#14: The unpopular position of being a Leader
Why being a Leader means, sometimes, making difficult decisions
Hey friends,
In this edition, I talk about:
why leaders aren’t that popular
Musk’s new AI company
3 posts I liked
15 leadership lessons from Disney’s CEO
a quote about aesthetics
1/ Why leaders aren’t that popular
I got the idea for this short essay after a LinkedIn post written by my friend Antonio Reza went viral.
The post was apologetic about the former General Electric CEO, Jack Welch. Widely considered one of the best leaders of the 20th century, it seems Jack is also a controversial figure, as many people have commented about the bad decisions he made.
And I saw this by myself, writing a Twitter thread about another great CEO (in my opinion), Bob Iger, and there were a lot of people disagreeing on this matter as well.
And that’s ok; for sure, nobody is perfect. And especially when we are thinking about people in Leadership positions.
It’s very hard to please everyone, and as you grow more and more in your career, the number of people who disagree with you will get larger.
And that is because you make an impact.
And especially if you are leading a business, you need to make decisions that might even make people hate you.
But, at the end of the day, it’s business.
And, unless you’re a non-profit, the main reason a business exists is to make a profit.
Let’s not fool ourselves.
From the first levels of management, it’s no longer about you. It’s about running a team or a department in such a way that it makes more money than it spends.
And eventually even more money.
And as leaders, we might need to:
optimize processes
transform an organization
deal with employees who don’t support our vision
We try to make the best decisions we can, but sometimes we fail.
And even though we try to explain these decisions, people only see the results that affect them.
If you want to become a manager and lead other people, you need to prepare for this. Yesterday you were “one of the guys,” and today you’re eating alone at the kitchen table. There is a gap that starts to widen between you and the team.
But even if unpopular decisions are part of the job, leaders can help soften the blow through communication, consultation, transparency, and a willingness to admit mistakes.
We must also find ways to stay connected to the front lines and relate to employees as people, not just cogs in the machine.
Ultimately, leaders have to live with the level of unpopularity that comes with the territory.
But how we navigate it speaks volumes about our character, competence, and concern for those we lead.
2/ The AI competition is getting fierce
Elon Musk announced a couple of days ago that he started a new AI Company, called xAI.
We don’t have too much information yet, as some will be revealed this weekend.
Team members behind xAI are alumni of DeepMind, OpenAI, Google Research, Microsoft Research, Twitter and Tesla, and have worked on projects including DeepMind’s AlphaCode and OpenAI’s GPT-3.5 and GPT-4 chatbots.
Musk seems to be positioning xAI to compete with companies like OpenAI, Google, and Anthropic, which are behind leading chatbots like ChatGPT, Bard, and Claude.
Musk previously expressed his views on the dangers of AI and the need to create a “TruthGPT”, as opposed to the “politically correctness” built into ChatGPT.
It’s going to be an interesting ride, especially since Musk’s last endeavor, buying and leading Twitter, is not looking so successful, at least up to this point.
3/ Posts I liked
3 tweets or LinkedIn posts that made me think, educated me or amused me over the last week. (click on the images to read the whole stuff)
How Shopify ditched meetings and will calculate the cost of a meeting:
The Minto pyramid used in Consulting:
A LinkedIn post on the influence media has:
4/ My own favorite piece of content
After reading the book “The ride of a lifetime”, the autobiography of Disney CEO, Bob Iger, I decided to write a thread based on the Leadership lessons from the book:
1/ Innovate or die
There can be no innovation if you operate out of fear of the new. Bob realized early on that the world is changing and technology will be a disruptor. Don't get caught in your old ways.
2/ Pursue perfection
It's not about perfectionism but about creating an environment that refuses to accept mediocrity. As leaders, we should push back the urge to say: "Good enough is good enough".
3/ Be decent to people
Treat everyone with empathy and respect.
Create an environment where people know:
you'll hear them out
you're emotionally consistent
you'll give them a second chance for honest mistakes
4/ Value ability more than experience When hiring or working with people, focus first and foremost on their ability and aptitude rather than how much experience they have on their resume. Put people in roles that require more of them than they know they have in them.
5/ Admit what you don't understand
Admitting what you don't know shows:
humility
courage
a growth mindset
It opens the door for others to help explain and teach you.
6/ Don't start small This can limit your thinking, creativity, and drive from the outset. Set a high bar and build systems and habits that support achieving audacious goals. If you start petty, you seem petty.
7/ Grant permission to fail Allow those you work with to make mistakes as they learn and grow. Failure is an inevitable part of progress. By giving people permission to fail, you empower them to take risks, experiment and think creatively.
8/ Don't let ambition get ahead of the opportunity
Sometimes, we have our eyes set on the next promotion and we lose sight of what's going on in our current position.
Find a balance:
be patient
be the best in your role
look for opportunities to grow
9/ Lead from a place of courage
Don't be stubborn. It’s hard to look at your current way of doing things and make a decision to undermine them in order to face the change that’s coming. Lead by example, from a place of bravery and principle rather than fear.
10/ Don't be a pessimist
You can’t communicate pessimism to the people around you. It’s ruinous to morale. Optimism emerges from faith in yourself and in the people who work for you. Focus on what you can control and influence, not just what might go wrong.
11/ Be clear about your priorities
If you don't know what they are, the people won't know what theirs are. Communicate your priorities clearly, repeatedly and check in regularly if they still align with your mission.
12/ Take responsibility when you screw up
You’ll be more respected and trusted by the people around you if you own up to your mistakes. Build a culture of accountability.
13/ Do your homework Don't be that leader who comes into a meeting without having even read the agenda.
research best practices
gather relevant data and facts
ask questions that reveal knowledge gaps
Do the "homework" needed to set the stage for a winning performance.
14/ Surround yourself with good people
In addition to being good at what they do. Look for genuine decency in the people you hire and nurture it in the people who work for you. We see ruthless people leading companies too often.
15/ Be humble
Approach your work and life with a sense of humility. Be proud of yourself, but know that your success is also due to:
the efforts of your team
the support of your dear ones
circumstances out of your control
Remember this when you look in the mirror.
5/ A quote I liked:
Thank you for reading, and let me know if you liked something in particular in this newsletter.
Until next time,
Leo
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