Trillion Dollar Coach: The Leadership Playbook of Silicon Valley\u2019s Bill Campbell<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Eric Schmidt, Jonathan Rosenberg, Alan Eagle<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The Trillion Dollar Coach<\/u><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n There is another, equally critical, factor for success in companies: teams that act as communities<\/em>, integrating interests and putting aside differences to be individually and collectively obsessed with what\u2019s good for the company. Research shows that when people feel like they are part of a supportive community at work, they are more engaged with their jobs and more productive. Conversely, a lack of community is a leading factor in job burnout.<\/p>\n\n\n\n So when we met Bill in our weekly coaching sessions, what we discussed first and foremost was management: operations and tactics. Bill rarely weighed in on strategic issues, and if he did, it was usually to make sure that there was a strong operating plan to accompany the strategy. What were the current crises? How quickly were we going to manage our way out of them? How was hiring going? How were we developing our teams? How were our staff meetings going? Were we getting input from everyone? What was being said, what wasn\u2019t being said? He cared that the company was well run, and that we were improving as managers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n It\u2019s The People<\/u><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n <\/u><\/strong>People are the foundation of any company\u2019s success. The primary job of each manager is to help people be more effective in their job and to grow and develop. We have great people who want to do well, are capable of doing great things, and come to work fired up to do them. Great people flourish in an environment that liberates and amplifies that energy. Managers create this environment through support, respect, and trust.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Support means giving people the tools, information, training, and coaching they need to succeed. It means continuous effort to develop people\u2019s skills. Great managers help people excel and grow.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Respect means understanding people\u2019s unique career goals and being sensitive to their life choices. It means helping people achieve these career goals in a way that\u2019s consistent with the needs of the company.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Trust means freeing people to do their jobs and to make decisions. It means knowing people want to do well and believing that they will.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Start With Trip Reports<\/u><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Bill and Eric understood that there\u2019s a direct correlation between fun work environments and higher performance, with conversation about family and fun (what academics might call \u201csocioemotional communication\u201d) being an easy way to achieve the former.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Bill believed that communications were critical to a company\u2019s success. He frequently coached us to make sure that others in the company understood what we understood. Even when you have clearly communicated something, it may take a few times to sink in. Repetition doesn\u2019t spoil the prayer.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Research confirms that team meetings are a terrific opportunity to engage people, with one 2013 study concluding that the relevance of the meeting, giving everyone a voice, and managing the clock well are key factors to achieving that engagement. This doesn\u2019t always happen; another study, from 2015, notes that more than 50 percent of study participants do not think that their meetings are an effective use of their time. This study covered all meetings, not just staff meetings, but still, it demonstrates that being thoughtful about preparing for staff meetings is an important management practice.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Five Words on a Whiteboard<\/u><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n In teaching his management seminar at Google, Bill advocated that each person should put his or her list on the board – a simultaneous reveal. That way everyone could see where there was overlap and make sure to cover those topics. He felt that the process of merging the two agendas could serve as a lesson in prioritization.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Regardless of what five topics go on the whiteboard first, what\u2019s important is that each side has a set of topics to cover and is ready to cover them. Bill took great care in preparing for one-on-one meetings. Remember, he believed the most important thing a manager does is to help people be more effective and to grow and develop, and the 1:1 is the best opportunity to accomplish that.<\/p>\n\n\n\n 5 Words On A Whiteboard<\/u><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Have a structure for 1:1s, and take the time to prepare for them, as they are the best way to help people be more effective and to grow.