Given that AOL began as a handful of people that grew to some 90,000 employees as AOL-Time Warner, Case studied the spectrum of leadership required to run a growing organization.
One way to look at leadership in your company, offers Case, is on an “imagining” to “managing” spectrum tied to where you are in your company’s life cycle. For example, the early stages of an organization require a great deal of imagination as you build something entirely new from scratch; as the company matures, you need to bring in people who are experts on optimizing your processes and systems.
In the later stages when a company has reached maturity, the priority becomes managing things as they are. “Are you more in the imagining camp or managing camp?” asked Case, who wrote The Rise of the Rest: How Entrepreneurs in Surprising Places are Building the New American Dream.
“Are you more comfortable in the early stages when there is greater risk, or later when things are more settled? Are you more fascinated by the challenge of maximizing what might go right or by reducing the number of things that can go wrong? These things say a lot about where you fall on the spectrum.”
As the founder of Revolution, a Washington D.C.-based investment firm that has backed entrepreneurs in more than 200 countries, Case continues to argue for the importance of putting the right people in the right places on the leadership spectrum. In the podcast, Steve recalls his memories growing up in Hawaii on the basketball court with Barack Obama and draws parallels between sports and business. You will learn:
"Don is one of the best storytellers I’ve ever met. I’ve known him for a long time and every time we talk I walk away wiser and more inspired. He is the best in the business at teaching you a skill – storytelling – that will last you a lifetime.”
“The ability for athletes to get hired is carried on through you because you are putting out the message that lessons learned from sports are important in life. It is embedded in this podcast, what you’re doing is significant.”
We speak the same language. I am inspired by the stories you tell, the people you have met, and the things you’ve done. Those of us that are competitors like to follow others that have been down that journey, so it is always fun talking to you!”
“Many of the leaders I have worked with were excellent athletes, and I think there is a direct correlation. You’re one of the few people that really has pursued this study, Don. Keep up the great work. What you are doing really makes a difference.”
“Don, you have mastered the skill of interviewing and asking great questions. That is a great skill all leaders need in order to understand their team members’ thought processes.”
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