Build for the Team You Have, Not the One in Your Head

L.A. Reid: A Case Study

One of the first things I do with founders is get them to see their team clearly. Not who they wish people were, not who they might become with enough time, but who they actually are right now, what they can actually do, and where the real limits are.

This sounds obvious. It isn't. Founders constantly overestimate what their team can deliver, assume relationships exist that don't, and miss the emotional dynamics that shape how people will react to decisions. And then they're blindsided when things fall apart.

L.A. Reid - the music executive who discovered Pink, Rihanna, and Justin Bieber- made this mistake repeatedly on his way up.

When he and his songwriting partner started their own record label, they signed a band and gave them material that had made other artists famous. The album flopped. They blamed the distributor at first, but eventually realized the truth: the band simply couldn't perform the songs at the level the material required. Reid had built a plan around talent that wasn't there.

Later, he wanted his label to record a movie soundtrack. He didn't know anyone in the film industry, so he relied on a contact to make introductions. His attitude going in was essentially "you should be glad I'm calling you." It didn't land. The people making soundtrack decisions had no idea who he was; his reputation in music didn't transfer. He'd assumed a relationship and credibility that didn't exist in that room.

The most costly version came when Arista Records offered to buy his company, but the deal meant replacing his mentor, Clive Davis, who had helped him get that soundtrack deal in the first place. Reid took it. He thought people would be fine with new leadership. They weren't. The industry was furious. He'd completely missed how much loyalty and attachment people had to Davis, and how his own move would look.

Three different situations, same underlying problem: he didn't accurately see the people around him.

Here's what I want founders to think about:

What can your team actually execute? Not with more training, not in six months, right now. If your plan requires people to perform above their current level, you don't have a plan. You have a hope.

What relationships do you actually have? Your reputation in one space doesn't automatically transfer to another. Before you assume a door is open, ask yourself: Does this person know me? Do they have any reason to care?

How will people feel about this decision? Not just whether it's logical - how will it land emotionally? Who has attachments you're not seeing? Whose loyalty are you testing?

You can't build something solid on a misread of the people involved. The clearer you see the skills, limits, and relationships around you, the better your plans will be.