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Bill\u2019s Framework for 1:1s and Reviews<\/u><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Relationship With Peer Groups<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Management\/Leadership<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Innovation (Best Practices)<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n The Throne Behind The Round Table<\/u><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n One day Bill gave her a new rule: when she was discussing a decision with her team, she always had to be the last person to speak. You may know the answer and you may be right, he said, but when you just blurt it out, you have robbed the team of the chance to come together. Getting to the right answer is important, but having the whole team <\/em>get there is just as important.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The manager\u2019s job is to run a decision-making process that ensures all perspectives get heard and considered, and, if necessary, to break the ties and make the decision.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Lead Based on First Principles<\/u><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Define the \u201cFirst Principles\u201d for the situation, immutable truths that are the foundation for the company or product, and help guide the decision from those principles.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Money\u2019s Not About Money<\/u><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n <\/u><\/strong>But it\u2019s also about something else. Compensation isn\u2019t just about the economic value of the money; it\u2019s about the emotional value. It\u2019s a signaling device for recognition, respect, and status, and it ties people strongly to the goals of the company. Bill knew that everyone is human and needs to be appreciated, including people who are already financially secure. This is why the superstar athlete who is worth tens or hundreds of millions pushes for that next huge contract. It\u2019s not for the money; it\u2019s for the love.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Compensating people well demonstrates love and respect and ties them strongly to the goals of the company.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Innovation is Where the Crazy People Have Stature<\/u><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n These executives wouldn\u2019t be thinking about the needs of the engineers and weren\u2019t focused on product first. Bill was a business guy, but he believed that nothing was more important than an empowered engineer. His constant point: product teams are the heart of the company. They are the ones who create new features and new products.<\/p>\n\n\n\n This means that finance, sales, or marketing shouldn\u2019t tell the product teams what to do. Instead, these groups can supply intelligence on what customer problems need solving, and what opportunities they see.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Bill On Boards<\/u><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n <\/u><\/strong>The first order of business always needs to be a frank, open, succinct discussion about how the company is performing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n And he did it through practicing the points covered in this chapter: operational excellence, putting people first, being decisive, communicating well, knowing how to get the most out of even the most challenging people, focusing on product excellence, and treating people well when they are let go.<\/p>\n\n\n\n This particular moment was shaping up as an unusual disagreement between a forgiving board and a disciplined former football coach turned CEO. As the conversation moved around the room, most of the board members wanted to spend their way through the crisis, to invest in the future. They disagreed with their CEO. Finally, it was John Doerr\u2019s turn to weigh in. \u201cYou know,\u201d he said, \u201cI think we should back the coach.\u201d John says that was the moment when he earned Bill Campbell\u2019s trust. \u201cThe board may have been correct,\u201d he says. \u201cBut isn\u2019t the real right answer to back your CEO?\u201d It almost didn\u2019t matter what the debate was about; it was something that Bill felt passionate about, and John decided to bet on Bill. He trusted him.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Most business people, when they meet, get right to the task at hand. There\u2019s stuff to do! This is especially true in technology, technologists not being noted for their high EQs or social skills. In our world, the attitude is often first prove to me how smart you are, then maybe I\u2019ll trust you, or at least your intellect. Bill took a different, more patient approach. He started relationships by getting to know the person, beyond their resume and skill set. Shishir Mehrotra notes that Bill \u201cwalked among a set of driven technologists, but he saw the world in a completely different way\u2026 He saw it as a network of people, learning each other\u2019s strengths and weaknesses, and learning to trust each other as a primary mechanism of achieving goals.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Only Coach the Coachable<\/u><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n <\/u><\/strong>\u201cSmart alecks are not <\/em>coachable,\u201d Bill snapped. He stood up to leave, interview over, as it dawned on Jonathan that he had heard Eric Schmidt was getting coaching from someone and, oh my God, this must be the guy. Jonathan switched from smart-aleck mode to groveling mode, backing away from his quip (which wasn\u2019t exactly a quip), and asked Bill to continue the conversation. After another moment that felt like minutes, Bill sat back down and talked about how he chose the people he was going to work with based on humility. Leadership is not about you, it\u2019s about service to something bigger: the company, the team. Bill believed that good leaders to grow over time, that leadership accrues to them from their teams. He thought people who were curious and wanted to learn new things were best suited for this. There was no room in this formula for smart alecks and their hubris.