listening to learn

Leading companies today asks for a different level of self-awareness from CEOs. Previously they may often have succeeded by “listening to win” (focusing on comments that supported their view) or “listening to fix” (taking any opportunity to tell others how they would solve the problem). Sometimes such reflexes may be helpful, most obviously when the problem they need to solve is relatively straightforward. But more often than not, the problem before them is complex and asks that they develop a more curious stance, “listening to learn,” instead. 

This takes a different mindset. And it often goes against the grain of the way many CEOs and their reports were incentivized earlier in their careers, when they were rewarded for solving operational problems quickly and moving on. Now they may only succeed if they can hold the complexity for longer, and resist the quick answer, listening and discerning more carefully – and in a more inclusive way. 

Mark Byford

Creating the Space Complexity Demands: New Approaches for CEO Leaders by Mark Byford. EgonZehnder CEO Insights. Volume 24, September 2021.

knack for simplifying ideas

Roosevelt’s knack for simplifying ideas grabbed the attention of the press and public. He was the first president to summarize his entire legislative agenda in three words: “The Square Deal.” It meant that government should pursue a fair playing field for corporations and the wage worker, the rich and the poor. In 1905, The Washington Post called Roosevelt’s explanation “entirely plain and understandable.”

 

Carmine Gallo

Public Speaking Secrets That Made Four U.S. Presidents Influential Leaders by Carmine Gallo. Forbes. February 21, 2022. 

a ferocious reader

Storytelling played a role in the formative years of Theodore (Teddy) Roosevelt. Roosevelt became a “ferocious reader,” writes Goodwin. Books transported Roosevelt into “the lives of the adventurous heroes he most admired.”

Roosevelt once said that leaders in every field need to understand human nature. The best way to know how people feel is to read the works of “great imaginative writers,” he advised. 

Roosevelt’s love of reading and history would work to his advantage in helping to reach a peaceful solution during the six-month coal strike of 1902. By understanding the deep history of distrust between labor and management that had sparked the rebellion, he was able to empathize with everyday people and communicate with them plainly and simply. 

Carmine Gallo

Public Speaking Secrets That Made Four U.S. Presidents Influential Leaders by Carmine Gallo. Forbes. February 21, 2022. 

three clear meeting rules to follow

In 2018, Musk sent an email to Tesla employees that outlined, among other things, three clear meeting rules to follow:

1. "Please get [rid] of all large meetings, unless you're certain they are providing value to the whole audience, in which case keep them very short."
2. "Also get rid of frequent meetings, unless you are dealing with an extremely urgent matter. Meeting frequency should drop rapidly once the urgent matter is resolved."
3. "Walk out of a meeting or drop off a call as soon as it is obvious you aren't adding value. It is not rude to leave, it is rude to make someone stay and waste their time."

Nicholas Sonnenberg

In Just 5 Sentences, Elon Musk Gave Tesla Employees a Masterclass on How to Run Efficient Meetings by Nicholas Sonnenberg. Inc. August 26, 2022

control your expenses

Control your expenses better than your competition. This is where you can always find the competitive advantage. For twenty-five years running - long before Wal-Mart was known as the nation's largest retailer - we ranked number one in our industry for the lowest ratio of expenses to sales. You can make a lot of different mistakes and still recover if you run an efficient operation. Or you can be brilliant and still go out of business if you're too inefficient.

Sam Walton

Sam Walton, Made in America by Sam Walton & John Huey. Bantam Books. 1992. p. 248, 249