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For Modern Leaders

I think one lesson I’ve finally learned from a bunch of founders here is that most people do not pay attention until you repeat it 20 times

This is something I learned from working with Jeff Weiner at LinkedIn.

He'd always say:
"When you're tired of hearing it, someone you lead just heard it for the first time."

HT: @fffflood

founder operatingsystem.io | eth c/o 2015 | @ganbrood hoarder

Stuff

Great quote from Mr. Munger, courtesy of @lght.eth

The actions of man are governed not so much by what he intellectually believes as by what he vividly realizes. - George Kennan

Our world always lives in either the past or the future.

Never the now.

Constantly living in history means you’re always behind.

Always living in the future means you’re either afraid or aloof.

Modern leaders need to be uniquely grounded in the present.

Learn from the past.
Build the future.
Live in the now.

Grit is the ability to generate an endless supply of Plans B.
– Reid Hoffman

A primary role of a leader is to put the images and ideas in their head into the heads of others.

Therefore, a leader's storytelling ability matters a ton.

This is another reason why leaders should read more fiction.

Reading doesn't just put new info into your mind, but it helps you learn how to tell better stories.

The best leaders don't have "yes people".

If you need people around you to affirm your ideas, you're not leading.

You're attempting to frontrun governance-by-committee.

The best leaders are instead "yes people".

Provide the overarching vision, gather talent around it, and then say "yes" to letting them execute it.

please pay attention to how people speak about and with others - both in public and in private

> do they speak with understanding? do they make attempts to understand where someone is coming from?
> do they always complain?
> are they always the victim or under persecution by others?
> can they disagree and remain respectful when faced with dissenting opinions or critiques?
> are they accusatory or immediately confrontational?
> do they offer support? are they good listeners?

this is how i decide whether or not i take what people say with a grain of salt. what's your pattern been? how have you been known to show yourself, behave, and treat others?

if something seems wildly out of character for someone and who you know them to be, it usually is

Phenomenal insight from @erica

For leaders: yes, use this in evaluating others. But also use this as a rubric for evaluating self. 

“What’s *my* pattern of interacting with others?”

“Do I speak with understanding?”

etc.

personality hire 🌈🤙 fullstack & ux, building /uno

George Westinghouse is wildly underrated.

If I were to ever go through what Mr. Westinghouse went through, I’d hope that the same would be said of me. 

He lost to Edison & JP Morgan (in the short-term), lost control of his company, and still kept grinding.

Leaders must be relentless.

Great leaders allow others to fail, but won't allow them to be failures.

Give room for error to occur. 

Give correction & grace for when it does.

How to get stuff done every day:

1. Identify 3 things you need to get done. No more, no less.
2. Write them down.
3. Execute against those 3 things and only them.
4. Repeat.

Leaders have 3 possible perspectives:

• Normative (intellectual): they're "prophets" or "philosophers"
• Existential (experience): they're "priests" or "counselors"
• Situational (action): they're "kings" or "administrators"

Most leaders have a dominant perspective with a secondary.

For those doing 1:1s with your team, Rands has a great resource here: https://rands.substack.com/p/rands-cheat-sheet-1

If you want more ways to have better 1:1s, I've got some additional stuff I can share if this is of interest? Just like/reply here.

𝗙𝗜𝗩𝗘 𝗤𝗨𝗘𝗦𝗧𝗜𝗢𝗡𝗦
ᴇᴠᴇʀʏ ʟᴇᴀᴅᴇʀ ꜱʜᴏᴜʟᴅ ʙᴇ ᴀʙʟᴇ ᴛᴏ ᴀɴꜱᴡᴇʀ

𝗪𝗵𝗼 𝗮𝗺 𝗜?
One of the most important qualities in a leader is self-awareness: what drives you, what're your strengths & weaknesses, who are you in crisis, etc.