Article: Cultural intelligence necessary for global success

Entrepreneurship

Cultural intelligence necessary for global success

Many startups are now looking at global expansion very seriously and as an important component of their future growth. But to do so they need to possess cultural intelligence.
Cultural intelligence necessary for global success

There is no infallible plan for any start-up to succeed but yes there are certainly a few elements that can contribute to the success and sustainability of the start-up. To be culturally intelligent, the start-up needs to have a few elements embedded deep into its fabric. 

Empower

If you empower your teams with tonnes of accountability, trust, and appropriate directions and also give them the tools to potentially accomplish them, you will most likely end up with a passionate group of people who are focused and consistently stable on results in the face of extreme volatility, growth and the increasing requirements to meet revenue goals in a start-up business.  

Repeatability

An element that can go a long way in sustaining growth as well as business expansion simultaneously is repeatability in actions, strategies, and execution that brings in positive results for a start-up.  Most importantly, the start-up must derive what needs to be repeated without spending too much time in experiments. Once you have cracked the repeat code, just repeat, execute and repeat again.

Attention to Detail

It’s very important to cultivate a culture that dictates the degree to which employees are expected to be accurate in their work. A culture that places a high value on attention to detail expects their employees to perform their work with precision.  This element helps in avoiding casual mistakes and a near perfect execution in everything and anything the teams are doing.

Work hard, play harder and balance it out the hardest

The most successful startups are the ones that have great talent who genuinely believe in the product and it’s potential. However, employees also need to be at peace by balancing their work life with their personal time.  For instance, at Frrole, you are seriously asked  about your passion, hobby etc. during your interview and no wonder that this AI startup has a bunch of musicians, singers, painter,  an author, a DJ, a biker and an ex-professor all coming together for a common goal of making Frrole a huge success in the consumer intelligence space.When you are working in such a company where you are enjoying your work as well as your personal passion, it simply means you are at a right workplace at the right time.

Speed is important but also sustainability

For startups, speed is the core of their existence. It is the competitive edge in the market – decide fast, execute fast, learn fast and succeed fast. However, in this race of being super-fast, mostly the sustainability of what is already achieved is missed out in the company culture. It is extremely important for a start-up to inculcate a culture of being intelligently fast and not foolishly hasty. If you want to reach the defined finish line, the speed and sustainability are both important to avoid the midway crash.

Lead by example

Not just the founders but every team lead should lead by example. You're the evangelist of your product - if you don't believe in the value that product offers and don't live and breathe the shared values, your team members won't either. As a leader in a startup, you don't manage teams but spark them to do the unobvious, the exponential stuff and the unprecedented work. In order to keep everyone motivated, it's important to celebrate successes, even the small ones, as a milestone into the right direction. Small successes matter and celebrating it even more!

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Topics: Entrepreneurship, Leadership, Culture

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