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The traits that make a person coachable include honesty and humility, the willingness to persevere and work hard, and a constant openness to learning.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Practice Free-Form Listening<\/u><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n When you listen to people, they feel valued. A 2003 study from Lund University in Sweden finds that \u201cmundane, almost trivial\u201d things like listening and chatting with employees are important aspects of successful leadership, because \u201cpeople feel more respected, visible, and less anonymous, and included in teamwork.\u201d And a 2016 paper finds that this form of \u201crespectful inquiry,\u201d where the leader asks open questions and listens attentively to the response, is effective because it heightens the \u201cfollower\u2019s\u201d feelings of competence (feeling challenged and experiencing mastery), relatedness (feeling of belonging), and autonomy (feeling in control and having options). Those three factors are sort of the holy trinity of the self-determination theory of human motivation, originally developed by Edward L. Deci and Richard M. Ryan.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Don\u2019t Stick It In Their Ear<\/u><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n And when he was finished asking questions and listening, and busting your butt, he usually would not<\/em> tell you what to do. He believed that managers should not walk in with an idea and \u201cstick it in their ear.\u201d Don\u2019t tell people what to do, tell them stories about why they are doing it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Scholars would describe Bill\u2019s approach – listening, providing honest feedback, demanding candor – as \u201crelational transparency,\u201d which is a core characteristic of \u201cauthentic leadership.\u201d Wharton professor Adam Grant has another term for it: \u201cdisagreeable givers.\u201d He notes in an email to us that \u201cwe often feel torn between supporting and challenging others. Social scientists reach the same conclusion for leadership as they do for parenting: it\u2019s a false dichotomy. You want to be supportive and<\/em> demanding, holding high standards and expectations but giving the encouragement necessary to reach them. Basically, it\u2019s tough love. Disagreeable givers are gruff and tough on the surface, but underneath they have others\u2019 best interests at heart. They give the critical feedback no one wants to hear but everyone needs to hear.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Be The Evangelist For Courage<\/u><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Bill\u2019s perspective was that it\u2019s a manager\u2019s job to push the team to be more courageous. Courage is hard. People are naturally afraid of taking risks for fear of failure. It\u2019s the manager’s job to push them past their reticence.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThat\u2019s one thing I learned from Bill: be the person who gives energy, not one who takes it away.\u201d This quality of constant encouragement, of being the person to give energy, has been shown to be one of the most important aspects of effective coaching.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Bill Campbell was a coach of teams. He built them, shaped them, put the right players in the right positions (and removed the wrong players from the wrong positions), cheered them on, and kicked them in their collective butt when they were underperforming. He knew, as he often said, that \u201cyou can\u2019t get anything done without a team.\u201d This is an obvious point in the realm of sports, but it\u2019s often underappreciated in business. \u201cYou can only really succeed and accomplish things through the collective, the common purpose,\u201d Lee C. Bollinger says.<\/p>\n\n\n\n So as a coach of teams, what would Bill do? His first instinct was always to work the team, not the problem. In other words, he focused on the team\u2019s dynamics, not on trying to solve the team\u2019s particular challenges. That was their job.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Work The Team, Then The Problem<\/u><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n At a Google meeting a few years ago, the group was discussing an issue related to costs in some of the developing businesses. Ram Shiram raised concerns: the numbers were getting big! Shouldn\u2019t we get more details on how we are working on this? There was some back-and-forth, then Bill spoke up. Don\u2019t worry, he said, we have the right team in place. They are working the problem.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cI learned something from that,\u201d Ram says. \u201cBill didn\u2019t work the problem first, he worked the team. We didn\u2019t talk about the problem analytically. We talked about the people on the team and if they could get it done.