Do you think it is difficult for people to have that kind of candor?
I think so. I see too much lack of it. I find it alarming. If your company doesn’t decide it’s an important value or behavior, they won’t get it. You get what you define as the behavior you want.
If I tell you that what I want from you is candor and I’ll reward you for it — you’ll get promoted for it, you’ll get paid for it — you’ll do it. If you get slapped every time you do it because you’re speaking up to the boss, you won’t do it at all. You get the behaviors you ask for and reward.
If you start promoting guys that aren’t candid and you say candor is important, you won’t get any of it.
How would you describe your leadership style?
Hopefully, energizing. Hopefully, one that always gets the best out of people. One that recognizes the value of having smart people around you, people who are smarter than you are.
Searching all the time for the brightest people you can get your hands on. Knowing that, as a leader, the quality of the people you get determines how good you are. Not you. You can’t determine how good you are. You’re not good enough.
How do you identify the right kind of talent?
I always had a formula that was pretty straightforward: Four Es and a P. Do they have energy? Do they energize others? Do they have edge? Yes or no, and not maybe. Can they execute? And do they have passion? Do they care more than the next person?
If I’m hiring somebody from the outside, I’d always ask one question: Why did you leave your last job? Tell me why you are willing to leave if I am recruiting you. And then I let them talk for a while and listen.
You find out what they are griping about, where they are, where their pay is wrong or their boss stinks or whether they just want more challenge and they want to grow and flourish.
