Brescia: Centralizing COVID decisions would have crippled GitHub's response time
Erica Brescia · What Being a Founder Taught Me About Leadership - Lessons from GitHub’s COO · Sep 10, 2020 · at 13:50
This episode carries Erica Brescia's own address, with nobody on the show putting questions to them. It still counts as said, and it is kept out of every score on their page.
GitHub COO Erica Brescia explains why delegating operational decisions to an enterprise crisis management team was essential during the COVID-19 pandemic.
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“If I had made every single one of the decisions on how to respond across every aspect of our business, it would have taken far too long to execute, and our customers and employees would have been left wondering where we were and what we were doing. We could have been behind in the curve and scrambling to catch up.”
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More from Erica Brescia
Brescia: Saying 'yes' to everything is terrible advice for startup founders
“Honestly, it's terrible advice. Saying no to most of what comes your way is key to maintaining control over your time and focus.”
Brescia: Most founders waste excessive time on low-value operational chores
“Virtually every founder I know spends way too much time on operational items such as scheduling, finding and maintaining office space, setting up payroll and other things that are necessary, but not what really adds value to the business.”
Brescia: Founders will not get more free time as their companies grow
“It's really, really hard to take time off when you're building and growing a company, and I'll tell you that if you believe you'll have time someday when the company is larger and more established and has more employees, you're wrong. It's never the case.”
Brescia: Leaders must repeat important messages five times across five different formats
“Someone once told me, if you want folks to remember something, you have to tell them five times in five different ways, and I think that's a great way to think about it.”
Brescia: Keep acquisition discussions limited to the smallest possible group
“So it's best to keep the discussion within the smallest group of folks possible so you don't disrupt the business and create unnecessary stress and uncertainty for your team while you're working through the details.”
Brescia: Big-company sales leaders are often wrong for early-stage startups
“Someone coming out of a very large company not, might not be right for leading sales at a very small one where you need to develop a whole new playbook or build a funnel from zero. You need different types of skills at different times in your company's growth.”