Trillion Dollar Coach: The Leadership Playbook of Silicon Valley’s Bill Campbell by Eric Schmidt…
3 Bullet Book: 2020, book #38: “It’s important to love colleagues in the workplace and go out of your way to start conversations with all members of the company.” — Eric Schmidt, Jonathan Rosenberg, and Alan Eagle
Finished on June 4, 2020
This book was one of the recommended listens after some of my recent audiobooks. More than that, though, Ian Dunlap — one of the investors I most admire — shared that this is a must read book. So I went out and bought it right away. This was a great book and I learned a lot. More than anything else was the reiteration of mentors and the value of them.
The 3 Bullets
1. Both a savvy manager and a caring coach are essential but many people only have one… or neither. If your leader cannot both empathize with you and also compel you to work harder and do more, your team is going to struggle. It’s amazing sometimes how little time managers spend with their subordinates. Yet, they expect high performance, how?
2. Speaking about Bill Campbell’s emails, the authors shared, “Everything was always precise, clear, and compassionate.” That is ideal right there. I know that I’m not at that level right now. Some of my emails get lengthy and many others are not compassionate. There’s always room for improvement but I haven’t met someone who’s proficient at this task yet. Need to continue getting better every day and striving for improvement and better communication day by day.
3. Speaking about solving problems, I think that Bill had probably the most advantageous and productive approach. Here’s what the authors said, “When problems arose, Bill didn’t work the problem first, he worked the team. If the right team was in place, he had faith they’ll resolve and mitigate the problem.” IF the right team. That’s what matters. I see that at the company I’m part of all the time now. There are projects that receive much closer oversight than many other projects — and I’m regularly part of the latter ones.
The Notes
High-performing teams must have a leader who is a savvy manager and a caring coach.
Bill “practically perfected the art of writing email messages.” Everything was always precise, clear, and compassionate.
Encouragement is ranked as the third most important quality in a coach, behind only listening and understanding.
When problems arose, Bill didn’t work the problem first, he worked the team. If the right team was in place, he had faith they’ll resolve and mitigate the problem.
Bill would always get to the heart of a problem in a positive way. He’d be relentlessly positive yet objectively address and discuss problems while focusing on solving the identified issues.
Don’t just sit your butt in a seat. Get up and show your support for the work they’re doing. Show love for the work they’re doing. Bill’s cheering wasn’t just to show appreciation but also to move things along.
It’s important to love colleagues in the workplace and go out of your way to start conversations with all members of the company.
I gave this book a 4/5
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