The 4 superpowers that define a great startup leader

Over the past 3 years, at xto10x, we have worked with over 300+ founders on a wide range of topics. When asked what their biggest focus areas were, “Leadership” would consistently be in the top three! And the most common questions they ask us are:

1. How can they assess if they have the right team of leaders, in line with business priorities?
2. How can they measure their leaders’ effectiveness?
3. How can they help their leaders scale as the business grows?

At the core of all these questions is the unsaid belief that measuring leadership is hard! And for good reason!

Think of all the leaders you have worked with so far. What differentiated a great leader from a not-so-great one??Is it that they overdeliver on business metrics? It is tempting to use business performance as a measure of leadership, but all great leaders acknowledge the role of external parameters, like market timing and luck, while looking at their numbers. Besides that, performance is a lagging indicator. Or is great leadership all about the ability to, well, lead? Again, while a critical (some would say, THE most critical) aspect of leadership, it is a fairly limiting description of leadership underplaying the significant amount of strategizing needed to set direction.

This area of measuring leadership is challenging. At xto10x, we do like a challenge! And hence we wanted to decode the essence of a great leader. And we decided to focus on our favourite playground: startups.?

Our first stop was immersion in the topic - we spoke to 50+ startup founders and leaders. We asked them for examples of great leaders and also to describe some of the behaviors they have observed in such leaders.??

Each of them had a shining example to hold up; and every one of them was exceptional and unique! From an ops leader who was unflappable under the most extreme situations to the all-rounder who could be launched into any part of the business with guaranteed success (well, almost guaranteed - we are talking about startups after all!), it seemed like great leaders came in all shapes, and forms.

But, we noticed some pattern: these seemingly different personalities have a few foundational traits in common, and these traits are noticeable only if you look beyond the impact (business numbers & graphs; adulation & adoration from the team) to ask what they did to create that impact.?

We identified 16 of these traits or “competencies” that were universal to great leadership, especially in the startup context. Think of these as the “inputs” needed for becoming a good or even a great leader. We organized these 16 Competencies into four buckets and attempted to explain what outcomes possessing these inputs would drive. These are the 4 Superpowers of a great leader - their ability to produce profound change - be it on the business, the team, or even on themselves.

Let us explain each of these four superpowers and the competencies that power them:

1. Think 10x

The first superpower of a great leader is the ability to create a breakthrough impact on a business: the ability to look into the indeterminate future and envision a 10x shape, built on a few big moves, not many incremental steps. This superpower becomes even more critical in a startup context - what makes a startup more successful than chasing the next big 10x?

Here are the competencies that make “Think 10x” possible:

• Breakthrough thinking: Identify 2-3 "big moves" for the next 10x
• Creative problem solving: Use pattern-matching and past experiences? to develop unorthodox solutions
• Deep business understanding: Combine deep “why-why” understanding of customer behavior with metric-driven understanding of the company’s financial shape
• Strong judgement: Balance data and instincts to drive decisions even in ambiguity

2. Make it happen

Great leaders are orchestrators, not just “doers”. Success depends not on their strategic thinking,? but on how well they can break down those audacious goals into simple execution plans and how they energize the entire org to execute that plan. In other words, they "make it happen". We’ve consciously decoupled the strategy part of the business (“Think 10x”) with execution (“Make it happen”) because both, while related, deserve equal and independent emphasis. Here are the competencies that power “Make it happen”:

• Building alignment: Establishing clear connections between day-to-day tasks and the larger mission
• Communicating effectively: Engage an audience with sharp articulation and interactive delivery methods
• Execution planning: Translate objectives into inputs with clear owners, timelines, and metrics enabled by ruthless prioritization
• Tracking and course correcting: Continuously measure progress and problem-solve proactively

3. Architect tomorrow’s team

This one is obvious - it says so in the word “leader,” you have to lead someone (many someones actually!). But in a startup context, you aren’t given a readymade team to lead, you often need to construct a high-performing team, one person at a time. Great leaders in startups are exceptional at doing this, with a view on tomorrow: they think deeply about the type of capabilities needed for achieving their 10x goals, then attract & coach talented individuals to build a team for tomorrow. Hence, we call this superpower “Architect tomorrow’s team”.?

Here are the competencies that power “Architect tomorrow’s team”:

• Designing for scale: Design and suture the team based on capabilities needed for the next 10x
• Growing the team: Develop a "followership" in the org and outside so that talented people want to work with you
• Running the team: Establishcollaboration models to work together and rituals for bonding?
• Coaching: Multiply in the personal growth of team members

4. 10x Yourself

How many of us take time out for our personal growth? This is often overlooked, and frequently deprioritized - but as a leader, your longevity in the startup context depends on you growing faster than your org! This is necessary to ensure that you are ready with what is needed for the next 10x. And digging below the surface, here are the competencies that allow you to “10x yourself”:

• Self-awareness: Identify and lean on your strengths while managing your personal development areas
• Continuous learning: Dedicating time and resources to towards personal growth
• Mission alignment: Be a role model of your company’s values for your team to emulate
• Resilience: Stay calm and centered in high-pressure situations

Tell us what you think about this framework for leadership in startups. Even better, tag a leader who you think is exceptional on one (or all) of these superpowers.

Up next: Now that we know the framework, how can we measure leadership? That will be the subject of our next article. Stay tuned!