What if Putin ran your startup? What if Barack Obama was the CEO of your app-based startup? If Angela Merkel ran your growing startup would she lead it to growth or would it stay in stand still? If world leaders ran startups we’d probably see very different results than what we are seeing today.
Barack Obama – Not many can argue that Barak Obama isn’t charismatic, as many could even argue that it is one of the leading factors to him being elected and reelected. On the other hand, Obama may seem to not always back his words with actions – take the Syrian mess for example (people are still being killed), and his decision making doesn’t always lead to the best results – website for national healthcare. In a positive light, one can calmly and confidently say that he looks to shape the future. Most likely we would see someone that tries to do his best to work closely with his team, despite a status as CEO – something valued by teams in the startup realm.
On the other hand, he is the same kind of CEO that promises things that the company cannot always deliver if at all or in that set time period. Finally, his look to the future will close to definitely make sure you are not stuck in the present – like BlackBerry.
The bottom line: He’d look to the future and work closely with his team, but the questions remains if he can make sure that they can deliver the goods.
Angela Merkel – Let’s start off by agreeing that this is one leader that does not like risk taking, unless she really must. She is a survivor that was reelected during the economic crisis, even though she was the leader just before the ship sank for Europe. Merkil has two other things going for her – she knows and seeks to get what her people want and is pragmatic. Merkil could definitely work on being more charismatic and media friendly, and it would not hurt if she could make some of here more important political decisions a little earlier instead of at the last second.
With all that in mind, this is a leader that will run a fine-tuned oil-machine of a startup that runs on very few glitches, especially if run in ideal situations. She knows what her client base wants and pushes to make sure to get that to them, however this startup could end up being left behind if Merkil weren’t to keep an eye on the future.
The bottom line: She’d make sure that operations are running smoothly, and take as little risk as possible. She might have some trouble with investors.
Vladimir Putin – Is a ruthless leader that does not really care what the public think of him – not those within his own country and not those far from him. Is he dumb? There are those that might think so, but this man is quite the opposite with every move calculated. On the other hand, we don’t really know how much he is helping is people if at all. Is he just a tough cookie or a leader that truly seeks to help the Russians? The growing middle class sure makes it seem like he is helping.
Vladimir Putin would probably not befriend any of his employees at his startup, and instead would make sure to have a large office for himself while pushing all of his employees, via hierarchy into a tight seating arrangement. His workers will probably be some of the best in the field and work hard to get the product to the clients while Mr. Putin lounges around launching personal attacks on other startups, and playing nasty tricks to either acquire or dismantle other startups in his niche.
The bottom line: He’d get results and probably be able to get the funding that his startup needs, although it doesn’t look like employees will be raving about their benefits any time soon. We could see this guy running Uber.
David Cameron – Is quite the decisive leader that makes his decisions, or so it seems, without much concern about its consequences by instead displaying confidence, and is media savvy, unlike the aforementioned Merkil and similar to President Obama. On the down-side, Mr. Cameron can be too quick to overlook small details that can actually have an effect on the said policy.
Cameron would first and foremost be the type of leader that would make it a priority to have a great line of communication between all the persons at the startup, and would in addition key in on making sure that there is strong communication between customers and the company. Hopefully this strong communication would help avoid him from making decisions that overlook the smallest of details – the smallest mistakes can be the downfall of a startup.
The bottom line: He’d make for a good leader that makes his employees feel comfortable, and anytime a company is in tune with customers with strong communication it is a good sign. The question is can he handle the tough times and keep up the communication?
Photo: courtesy of U.S Army @ Flickr
