This content is locked. Please login or become a member.
Go beyond brilliance
When I talk to young analysts in my firm, and they’re all people that really understand the importance of content. So it’s obvious we need expertise, and you’ve got to understand an issue, and you got to think about the issue, and you have to show that you’re smart on that issue, that’s table stakes, we’re not going to hire you unless you’re brilliant on the topics that you cover and you’re curious.
But I want to make it clear that beyond that, you have to be able to communicate them effectively. Because if you’re brilliant but you can’t communicate through the written word and through talking to people, you are going to be incredibly ineffective. You will not advance in this organization. You won’t accomplish what you want to accomplish.
You can communicate and you can have great content, but if you don’t build relationships with those people, the stakeholders, the people that are gatekeepers that matter to your being successful, that is going to constrain you, the superstars in my organization, and that I know all over the world, are people that have the ability to both understand content, communicate that content and value the stakeholder relationships that are critical. And if you can do all three of those things, you’ll be successful.
Now, what I fear is that there are a whole bunch of people out there now that are skipping the first step and they’re really focusing on stakeholders and on communication because social media allows them to do that. And everyone has a megaphone now and the guilds are being broken up and that means that they don’t have the content they need.
And you still need to spend most of your early years on content, and you need to continue focusing on content, even as you get to the point that you have the ability to communicate and have the connections because everyone understands if you’re a fraud. I have this company, but I don’t run it because if I didn’t have a CEO, I would have to spend time managing the firm. And I need to spend time working on content. If I’m not reading the research and traveling to the places and spending time with my analysts, I lose the core of who I am and what I do.
But that by itself is not enough, and I also know a lot of former journalists and academics they’re brilliant people that get really agitated because they’re really substantively expert but they think that should be enough and they’re angry that it’s not enough. But you haven’t done the work to communicate effectively and to deconstruct how the system works. And if you don’t do that, frankly you don’t deserve to succeed. No one’s out there just handing out participation awards here, like this is hard. Okay, if you’re born with the parents and the wealth, maybe none of that matters. But for those of us that actually had to build it ourselves, hello, go do it.
It took me like six years of building my firm before I made any money. Why? Because I didn’t have the contacts. I think it was seven years before I got into the Counsel on Foreign Relations, after I applied. Yes, I probably should have gotten in on the basis of my merits, it doesn’t matter, they weren’t just handing out memberships, I had to figure out how to get in. And that’s not just being brilliant, like it’s not enough. I always try to slow down young people who are convinced of their brilliance and think that’s sufficient, it’s really not sufficient.
Be authentic
My public persona is my private persona. I try not to overshare. I’m not going to take a picture of what I had for breakfast. I’m not going to show you the interior design of my house, but I am me. And the reason I’m me is because it makes me happier. I’m not actually doing it for other people. I’m actually doing it for me. It is the way I stay sane.
I write lower case. I also don’t wear a tie. These things are all of a piece. I like my environment to be friendly. I’m not a bad cop, I’m a good cop. I’m a relatively optimistic person, existentially, because I’m kind of surprised we’re even here. That comes through in my public engagement with people.
I don’t punch down because that’s mean, I don’t punch up because that’s usually attention seeking and performative. But I punch sideways a lot, and I particularly punch sideways with people that I like and respect because it’s fun and it builds the relationship and it shows that you actually care about them and think about them. And I like that feeling of kinship and friendship with people. That feels to me like not only a safe place and a healthy place, but a fun place. And for me, a good day is a day that isn’t just intellectually challenging, but is truly enjoyable. So I try to make sure that I have a bunch of that in what I do.
When I, look, I’ve built a company over a quarter of a century. Of course, that company reflects who I am. If it didn’t, there would be something wrong with me. If you’re going to spend more time working than you spend sleeping or eating or with your family, you better love it. And if you’re in a position where you’re actually creating your company and you’re not aligning it to your personality there’s literally something wrong with you, like that feels really dysfunctional psychologically. I do not have that problem. I have others, but I don’t have that one.