leadership skills

So you want to lead your team toward innovation. Does that require that you know where you’re going? Not according to Linda Hill.

Hill is a professor of business administration at Harvard Business School whose research focuses on leadership and how organizations achieve innovation. When it comes to generating breakthrough ideas, Hill says it’s less about a creative vision and more about stepping into the unknown. “Innovation [is] not about an individual coming up with a new idea,” she says. “Instead, innovation is the result of the collaboration of people with diverse expertise and diverse perspectives coming together, being able to collaborate, being able to experiment together and learn.”

In this episode of Think Fast, Talk Smart, Hill and host Matt Abrahams discuss how leaders can foster cultures and environments where innovation thrives — where teams use communication and collaboration to “co-create the future.”

Episode Reference Links:

• Harvard Business School Profile: Website 
• Linda's books: 
• Collective Genius: The Art and Practice of Leading Innovation 
• Being the Boss, with a New Preface: The 3 Imperatives for Becoming a Great Leader 
• Becoming a Manager: How New Managers Master the Challenges of Leadership 
• Linda’s article on the value of collaboration & conflict: Collective Genius 
• Communicator Linda admires: Vineet Nayar + Employees First, Customers Second 

Connect:

• Email Questions & Feedback >>> thinkfast@stanford.edu
• Episode Transcripts >>> Think Fast Talk Smart Website
• Newsletter Signup + English Language Learning >>> FasterSmarter.io
• Think Fast Talk Smart >>> LinkedIn Page,  Instagram, YouTube
• Matt Abrahams >>> LinkedIn
• Stanford GSB >>> LinkedIn & Twitter

Chapters:

(00:00:00) Introduction

Host Matt Abrahams introduces guest Linda Hill, an expert in leadership development and innovation from Harvard Business School.

(00:01:10) Leading for Innovation vs. Leading for Change

Fundamental differences between leading for innovation and for change, and the unique challenges required for innovation.

(00:02:53) Creating a Culture of Innovation

The essential components of a culture that promotes innovation, with focus on communication and collaboration.

(00:06:21) The Role of Shared Values and Purpose in Innovation

Shared values, and the distinction between vision and purpose within innovative organizations.

(00:09:43) Communication's Impact on Innovation

How effective communication facilitates innovation, including strategies for engaging diverse teams and the significance of storytelling.

(00:14:30) Conflict and Creativity in Collaborative Environments

The value of conflict in innovation, and how managing disagreements and diverse viewpoints can lead to more creative solutions.

(00:16:06) The Final Three Questions

Linda Hill shares practices to foster collaboration with others, a communicator she admires, and her ingredients for successful communication.

(00:19:54) Conclusion

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Ethan Evans is a writer, career coach, course instructor, and retired VP at Amazon. During his 15 years at Amazon, he helped invent Prime Video, Amazon Video, the Amazon Appstore, Prime Gaming (formerly Twitch Prime), and Twitch Commerce. Prior to Amazon, Ethan spent 12 years in technical leadership roles at several East Coast startups. He writes a newsletter, Level Up, which publishes candid career advice and has a growing community of ambitious professionals to connect with. Ethan also offers a range of Leadership Development Courses via live online classes and on-demand courses. In this episode, we discuss:

• The Magic Loop framework: a five-step process to grow your career

• A handful of reasons why people get stuck in their career growth

• Advice on how to break out of a career plateau

• How to cultivate inventiveness in your work

• How to stand out in interviews

• A personal story of failing Jeff Bezos and lessons learned

• Contrarian opinions on the return-to-office movement and doing business on a handshake

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Brought to you by Sidebar—Accelerate your career by surrounding yourself with extraordinary peers | Sprig—Build a product people love | Arcade Software—Create effortlessly beautiful demos in minutes

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Find the full transcript at: https://www.lennyspodcast.com/taking-control-of-your-career-ethan-evans-amazon/

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Where to find Ethan Evans:

• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ethanevansvp/

• Substack: https://levelupwithethanevans.substack.com/

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Where to find Lenny:

• Newsletter: https://www.lennysnewsletter.com

• X: https://twitter.com/lennysan

• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/lennyrachitsky/

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In this episode, we cover:

(00:00) Ethan’s background

(04:25) The Magic Loop

(08:31) The goal of the Magic Loop

(10:59) Clarifications on the framework

(12:46) Success stories

(17:22) The importance and effectiveness of the Magic Loop

(19:01) A quick summary of the steps in the Magic Loop

(21:46) What if you’re not pursuing a promotion?

