As we continue our 42 Rules of Leadership, by Google’s SVP of Product Strategy, Jonathan Rosenberg, we move from Communication to Culture.
- Ditch the pecking order – You shouldn’t be able to figure out a company’s org chart by looking at their product. A good leader cuts through the ego and picks the best opinion.
- Avoid the HPPO – HPPO stand for “highest paid person’s opinion”. When you have a problem or a question, don’t naturally accept the HPPO in the room. Title means nothing. If someone’s experience has value, they should be able to frame a winning argument.
- Crush bureaucracy of all kinds – The most important attribute in organizations is the ability to get out of the way.
- Crowded is creative – There’s a certain electricity that comes from working in a crowded, bustling space. Offices should be designed for energy and interactions, not for isolation and status.
- You need strategies and tactics – Many people don’t know the difference between strategies and tactics, or they think they only need one or the other. Not so. A winning strategy is made up of the tactics that produce a victory. There are people that are great at strategy and those that are great at tactics. That’s why we have teams.
- On teams, think small – Empower small teams, and they can often do more than a big one. Rosenberg quotes famed anthropologist Margaret Mead: “Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world.”
- Show up – True for everyone, and more for leaders: ” Working from home is a malignant, metastasizing cancer,” Rosenberg says. “Ban it.
- Be original – “Never ever suggest copying your competitor. Their products generally suck, and you should be able to do better.”
- Hope is not a plan.
- Trust but verify – The primary job of a leader is judgment and communication. But judgment and communication are only as good as the data or truth on which it’s based.
Don’t forget as a leader, everyone looks to you to define the culture, and everything you do and say, speaks to that culture, always. So walk the walk and talk the talk.
Make it a great day!