One such thread I’ve been drawing lately is between lessons from spirituality and workplace leadership — namely, the ways in which our singular, voracious, brash ego interferes like a sugar-crazed toddler running around a glass emporium. (View Highlight)
Focus foremost on making the company successful.
Focus on the we, not the I.
Fight for a bigger pie, not for your bigger slice.
Care less about credit and care more about results.
Ask not what the company can do for you, but what you can do for the company. (View Highlight)
No, a company is definitively not a family.
Now, the tide has shifted and it’s in vogue to say that your company is simply your employer. (View Highlight)
But My company is just my employer is also a self-defeating prophecy for those looking to grow in leadership. In my experience looking across thousands of promotions: at a well-run company, even the most talented performers will reach a ceiling in their career growth with this kind of attitude. It’s night-and-day obvious when you have someone who just really fucking cares about making some dimension of the company better—that kind of person learns faster, has a better track record, and naturally becomes seen as a leader. (View Highlight)
The right balance, in my view, is to think of your company as a team—a group of people trying to achieve something big together, make some kind of difference in the world.
To win, a team needs to pick the right players, and the players need to play right for the team.
Imagine your favorite sports team.
Yes, that team will drop a player if they are not contributing to wins.
Yes, a player will drop that team if it doesn’t suit the player’s goals.
Yes, there are contracts to protect each side’s interests, and yes, we should expect respectful behavior all around.
But when that team wins a championship, it’s a beautiful thing.
Everyone focuses on winning, not on maximizing individual stats. Players sacrifice for the greater good. The team pulls the best out of one another. (View Highlight)
On starting a new team initiative:Me-mentality: Let me get this figured out and I’ll get back to you within X days — underlying message: I can take care of this.We-mentality: Any useful context you can share, or people you think I should connect with to get all the context? — underlying message: I’d like to tap into whatever increases the chance that this initiative succeeds (View Highlight)
On presenting a project to a bunch of people:Me-mentality: I need to get everyone aligned — underlying message: I know what needs to be done, but I have to convince everyone to do what I want.We-mentality: I need to get a few rounds of feedback — underlying message: Other people probably have good perspectives and hearing them will make the work stronger. (View Highlight)
On your team running into a roadblock with another team:Me-mentality: they are slowing our team down and it’s so frustrating to have to deal with them — underlying message: *what I am doing is more important OR my inconvenience is a sign that our company is overbloated and bureaucratic.
*We-mentality: let’s figure out between our two teams which initiatives are most important for the company and prioritize accordingly — underlying message: we both want the best for our team so let’s put our heads together and collectively get to a good outcome. (View Highlight)
