A startup CEO’s leadership lessons from working as a restaurant hostess
Ideothetic Flow
Hi!
Just as I am getting used to waking up for night feeds and diaper changes, and established some sort of routine, Joy enters a developmental leap and changes her sleep patterns again. I imagine it feels like unlocking a new ability in a metroidvania game and having the world open up for exploration again, bringing both excitement and new fears. For me it means the wife and I are back to erratic sleep until we figure it out. Despite trying to keep my own life as simple as possible, it is difficult to keep up with my usual activities, but there is a sense of achievement whenever I manage to somehow strike that balance.
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Here is this week’s article:
Want to be a better manager? Work as a restaurant hostess – Claire Lew
Claire is the CEO of a startup called know your team, and she often writes on Medium about management.
In this article, she recalls the time she worked as a restaurant hostess on weekends for extra income while trying to start her own business, and describes several things she learnt from that experience which she continues to apply today.
Our assumptions are often negative
Of these, I find her point that “our assumptions are often negative” to be very true. Whenever someone inconveniences us at work - for example, they may appear to be doing less, or are incompetent, it is not uncommon to make negative assumptions about them. We rarely wonder if there is another side to the story. The lazy colleague who works less hours might actually be very efficient. A demanding manager might already be doing his best to hold off pressures from other superiors. An incompetent subordinate’s poor performance is actually because he did not receive proper guidance and training. I think the negative assumption is the default because it is often the answer which makes us feel better, rather than asking if we have a part to play in the problem. Of course, it might also be that the negative assumption is turns out correct, but we should first take the effort to try and find out, both by looking inward, and also having open communication with our colleagues.
Every job is important – yet we may overvalue our own impact over others
Claire’s article also illustrates that every job has impact. There is always something meaningful to learn, and each job has its challenges to overcome. Most importantly, every role contributes materially to the goal of the enterprise.
When we immerse ourselves in our job, there is also a risk that we overvalue our contributions. We may start to think that what we do is more important and more challenging than others. As a legal counsel, it is tempting to expect that everyone else waits for me to have every word carefully checked and negotiated before anything can happen in the company. Yet an approach like this will only lead to good initiatives being stalled, and an impossible load of work for me with little actual value. At times, some legal risks must be accepted so that a well thought business plan can be executed for everyone to reap the rewards. On the flip side, I also often remind my colleagues that, while I do my best to keep their interests in my mind, they can do the same by remembering that I take as much as time as any other human to read and think, and they have to try and give me more buffer time rather than ask for my views out of the blue.
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I have always wanted to take some time to try out different jobs that are far from my usual expertise. In about 5-7 years when I have more experience in my legal career, and built some passive income, I hope I will have the chance to do this. What job would you have wanted to try out if you had the opportunity and things like pay were not a concern?
Have a great week ahead!
James
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Ideothetic Flow is a fortnightly newsletter where I reflect on insights that I have found useful in rethinking life in a more realistic way.
Modern culture, media, and technology, for all their benefits, have distorted the view of a complete and happy life. The ideas I share are those which have helped me gain a deeper understanding of my own identity and circumstances, and inspire change towards a happier life, and I hope they will do the same for anyone else who reads this.
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