(23:09) How to break out of a career plateau

(28:52) How to become systematically inventive

(36:04) Interview advice and how to stand out

(40:43) A story of failing Jeff Bezos

(50:31) Lessons learned from that failure

(57:30) What Ethan would have done differently

(01:00:35) Amazon’s leadership principles

(01:08:52) Contrarian corner: Returning to the office vs. staying remote

(01:10:39) Contrarian corner: Doing business on a handshake

(01:11:52) Lightning round

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Referenced:

• The Magic Loop: https://www.lennysnewsletter.com/p/the-magic-loop

• SDE levels: https://www.masaischool.com/blog/understanding-sde-levels-sde-1-vs-sde-2-vs-sde-3-differences/

• What Got You Here Won’t Get You There: How Successful People Become Even More Successful: https://www.amazon.com/What-Got-Here-Wont-There/dp/1401301304

• Thomas Edison’s quote: https://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/thomas_a_edison_109928

• Jeff Bezos: Amazon and Blue Origin | Lex Fridman Podcast: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DcWqzZ3I2cY

• Unpacking Amazon’s unique ways of working | Bill Carr (author of Working Backwards): https://www.lennyspodcast.com/unpacking-amazons-unique-ways-of-working-bill-carr-author-of-working-backwards/

• Working Backwards: Insights, Stories, and Secrets from Inside Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Working-Backwards-Insights-Stories-Secrets/dp/1250267595

• Jeff Wilke on X: https://twitter.com/jeffawilke

• Andy Jassy on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/andy-jassy-8b1615/

• Werner Vogels on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/wernervogels/

• Amazon’s Silk browser explained: https://www.androidpolice.com/amazon-silk-browser-explainer/

• Chickens and pigs: https://www.scrum.org/resources/chickens-and-pigs

• 58% of tech employees experience imposter syndrome. Here’s how to overcome it: https://medium.com/wearefutureworks/58-of-tech-employees-experience-imposter-syndrome-heres-how-to-overcome-it-78172d8a2258

• Jeff Bezos to exec after product totally flopped: ‘You can’t, for one minute, feel bad’: https://www.cnbc.com/2020/05/22/jeff-bezos-why-you-cant-feel-bad-about-failure.html

• Amazon’s leadership principles: https://www.amazon.jobs/content/en/our-workplace/leadership-principles

• Sam Altman on X: https://twitter.com/sama

• Decisive: How to Make Better Choices in Life and Work: https://www.amazon.com/Decisive-Make-Better-Choices-Life/dp/0307956393

• Leadership and Self-Deception: Getting Out of the Box: https://www.amazon.com/Leadership-Self-Deception-Getting-Out-Box/dp/1523097809

• The Almanack of Naval Ravikant: A Guide to Wealth and Happiness: https://www.amazon.com/Almanack-Naval-Ravikant-Wealth-Happiness/dp/1544514212/

• Angel list: https://venture.angellist.com/naval/syndicate

• Naval Ravikant on X: https://twitter.com/naval

• 1923 on Paramount+: https://www.paramountplus.com/shows/1923/

• Yellowstone on Paramount+: https://www.paramountnetwork.com/shows/yellowstone

• Chuckit! dog toys: https://www.chuckit-toys.co.uk/

• Luke 12:48: https://law.utk.edu/2016/05/10/to-whom-much-is-given-much-will-be-required

• The Challenger space shuttle disaster: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Space_Shuttle_Challenger_disaster

• Ethan’s popular course on Maven: https://maven.com/ethan-evans/break-through-to-executive

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Production and marketing by https://penname.co/. For inquiries about sponsoring the podcast, email podcast@lennyrachitsky.com.

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Lenny may be an investor in the companies discussed.

Patrick Bet-David immigrated to America at twelve years old, when his parents fled Iran as refugees during the Iranian Revolution. After high school, Patrick joined the U.S. military and served in the 101st Airborne before starting a business career in the financial services industry. At age 30, he founded PHP Agency, an insurance marketing organization with 66 agents. He grew the firm to 40,000 agents before making a multi-nine-figure exit. 

