN points • 18 Feb 24
💼 Business Management Risk management Team Dynamics Cash Flow
  1. In a small team, running projects concurrently decreases execution risk and provides more learning opportunities.
  2. Running projects sequentially keeps cash burn lower but increases the risks associated with failure.
  3. Insurance companies diversify to reduce risk, similar to the concept of running parallel projects on a small team.

Commentary: How to treat the people that built the system you work on

Bad Software Advice • 0 implied HN points • 26 Feb 24
💼 Business Management Workplace Systems
  1. Show respect for the accomplishments of the people who built the system you work on.
  2. Appreciate that the system you work on exists and has provided you with a job, despite other systems from the same era no longer being functional.
  3. Recognize that every job or contract related to maintaining or replacing a system signifies finding a quality solution to a real problem and building a business around it.

🦀 Newsletter #36: The year of the crab, build trust while remote, create good Pull Requests...

Women On Rails Newsletter - International Version • 0 implied HN points • 04 Oct 22
🕹 Technology Programming Management Web Development Software Development Tech Events
  1. Consider using Rust over C and C++ for certain scenarios due to security and reliability concerns.
  2. Building trust in a remote team as a new manager involves focusing on the environment, team, and oneself, as outlined in The 90-Day Plan.
  3. Improving Pull Requests requires creating templates and following best practices to enhance the reviewing process for the team.

Welcome Simran Suri

Equal Ventures • 0 implied HN points • 13 Jul 20
💼 Business Venture Capital Investment Startups Management Recruitment
  1. Equal Ventures fund brought in a new investment professional, Simran Suri, as an Analyst. She joined after graduating with diverse experiences and achievements.
  2. Simran Suri stood out among hundreds of candidates with her industry knowledge, passion, and ability to leverage her skills for in-depth analysis.
  3. Simran Suri's reputation for excellence precedes her, making her a valuable addition to the team and the NYC Venture Community. Her track record in both investing and networking is impressive.

How to Drive Meaningful Change - Establish credibility

Joseph Gefroh • 0 implied HN points • 02 Mar 24
💼 Business Leadership Organizational Change Credibility Relationship building Management
  1. Establishing credibility is crucial for driving meaningful change in an organization. Credibility is built on proven competence, integrity, and relationships.
  2. Having a track record of delivering results is essential for gaining credibility. Start small, show competence, and build trust over time.
  3. Building relationships by supporting others is key to establishing credibility. Help others achieve their goals and earn their trust before asking for favors.

On hiring - A-players and the folly of the ideal candidate

Joseph Gefroh • 0 implied HN points • 26 Feb 24
💼 Business Management Operations Hiring Strategy Leadership
  1. Startup leaders often seek perfect, 'A-player' candidates but end up damaging their companies by delaying hiring unnecessarily.
  2. A-players aren't flawless - they have weaknesses and can't excel at everything. It's better to hire adaptable 'B-players' with potential.
  3. Fix your hiring strategy by focusing on teamwork, being realistic about needs, and considering a mix of generalists and specialists.

War Stories - How I turned around a paralyzed Product organization into a rapid delivery engine

Joseph Gefroh • 0 implied HN points • 11 Feb 24
💼 Business Management Product Decision-making Startup
  1. The Product Management organization struggled with defining and prioritizing work, leading to underutilization of engineers and ill-defined requirements.
  2. The Product Managers faced challenges due to analysis paralysis, fear of making mistakes, and a desire for full consensus before decisions.
  3. To address the issues, a bold approach was taken to focus on building the muscle of delivering change, removing fear barriers, and banning A/B tests to prevent decision-making delays.

Making decisions - When should you trade off between speed vs. quality?

Joseph Gefroh • 0 implied HN points • 11 Feb 24
💼 Business Strategy Startups Quality Speed Management
  1. Startups prioritize speed for short-term gains but may suffer in the long run if quality is sacrificed.
  2. There are two main kinds of shortcuts: reducing quality and reducing scope. It is advised to prioritize reducing scope over sacrificing quality.
  3. Quality shortcuts can result in increased costs for startups, impacting speed and effectiveness. It might be better to invest in sustainable practices upfront.

War Stories - Defusing an executive kerfuffle

Joseph Gefroh • 0 implied HN points • 11 Feb 24
💼 Business Leadership Crisis Management Management
  1. Leaders sometimes face no-win scenarios and may need to personally take the loss for the greater good of the organization.
  2. In times of crisis, a sudden flurry of messages or alarms can indicate an unexpected problem that needs immediate attention.
  3. Effective communication and conflict resolution are crucial skills for leaders to handle situations where executive feathers are ruffled.

On communication - How to communicate effectively as a leader

Joseph Gefroh • 0 implied HN points • 10 Feb 24
💼 Business Leadership Communication Management Organization Feedback
  1. Communication is key for effective leadership. Many leaders fail due to poor communication.
  2. Repeat your messages consistently to avoid misinterpretations. Use multiple mediums and be precise to ensure clarity.
  3. Don't shy away from delivering bad news. Avoid the sandwich technique for feedback. Break down communication barriers to foster open and honest communication.

On hiring - A rapid hiring process for busy startup engineering leaders

Joseph Gefroh • 0 implied HN points • 10 Feb 24
💼 Business Management Operations Hiring Leadership Entrepreneurship
  1. Efficient hiring involves building a pipeline and moving candidates through it with minimal effort. Creating a streamlined process like a Kanban-style project can help manage the hiring stages effectively.
  2. From a candidate's perspective, simplifying the hiring process by highlighting only 3 key stages can make the process feel lightweight and easy to follow. A clear and concise hiring workflow can be a competitive advantage.
  3. Utilizing different sourcing channels, such as LinkedIn, can be a valuable way to find candidate leads with low effort but high value. Building and leveraging a strong professional network can significantly impact the hiring process.

