My 7 principles for leading a team

People ask me from time to time about my management style. That used to be a tricky question to answer because I never stopped to think about it. Now, years later, and after many feedback rounds from the people at Sana, I’m more conscious about my own behavior and what drives it. That enables me to work on improving my management style and helping other people within Sana to discover and improve their work and management styles.

I’ve only had one real manager. I was lucky, because that was Jan Kees de Jager, then co-founder of ISM eCompany: the first company I worked for as an Erasmus University economics student. ISM was also the company that helped me start Sana Commerce, now a global e-commerce software company that employs over 500 people worldwide.

Jan Kees was excellent at mentoring and giving me the opportunity to really push myself and learn the e-commerce business. I had a very up-close view of how Jan Kees managed those under him. I was between 18 and 25 at the time. Some would call those my “formative years”.

When it was my turn to manage and mentor people, I went about it subconsciously. It wasn’t until my 30s that I began to put more thought into why I did things a certain way. What my management style was, and how I could adjust to improve my style. When I did that, I discovered that I started to connect more with my co-workers and get better results all round. This self-realization was also one of the building blocks of our own Sana culture: how we expect everyone at Sana Commerce to work together and challenge each other. These are my own 7 principles for how I work together with everyone at Sana.

?I challenge everything - and I expect you to do the same

I like people to set their own targets, pick their own projects (aligned with the strategy and top priorities of the company, of course), and set their own deadlines. However, I will challenge it all because I believe this will make things better. I’ll ask, for instance:

• What impact would it have on your plan if x happened?
• What would you need to double that target?
• If I doubled your budget, how would you use it?

I want to spark an energizing conversation. Having a critical mindset is something I value greatly in other people, because I like everyone to challenge each other and to challenge me.

The other side of the coin is that once the challenge is over, you can take full ownership of your projects, goals, and targets. You won’t be micro-managed or overruled, because we trust you to do your best work and get it done.

?Give me some solutions when you bring up challenges

Let’s not use the word “problem” as it has a negative connotation. I like the word “challenge”. It’s exciting and energizing, at least to me.

When the people I work with come to me with challenges, I always ask them to also give me various solutions. Sure, it’s frustrating for those who aren’t prepared when I tell them to go back to their desk, formulate their own solutions, and come back to me to discuss it further. But that tactic has a way of working out.

For example, I came across a former employee some time ago and she told me that she learned so much from her experiences with me. She was grateful for the lesson about challenges and solutions and has made it part of her own management style.

You might help someone in the short run by telling them how to solve their challenges, but, in the long run, they learn a lot more from thinking about it and finding their own solutions.

?Tell it like it is

Dutch people are known for their directness, and I’m certainly no exception. While it’s not always easy to hear what I have to say, I believe that direct and honest feedback is the fastest way to improve… as long as the receiver can take that feedback and work with it.

I’ve had situations at work where my directness revealed an honest response from someone, which led to a heated discussion. I’m always grateful for those. Not because I like confrontation but because those discussions had positive impacts on mutual understanding and collaboration going forward.

?I'm impatient and, to some extent, we all should be

I’ve gained a reputation for being impatient. These days, I’m more aware of how I come across in my communication; I’ve worked on not letting my patience show as much. However, it serves an important purpose. I think impatience is necessary to lead a company that has the ambition to grow fast. So, when someone tells me they will deliver something next week, I tend to ask: what do you need to deliver it sooner? How about tomorrow?

It’s my belief that everything in an organization can be accelerated if everyone has a slightly impatient mindset. Especially for the topics that contribute to our key focus areas – our company priorities – we all need to ask ourselves what we can do speed things up. We’re in a highly competitive market, so, to a certain extent, our success depends on our impatience.

Keep your promises

If everyone in an organization lives up to their promise, like replying right away to an email or showing up on time to a meeting, everything runs smoother. Then there’s no need to remind anyone or make backup plans, and people aren’t waiting for each other.

I’ve always made a point for to be true to my word and I have a hard time getting along with people who don’t hold that same value. If we let that slip away, we lose trust in each other and everything slows down. Now, I don’t mean to imply that you can never miss a deadline. We’re human and life just happens. What I mean is, as soon as you become aware of the risk of missing a deadline or a meeting, you inform the key stakeholders involved ASAP.

I'll give you a challenge that's (slightly) outside your comfort zone

Personally, I get the most job satisfaction out of seeing people perform beyond what they thought they were capable of. That probably comes from my experience in working with Jan Kees, who always pushed me to take on new responsibilities that I had no training for at that point.

I want to pay that forward at Sana. So I give people challenges that are outside of their comfort zone. But, hey: if you’re good enough, you’re old enough. I’m not looking for experience per se; I’m interested in your mindset, your drive, and your aptitudes. The rest you can learn as you go.

No politics!

I can’t stand politics. For me it always feels like a total waste of time (and I’m not good at it). That’s why I’ll fight politics as hard as I can when I see even the slightest trace of it.

I also try to be as transparent as I can with the entire organization. Take my monthly business update, for instance, in which I share all the KPI’s with everyone. This way everyone has the same information and no one can derive power from having more information than the others. Honesty also keeps politics at bay. Lying at Sana is simply not tolerated.

Absolutely, my management style isn’t for everybody. Not everybody appreciates direct, unpolished, tough feedback. Not everyone likes their ideas to be challenged or asked to speed things up. I get that, which is why we pay a lot of attention during our hiring process. We want to ensure that the people we bring on board are a great fit for Sana Commerce. Now and in the future.