A serial entrepreneur, Bet-David founded Valuetainment, which became the #1 YouTube channel on entrepreneurship with nearly a billion views, and expanded into a media, consulting, and production company. He hosts the PBD Podcast, the #1 business podcast on Spotify. He lives in South Florida with his wife and four children.

Buy his new book Choose Your Enemies Wisely: Business Planning for the Audacious Few

In this episode you will learn

• Patrick’s journey to his first major financial milestone, including the story behind his first $1,000,000 and the pivotal decision that significantly contributed to his success.
• How to effectively analyze the past year's experiences and data for a productive outlook, setting up a foundation for a successful 2024.
• Patrick’s strategies for rebuilding success from scratch, offering practical advice and a step-by-step comeback plan for those starting anew.
• The five 'Unworthy Enemies' that drain energy, and how identifying a 'Worthy Enemy' can be a source of motivation and vitality.
• Insights on successful investment strategies, including his top five personal investment choices and the reasons behind their selection, as well as their outcomes.

For more information go to www.lewishowes.com/1547

For more Greatness text PODCAST to +1 (614) 350-3960

More SOG episodes we think you’ll love:

Rob Dial – https://link.chtbl.com/1516-pod

Dr Joe Dispenza – https://link.chtbl.com/1494-pod

Inky Johnson – https://link.chtbl.com/1483-pod

Few figures have shaped the way we think about business over the past 20 years more than Reid Hoffman. The co-founder of LinkedIn and former PayPal executive is also a wildly successful venture capitalist, author and podcaster, but he didn’t get to his place as a Silicon Valley giant without making plenty of crucial decisions. On this episode Hoffman discusses lessons learned from decades spent as a hands-on operator and investor, including what he knows about scaling that others miss, the three principles of decision making, how to constantly evolve your learning pattern, and why the best leaders adapt to the crisis at hand.

Hoffman is perhaps best known for co-founding the professional networking site LinkedIn, which he started in 2003 and later sold for a reported $26.2 billion to Microsoft in 2016. Prior to founding LinkedIn, Hoffman was one of the first employees at PayPal, where he served as an executive vice president. He is also a partner at the venture capital firm Greylock Partners, an investor in Airbnb, the author of a series of successful business books including Masters of Scale, and the host of the podcast of the same name.

Want to hear the entire episode with Reid Hoffman? Become a member today! Members get early access, hand-edited transcripts, member-only episodes, and so much more.

Learn more here: https://fs.blog/membership/

Every Sunday our Brain Food newsletter shares timeless insights and ideas that you can use at work and home. Add it to your inbox: https://fs.blog/newsletter/

Follow Shane on Twitter at: https://twitter.com/ShaneAParrish

Note: the recording of this episode starts a minute or two into the show.

• Ali recommends: The Hard Thing about Hard Things  by Ben Horowitz [0:18]
• Ben recommends: High Output Management by Andy Grove [4:36]
• Marc recommends: Who Really Matters: The Core Group Theory of Power, Privilege, and Success by Art Kleiner [10:48]
• Best read for enterprise sales: Power Base Selling by Jim Holden, et al [13:06]
• Microsoft, Google, government contracts, and politicized workplaces [16:28]
• Marc recommends: The Tyranny of Structurelessness by Jo Freeman [29:32]
• Ali recommends: Radical Candor by Kim Scott [33:19]
• Ben recommends: No Rules Rules: Netflix and the Culture of Reinvention  by Erin Meyer and Reed Hastings [44:19]
• Ben recommends: Working Backwards: Insights, Stories, and Secrets from Inside Amazon by Colin Bryar [50:28]
• How they are approaching the return to work and remote work [53:00]

Boss Talk is the Clubhouse show where a16z cofounder Ben Horowitz and Ali Ghodsi, the Founder/CEO of Databricks, discuss CEO stuff, leadership stuff, management stuff... boss stuff. Live every Tuesday 5-6pm on Clubhouse. 

For more a16z Clubhouse shows, follow the a16z Club on Clubhouse or visit www.a16z.com/clubhouse.