Nathan has a passion for entrepreneurship and people, which is why he created Foundr, a global media and education company that produces magazines, books and online courses for entrepreneurs. Nathan believes life is too short to do work you hate, and is on a mission to grow Foundr into a household name that impacts tens of millions of people with its content and online business school. In this episode, Nathan is sharing how he started Foundr, and his hacks on getting things done as a leader and entrepreneur. Check out the full interview video here: You can also listen to the interview on our podcast channel Spotify, Apple Podcast and Google Podcast:
Lessons on Leadership & Productivity from Nathan Chan
Nathan has shared a lot of his thoughts and tips on how to get things done as a productive leader and entrepreneur, here’re some of the key takeaways:
1. Be Disciplined And Stick to a Routine
When asked about how he managed time when he was still working a full-time job and starting Foundr, Nathan told us how important it was to stick to a routine. Despite trying to grow his business, Nathan wants to be able to invest as much time as he can with his family, friends and parents Stricking a balance is tricky yet essential. Nathan still allows time for family and friends in his disciplined schedule for work. He’d spend time with his family every Sudany and schedule catching up with friends two weeks in advance.
2. Get Help And Focus on Doing Things That You Enjoy
When Nathan just started Foundr, he did almost everything including markeintg, the writing, and the interviews. But he did get help from others and he employed people on a contractual project basis. Nathan looked at it from the sense of what he was bad at, and that it was actually better for him and the business if he delegated it to someone else.
3. Be Clear of What You Want to Achieve
Many leaders and entrepreneurs struggle about when to step back from the operation and focus on seeing the bigger picture. Nathan has this piece of advice for them: If you want to achieve something really big, remember that you will need more than just YOU to achieve it.
4. Find the Right People to Help You
Nathan mentioned one thing that was truly inspiring in the interview: So when it comes to getting help, it’s about the who instead of the what — who has done it before? Who has solve a similar problem already? How can you help your team and share with them these people who have done it before to give them the blueprints? By providing your team with resources, education, and introducing them to people who have “been there, done that,” you can skill up the team effectively.
5. Empower Your Team Members Instead of “Managing” Them
Nathan believes that in order for a team to drive outcomes, it’s important to help the mebers to discover themselves what they could be doing to make improvements. To him, the key to communication comes down to making sure everyone knows where they’re going, what they need to do and what success looks like as a company at a company level, a team level as well as an individual level. At Foundr, Nathan encourages and fosters an environment for continuous growth and learning, so team members are empowered to do their best work with autonomy at Foundr.
Bottom Line
Whether you’re an entrepreneur or a leader at work, these leadership lessons by Nathan will surely help you become a more productive and effective leader. If you want to watch the full interview with Nathan, don’t forget to check out the YouTube video above. Stay tuned with us on The Lifehack Show as we will be interviewing more leaders and productivity experts!
