Trillion Dollar Coach
Eric Schmidt

Summary

We often underestimate the value of coaching. This is a fantastic book from Eric Schmidt, the former CEO of Google, who talked about the story of Bill Campbell, who was a coach to some of the biggest names in technology and helped generate over a trillion dollars in value. Great management book for anyone that's leading others.

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Notes

The higher you climb, the more your success depends on making other people successful

Build safety, clarity, meaning, dependability and impact into teams

The smart creative: someone who combines technical depth w business savy and creative flair

Teams acting as communities is critical to success

The path to success is to form high performing teams and give them the resources and freedom to do great things

Your title makes you a manager, your people make you a leader

Great managers listen and pay attention. Make sure they feel valued by you

People are the foundation of a company’s success

The top priority of any manager is the well-being and success of his/her people

Institute an informal trip report: let everyone talk about their lives when you have meetings start

Have a structure for 1-1s and take time to prepare for them, as they are the best way to help people be more effective and grow

Believe in striving for the best idea, not consensus

When the best idea doesn’t emerge, it’s the managers job to make the decision

Do something, even if it’s wrong. Make the best decision for the company and move on

Lead based on first principles, the truths that are the foundation for the company or product and help guide the decisions from there

Do not tolerate an aberrant genius putting himself always above the team

Compensation isn’t just about economic value of money but emotional value

Compensating well demonstrates love and respect and ties people strongly to the goals of the company

If you have the right product, for the right market at the right time, go as fast as you can

Innovation is where the crazy people have stature

If you have to let people go, be generous, treat them well and celebrate their accomplishments

Send out financial and operational details of board meetings prior to the meeting and expect questions

Share the good and the bad with the board

Trust in your team and CEO. Keep your word, be loyal, act with integrity and discretion

Only coach the coachable

Build trust with those around you and never break it

If people feel secure and that they can trust you, they won’t leave

‘A coach is someone who tells you what you don’t want to heard, who has you see what you don’t want to see so you can be who you have always known you be’ - Tom Landry

Honesty, humility, willingness to persevere and work hard and a constant openness to learning are what makes a person coachable

Listen to people with your full and undivided attention and ask questions to get to the real issue

Be relentlessly honest and candid, couple negative feedback with caring. 

Give feedback ASAP and if the feedback is negative, do it privately

Don’t tell people what to do, offer stories and help guide their decisions

Believe in people more than they believe in themselves and push them to be courageous

People are most effective when they’re completely themselves

Work the team, then the problem: ensure the right team is in place to work on it

When assessing people, look for smarts, hard work, integrity and grit, empathy, a team-first attitude and the ability to learn fast

Peer relationships are critical so seek opportunities to pair people up

Winning depends on having the best team and the best teams have more women

Identify the biggest problem, bring it front and centre and solve it

Always win right, with commitment, teamwork and integrity

When things are going bad, teams look for even more loyalty, commitment and decisiveness from their leaders

Listen, observe and fill the communication gaps b/w people

Teams are better when you know and care about the people

To care about people, you have to care about people

Ask the questions about the family, learn people’s names then ask more questions, look at the pictures and above all else, care

Cheer demonstrably for people and their success

Be generous with your time, connections and other resources

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