8 Lessons from 8 Years at Google
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What "character" will you be in 2024?
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Onto the debrief
Saying goodbye
My broader team at Google recently went through a reorg and because of this, two colleagues I managed for 2 years had to transfer to another team.
During our last 1:1 conversation, one of them said,
Jeff, I never told you this but whenever someone asks about you (since you are a known Youtuber), I tell them you’re a great manager as well!
Feeling touched, I thanked her and jokingly asked her what exactly makes me great (apart from my natural charisma, charming smile, hilarious jokes…)
She thought about it for a while and shrugged, “I guess a bunch of things. But I personally like how you always give it to us straight and never sugarcoat anything with corporate-speak. Other managers always try to be politically correct but you’re just direct and transparent. I hope that never changes.”
Having “good” character
The above conversation reminded me of this amazing quote from Derek Sivers:
Now, I’m not equating “being direct and transparent” with being a person of “good character” (sometimes I can be way too direct 😂), but my teammate’s answer really hit home because I’ve always prided myself as a no-fluff, no-bs kinda guy.
As stupid as it might sound to some of you, this is something I’ve been grappling with a lot lately because I noticed that the higher you move up in the corporate world (especially in tech companies like Google), the more “careful” you need to be with what you say.
On one hand, I understand it's a "necessary evil" of the corporate world, but on the other, I never want to be untrue to myself.
Looking ahead to 2024
Apologies for such an introspective (and self-indulgent) email but I hope this story will serve as a reminder for me to continue “being me” in 2024.
What about you? What kind of “character” do you want to be known for in 2024?
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