​How do you attract the best client/customer/sponsor/funder for your work? 

Be the best.

Have a criteria.

The best to you might not be the best to others.

Keep that criteria front-and-center at all times.

Do not compromise or acquiesce on other's timelines, demands, and expectations.

Keep up that damn good work.

Adapt to the changing requirements of the times. 

Don't compare yourself with the neighbor next door.

And stay true to who you are and the values you hold dear.

Because the best people and best organizations are also looking for excellent providers/supporters/partners.

Give them the reason to look you up, listen to what you have to say, and follow your work.

That's what we know today in our social media world as 'connecting.'

Connect meaningfully but loosely.

Offer something of value when the time comes and see what happens. 

I was in a mentoring/coaching panel a few months ago for a bunch of social venture founders. 

One panelist mentor confused accountability, responsibility, and rewards.

He believed, that accountability can't be shared and delegated, hence, the rewards and success of the startup should be given to those who are accountable.

Fair enough.

But we are talking here about accountability in relation to delegation.

The staff is delegated responsibilities suited for his/her role. He/she took it on gladly and did a wonderful job!

Who is accountable? Who is responsible? Who gets the reward?

There are two things here for which a lot of people confuse it: strategy and overall direction of the organization and the operational areas where these strategies are implemented.

The overall success or failure of the organization lies with the founders and some extent those who are hired to manage it. This is a high-risk career path. 

The successes at the operational levels accrue to those that worked hard for it.

Don't confuse the two. 

But if you're the founder/CEO/all-around designer/marketer/app developer for your startup, I get the feeling of owning that success 100%. You do all the work. 

But if you're the CEO and you have remarkable staff who are just phenomenal in what they do, give due credit where credit is due. Hold them responsible and accountable. 

Take these distinctions carefully and your people will love you more, will stick with you even in the worst times, which are plentiful in the startup statistics.

I was in an agri-show a few weeks ago and there, I met Ray.

Ray was the herd dog that was herding five ducks in a show to demonstrate how dogs can be good shepherd with proper training.

The ducks went into different obstacle challenges with Ray not barking once, but pre-empting the ducks' movements, nudging them to take a certain direction, and lastly, blocking their way so that they have no choice but to take the challenge.

It was a great experience to learn and see how Ray was a patient, methodical, and strategic herd.

I likened this to leaders who are trying their best to show their followers the way.

Through nudges, incentives and rewards, pre-emptions, and strategic blocks, leader fine-tune their styles to suit the temperaments of their team, the objectives at hand, and the process they had to be girded on. 

Herding is a process that requires high relational quotient. if your team doesn't trust you, your herding is scorned and ridiculed. 

Your attempts to pre-empt and redirect will be taken in contempt and mistaken to be self-serving.

Your nudges and subtle reminders will be ignored.

Like Ray, you don't need to bark to show them the way.

​Your subtle gestures are loud enough to warrant paying attention.