Leadership
Notes
- If you are in a leadership position, part of your job is to say "no" on behalf of others who don't have the security to do so.
- Leadership is not about being in charge. Leadership is about taking care of those in your charge.
- My advice for young people starting out in their careers: choose leaders who are competent, compassionate, and secure in themselves (not just pretending to be). Careers are long, and early role models have a disproportionately large impact on your trajectory—for better or worse.
- Be the senior you needed when you were a junior.
- Elon Musk is present in all design reviews. It's always ok to contradict another person's opinion & accept you being wrong.
- Leaders must pursue excellence everywhere, at all times. The product of excellent and mediocre is mediocre. Organizations devolve to their lowest common denominator. Leading this way is exhausting. But if you’re not willing to make the sacrifice, please move out of the way.
- How to make what you work on great: Clear vision and objective function. Great leadership. Small, elite, cross-functional teams. Focus on excellence all around. Obsession with building an amazing product that delights customers. Intellectual honesty. And intense work ethic.
- Nothing destroys an organization faster than a leader with the desire to be well liked.
- One of the best leadership traits you can have is craving brutally honest feedback, receiving it without defense, and acting on it at breakneck speed. No time for stagnation as a leader, we have to change and grow.
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