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Kimber Lockhart knows she doesn’t look or act like a typical entrepreneur, but that hasn’t stopped her from being one of the youngest leaders among tech startups.
“I’m shy, I was good at getting As, I had a little bit of a lisp,” admits Lockhart, “but it taught me to find a leadership style that works for me.”
As vice president of engineering at One Medical Group and the former senior director of Web app engineering at Box before her 30th birthday, she has had to be a leader to employees with twice the experience.
She shared her lessons learned with the Big Kansas City crowd about why there is no right way to be a leader and how to find a style that works for you.
Anyone can lead
Lockhart was in high school when she mobilized her community to knit hats for local patients undergoing chemotherapy. When she sought the help and financial support of community leaders, she realized that she could leverage her inexperience to her advantage.
“Being a little bit nervous when I asked for help was exactly what caused people to respond generously,” said Lockhart. “I didn’t have authority, so I relied on building connections through influence.”
She admits her cause wasn’t earth shattering, but she walked away feeling confident in the fact that she isn’t naturally confident.
You can’t follow anyone else
When Lockhart was a student at Stanford University, she helped organize a serial entrepreneurial speaker series. She found herself frustrated by the conflicting advice given by the CEOs and business icons. Lockhart remembers speakers saying you have to do things a particular way to run a company, some said you had to wing it, but “one thing that became clear is that a lot of different approaches work really well.” Lockhart took what made sense and kept what felt real to her.
You are empowered to step up to the plate
Lockhart’s first entrepreneurial bug bit during her junior year of college. In 2008 she got a group of friends together to create Increo, a tech company that marketed data viewing and editing technology. In 2009, the economy shattered and they had to rethink how they were going to make money. “We asked a question I think all business owners need to ask: How can we be profitable tomorrow?” she said. The Increo team’s willingness to dig in and make adjustments resulted in the sale of the company to Box.
Learn through experiments
When Lockhart stepped into a leadership position at Box as the senior director, she found herself struggling to find a leadership style that fit her personality while meeting the needs of her senior team members. “The people she saw doing this job were awesome, but they weren’t like me. They had 10 years of credibility, so there had to be something about my approach that was unique,” she said.
Lockhart approached leadership style like a science experiment. She tried each one out by writing it down, getting feedback and recording the results of her effort. Through trial and error, Lockhart found the leadership style that worked best for her and those she was tasked to lead.
Go forward with humility and confidence
When Lockhart left Box to be VP of engineering at One Medical Group, she realized the healthcare company was playing in territory crowded by bigger competitors. “It’s a big industry and we need to make sure we understand it,” she said. “We are required to balance this humility with confidence.” Understanding that there is a lot to learn while being sure of your purpose is key to smartly navigating a startup.
Credits: Photo by Sarah Granger.
