Not long after Trip Adler started Scribd in 2007 his then eight employees became embroiled in a debate about what path the company should follow. Watching, Adler thought: Why doesn’t someone take control of this situation? Then he realized that was his job.
Recognizing your role and potential as leaders was a key theme among the panelists speaking on How To Be A Boss When You Have Never Had A Boss at The Forbes Under 30 Summit in Philadelphia Monday. Up on the stage they looked more like your college hall-mates than head honchos, but it just so happens that Adler, Jake Fuentes, Kathryn Minshew and Raj Mukherji lead more than 200 employees between them.
(Mehrunnisa Wani for Forbes)
Adler, 31, is co-founder and CEO of book membership service Scribd. Fuentes, 29, founded spending tracking app Level Money and has continued running the show since being acquired by Capital One in January. Minshew, also 29, is founder and CEO of career advice site The Muse. And Mukherji is an executive director at AT&T.
The room was packed as the quartet told their stories about the trials, tribulations and surprising benefits of leading companies before they’d been led themselves. A crowd favorite: When Fuentes preached the merits of having an office dog. If the dog is unhappy, he says, you should probably consider reevaluating your office ethos.
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Amidst the personal tales there was salient advice for bosses of any age.
1. Ask questions. Mukherji recently took over federal government marketing for AT&T. His team is staffed with people who have been doing this for about as long as he has been alive. His best bet for survival? He says: Asking questions, and not stopping until he understands something.
2. Know what you can offer employees. Upstarts typically can’t compete with the big guys on pay. So when Minshew, who made the inaugural Under 30 media list in 2012, interviews potential employee she asks them about their long term goals, then she asks them again shortly after they start work. Knowing, for example, that one employee is motivated by being able to speak on behalf of the company Minshew is able to offer her an opportunity she couldn’t get elsewhere.
3. Do something. What version of Android to support is an important question for anyone starting an app but there is not necessarily a clear right answer. As his team recently debated this question Fuentes, a member of the 2015 Under 30 class for finance, realized one of his roles is to make the company decisive. Sometimes you won’t know if a decision is the right one but you’ve got to act to keep your team moving forward.
4. Hire managers who embody your values. Set the right culture with your co-founders, says Adler who was featured in 2014 for media. Hire people who fit that culture. Once a culture has been poisoned by negative employees it is hard to get things back on track.
5. Don’t lead from on high. The panelists were in agreement that you can’t run a company with an iron fist. Declaring you have made a decision and everyone must stick with it is a sure way to alienate employees. All four recommend making sure your team understands the rationale behind your decisions. “Be upfront about the values around which you make decisions,” says Minshew. As long as you make decisions within those values you’ll be ahead of the game.
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