War Stories - How I matured a chaotic startup into a professional development team

Joseph Gefroh • 0 implied HN points • 10 Feb 24
💼 Business Startup Organization Management Tech Engineering
  1. The company faced challenges due to outdated organizational structures and lack of alignment between product and engineering teams, impacting project success and team morale.
  2. Centralized decision-making by product management caused inefficiencies and hindered innovation, leading to issues like technical debt, difficulty in resource allocation, and pay disparities among developers.
  3. Product managers lacked technical expertise and communication, resulting in fragmented project outcomes, delayed executions, and confusion across teams.

Making decisions - When does your Startup Needs Engineering Managers?

Joseph Gefroh • 0 implied HN points • 10 Feb 24
💼 Business Leadership Startups Management Engineering Hiring
  1. Deciding when a startup needs engineering managers can be challenging, especially for early-stage startups with limited resources.
  2. Hiring the right engineering manager is crucial, as allocating budget to managers means less for direct contributors to the codebase.
  3. Understanding the evolution of startups, the necessity of managers, and making informed decisions on hiring engineering managers is key.

On development - How to design an effective intake process

Joseph Gefroh • 0 implied HN points • 06 Feb 21
💼 Business Management Operations Startups Processes Organization
  1. Implementing an effective intake process is crucial for managing growth and improving teamwork. It helps individual developers work efficiently, allows for effective planning across the organization, and ensures clear prioritization.
  2. An intake process shines a light on hidden work, making it visible to everyone and aiding in proper planning and resource allocation. It promotes transparency and avoids inefficiencies caused by requests slipping through the cracks.
  3. Having a structured intake process provides valuable signals that can guide decision-making. By collecting data on requests and their handling, the team can identify trends, address issues, and streamline priorities for better outcomes.

Kanban Quickstart

Certo Modo • 0 implied HN points • 28 Jul 23
💼 Business Management Productivity Metrics Process Improvement Teamwork
  1. Kanban is an efficient process for organizing team work, especially for interrupt-driven teams like Site Reliability Engineering, Operations, IT, or Customer Support.
  2. Implementing Kanban provides visibility, measurability, and easy reprioritization of work, helping build credibility and trust with stakeholders.
  3. Key elements of effectively managing Kanban include tracking all work items, creating clear work state columns, limiting work-in-progress, and using metrics to drive continuous improvement.

The Proposal: Will you Red Team Me?

Locks and Leaks • 0 implied HN points • 13 Mar 24
💼 Business Management Risk Assessment Operations Leadership Communication
  1. The Red Team Proposal is crucial for gaining buy-in, being prepared, and protecting against potential issues during assessments.
  2. Including legal safeguards and seeking approvals help in showcasing professionalism and increasing the likelihood of approval from leadership.
  3. A well-prepared Red Team Proposal should contain components like introduction, prioritization, context, intelligence & analysis, timeline, TTPs, safety plan, and more, making it a vital document for a successful red team operation.

WONDERING: When Strengths are Overused and Fun is Overdone

Granted • 0 implied HN points • 31 Aug 18
💼 Business Management Decision-making Workplace culture
  1. The best advice highlights blind spots in our thinking and helps us clarify priorities, rather than specifying what to do.
  2. When seeking advice, people often want guidance on how to approach a decision, instead of being told which option to choose.
  3. Colleagues should be informed when mandatory fun isn't enjoyable, especially in a work environment where the focus is on work.

GRANTED: The two kinds of respect employees want and why you should bet on older entrepreneurs

Granted • 0 implied HN points • 15 Jul 18
💼 Business Entrepreneurship Management Workplace Parenting
  1. Employees want two kinds of respect: owed respect, which is about being included and recognized as a human being, and earned respect, which is about being valued for contributions
  2. Betting on older entrepreneurs can be more beneficial, as 40-year-olds are more likely to found successful startups compared to 25-year-olds
  3. The evolution of self-esteem in a career involves transitioning from feeling unimportant to pursuing work that is important, which leads to increased productivity and impact

Bolder experiments for return to the office

Joshua Gans' Newsletter • 0 implied HN points • 14 Oct 23
💼 Business Management Workplace culture Productivity Employee engagement
  1. Organizations are struggling to get employees back into the office after working from home during the pandemic.
  2. Various strategies have been attempted, from forcing employees back to offering office perks, but the desired changes have not been achieved.
  3. A hypothesis suggests that forcing employees back to the office for a sustained period may help establish new routines and show the benefits of in-office work, potentially increasing office attendance in the long run.

How's Work From Home going?

Joshua Gans' Newsletter • 0 implied HN points • 10 Aug 20
💼 Business Remote work Productivity Collaboration Economics Management
  1. The forced work-from-home experiment during Covid-19 has led to longer work hours and increased meetings, possibly changing future work habits permanently.
  2. People have been surprisingly productive while working from home, leading to businesses reevaluating the necessity of physical office spaces.
  3. While working from home can be beneficial, there are disparities between richer and poorer individuals and impacts on businesses in city centers.

The Disruption Dilemma

Joshua Gans' Newsletter • 0 implied HN points • 23 Aug 16
💼 Business Disruption Innovation Entrepreneurship Economics Management
  1. Disruption in business can stem from new technological opportunities that incumbent firms fail to take advantage of, leading to their downfall.
  2. The concept of Creative Destruction from Joseph Schumpeter describes how capitalism thrives on constant innovation and change, challenging the idea of long-term profitability for established businesses.
  3. Innovation that disrupts industries can come in different forms, like customer-disruptive innovations that initially underperform but later improve, and architecturally-disruptive innovations that change the fundamental design of products or services.