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n When faced with a problem or opportunity, the first step is to ensure the right team is in place and working on it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Pick The Right Players<\/u><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n BIll suggested that Jonathan take more time to consider his decision, and he continued to meet with him on a regular basis. With Bill\u2019s help, JOnathan later found his way back into the Google fold by taking on other roles. Bill didn\u2019t give up on him, but he also never let him forget how he had let the team down. This was a vivid and personal lesson: when change happens, the priority has to be what is best for the team.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The most effective coaches tolerate and even encourage some level of eccentricity and \u201cprickliness\u201d among their team members. Outstanding performers, from athletes to founders to business executives, are often \u201cdifficult.\u201d You want them on your team.<\/p>\n\n\n\n This time, she replied with ideas of what she thought she might do. Bill wasn\u2019t satisfied: but what do you do here? Sheryl finally copped to the truth: so far, she didn\u2019t do anything. \u201cI learned an incredibly important lesson,\u201d she says. \u201cIt\u2019s not what you used to do, it\u2019s not what you think, it\u2019s what you do every day.\u201d This is perhaps the most important characteristic Bill looked for in his players: people who show up, work hard, and have an impact every day. Doers.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n <\/em>This isn\u2019t always easy in a large company, but Bill would look for those same characteristics he looked for in candidates: smarts, hard work, integrity, grit. And then he would figure out ways to formally or informally bring those people together to talk and make stuff happen, around a particular project or problem.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cPeople would look forward to the meeting with Bill,\u201d Eric recounts, \u201cbecause when Campbell ran a meeting or brought a group together, the environment was results oriented, everyone participated and contributed, and they actually enjoyed the meeting. It was positive and fun to be a part of a team.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Pair People<\/u><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n *A 1995 study by Daniel McAllister of Georgetown University shows that trust increases with the frequency of interaction between a manager and a peer.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Don\u2019t just be a dictator assigning tasks, pair people up! So from that point forward, for projects such as preparing material for public events like earnings calls, producing team off-sites, working on compensation and promotion ladders, and developing internal tools, Jonathan stopped dictating and started pairing people up. The results: better decisions, stronger team.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Bill would coach Jonathan to do this himself. When Patrick Pichette joined Google as CFO, Bill asked Jonathan to seek him out and mentor him on the ways of the company. This was helpful to Patrick, but it also helped create a new trusted pair relationship on Eric\u2019s management team, which was the actual objective. The deliverable matters, but what matters just as much is the opportunity for the pair of teammates to work together on something and get 6to know and trust each other. That is invaluable to the team\u2019s success.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Permission To Be Empathetic<\/u><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n The problem was, many of the engineers and product managers who had worked on Google+, including many senior people, had left the team and in many cases the company. Many of those who remained on the team had never led a project of this scope before. Bradley and the team knew there was a great product market fit – it was the right product for mobile users who loved photos (just about everyone!) at the right time. But was it the right team to deliver and were they set up to succeed?<\/p>\n\n\n\n Bradley put Bill\u2019s approach, the permission to be empathetic, to work. He prioritized his time to focus not on tactical and technical issues, but on team ones. He got to know and care about team members as people, pumped them up, pushed and implored them, then helped build momentum as they started to achieve important milestones. He focused on the team and not the problem, and the team responded.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The Lovely Reset<\/u><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n In our own lives, we don\u2019t try to match the way in which Bill loved people. We don\u2019t hug; we don\u2019t go quite as deep into people\u2019s family lives. We don\u2019t call their fathers! If you don\u2019t naturally have as big a heart as Bill\u2019s, faking it won\u2019t work. Repeat: don\u2019t fake it! But most of us like our coworkers. We care about them, but we check all but the most sanitized feelings at the door when we walk into the office. Bill taught us to do the opposite. Bring it in! Ask the questions about the family, learn people\u2019s names, then ask more questions, then look at the pictures, and, above all, care.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<\/a>Chapter 2: Your Title Makes You a Manager. Your People Make You a Leader.<\/h1>\n\n\n\n
Performance On Job Requirements<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n\n
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<\/a>Chapter 3: Build an Envelope of Trust<\/h1>\n\n\n\n
<\/a>Chapter 4: Team First<\/h1>\n\n\n\n
<\/a>Chapter 5: The Power of Love<\/h1>\n\n\n\n