From 600+ conversations with the world’s leading thinkers.
In Silicon Valley there's a sense that there are 30 individuals who are 10x more capable than most people, it's like a power law scaling of talent. If a founder has really succeeded and thrived, people think it's because of their brilliance and because they're at this super far-end of the spectrum. As a result, founders get immense leeway, capital rushes toward them and in some ways that's good.
Resilience is the responsibility and opportunity of the community. We can either face it and learn from it or we can pretend it's not happening. We have to explicitly face the fact that resilience is the responsibility of all of us, together.
My first ask in any meeting wasn't for money or to put their name on something; it was simply for a second meeting, an opportunity to show them what we're doing and what we're building.
When I decided to climb Everest, the reason was simply to draw attention to what was happening with the glaciers but also, when I talked about sustainability, it was hard to keep people's attention. You start talking and 5 minutes later, it's an abstract topic. The audience start checking their emails or yawning, and this really frustrated me.
I've been fortunate not to be formally trained in any of these disciplines. I don't know how to play music, nor do I know how to code, but I have a strong sense of what the market wants. Around that, I build a team of people who are skilled at execution.
To understand this better, let's travel back in time, focusing on the evolution of corporate America as an example. The initial major corporations were family businesses, constructed with the intent of longevity and continuity. They were built to be bequeathed, akin to the great establishments in India such as Tata, and even in Japan. The emphasis wasn't merely on scaling to sell, but on nurturing the business to be transferred across generations.
I told them, 'My mom is visiting from Ohio today. If you can look her in the eye and tell her it's impossible to build a place for me to stay on the space station during my mission, then we're done here. If not, we have more to discuss.' They suggested my mom come to dinner instead, and we ended up going to Home Depot together.
I remember writing myself a letter- it's something I encourage women to do today- listing the things they've achieved in their career and personal lives. Before you go into that next important meeting, event or anything outside your comfort zone it's a great tool to give yourself that boost. Women need to be their own cheerleaders and remind themselves of the amazing things they've achieved.
We have this macho-willpower-crap, as if somehow willpower is the answer to everything in life and if someone needs help, it means they don't have the willpower. It's a nonsense.
Most accomplished individuals who continue to work well into their later years seldom wake up thinking solely about the day's earnings. Instead, their motivation lies in pursuing a passion, dedicating their lives to something they genuinely love. For them, money becomes more of a metric—a way to keep score.
The job of an entrepreneur or a competitive leader is to create the conditions that make your organisation the better competitive alternative. All your efforts should be directed towards marshalling and channelling resources—human and intellectual capital—towards being the best competitive alternative.
I think that if you care about something, then you have a mission. Knowing that, and that your specific set of skills and experience brings something special to that mission, are key.