Many of my clients approach me and ask: Where should I start with this “leadership thing”? There is a lot out there, ChatGPT has probably some answers as well. But here is a short overview of the most helpful links and articles to get you started (links listed so you can query your fav LLM to summarize it for your needs specifically)

The Startup CEO’s Field Guide to Leadership (That Actually Help You Ship, Scale, and Sleep)

For founders, entrepreneurs, and scale-up CEOs, “leadership” has to mean something concrete: better decisions, stronger teams, faster learning loops, and cultures where women, LGBTQ+ folks, and underrepresented talent can thrive.

Convert ideas into habits: one behavior, one metric at a time.

Essentials: bedrock skills (perfect for first-time founders and new team leads). You’re moving from maker → manager and communication is “fine” but decisions still don’t get implemented.

1)Adaptive leadership basics (Harvard). Learn to separate technical vs adaptive problems and mobilize people around real change. Great when your org keeps “solving” symptoms.

2) Leadership styles & models (LinkedIn Learning). A great map of classic styles (authoritarian → democratic → laissez-faire), plus servant, situational, and collaborative leadership with useful vocabulary for coaching conversations with your team. (Access typically via LinkedIn Learning.)

3) Connected Leadership (Yale). Systems thinking with a human center. Helpful when you’re scaling cross-functional work and need better collaboration and inclusion without bureaucracy. Runs on Coursera.

4) Developing Interpersonal Skills (IBM). Influencing without formal authority, listening that reduces conflict, and trust-building, which is foundational for any founder managing up, sideways, and out.

Intermediate: teams, systems, and the real world

When to use: Headcount > 15 and you’re seeing team-of-teams problems. You are challenged to get investors and stakeholders on board without authority and need buy-in.

5) Leadership in the Modern Workplace (Microsoft). A learning path focused on enabling teams with clear systems and inclusive practice, anchored in modern tooling and collaboration. Use it to tighten rituals and reduce meeting chaos.

6) Practical Leadership (MIT). A seminar-style, feedback-heavy approach. Ideal for founders who want reps and reflection, not just theory; use it to design your own leadership experiments.

7) Leading People & Teams (University of Michigan). Talent, motivation, influence without authority, and team performance, a solid structure for managers of managers. Offered via Michigan Online/Coursera.

8) Relationship Management & Business Development (Starweaver).For B2B and partnership-heavy startups: segmenting stakeholders, trust cues, and proactive networking that actually compounds.

Advanced: context, culture, and influence at scale

You’re setting culture intentionally (not “vibes-based”). Fundraising, M&A, or entering a new market changed your power map.

9) Stepping Up: Preparing Yourself for Leadership (Queen Mary University of London). Self-awareness, bias, impostor patterns, boundaries, and resilience. Perfect for senior operators stepping into VP/C-level gravity.

10) Leadership: External Context & Culture (Open University). How market forces and culture shape effective leadership. Use when your company is navigating new geographies, regulation, or societal scrutiny.

FAQs

Q: What’s the best place for a startup CEO to start with leadership?
A: Begin with Adaptive Leadership to separate technical vs. adaptive problems. Pair it with core interpersonal skills—listening, influence, and trust—so ideas turn into actions. Start small: one behavior and one metric per week (e.g., label one stuck decision “adaptive” and run a low-risk experiment).

Q: How do I turn these ideas into results in 4 weeks?
A: Pick one track and commit to a weekly 60-minute ritual plus a daily micro-habit:
A) Team Conflict Reset, B) Executive Alignment OS, or C) Board Prep & Strategic Story. Track simple metrics (decision latency, speaking-time parity, risk owner coverage) and do a keep/kill/iterate review at week 4.

Q: Which leadership track fits my situation?
A: Choose by pain point:
• Constant friction or slow decisions → Team Conflict Reset.
• Everyone busy, little momentum → Executive Alignment OS.
• Fundraising, major shift, or board scrutiny → Board Prep & Strategic Story.

Q: How should I use the 10 recommended resources without getting overwhelmed?
A: Follow a Use-Case Pipeline:
• Self-Leadership (Harvard 1, IBM 4, Queen Mary 9) →
• Team Leadership (LinkedIn 2, Michigan 7, Starweaver 8) →
• Systems & Context (Yale 3, Microsoft 5, MIT 6, Open University 10).
Start where the bottleneck is, not where it’s comfortable.

Q: How do I stay inclusive without slowing delivery?
A: Bake inclusion into your operating rhythm: rotate facilitation, invite quieter voices first, measure speaking time, and add two DEI KPIs (e.g., speaking-time parity and diverse promotion slates). Inclusive teams make faster, better decisions—especially in startups.