I wouldn't be drunk on your power. I think the last thing you want to do is be like the young [__] that's like all of a sudden telling everyone what to do. So I think the first thing to do is probably to have a coffee with your entire team. Take them out. Get their impression of what's going on. How can you help them be more successful? And you know, just bring it. Show up 10 minutes early to everything. Leave 10 minutes after everyone else. Show you're willing to roll up your sleeves. I'm a big fan. I think there's two management styles — or two leadership styles, I should say. There's the inspiring leader who gets up and gives a speech and tells people what to do and wow, isn't this person compelling? And then there's the player coach. I've always been the inspiring leader, and that is I like getting up at all hands and talking about the business and I'm articulate and trying to motivate people. That only lasts so long because after a while people start hearing the same stories and get a little bit cynical and get sick of the kind of rah-rah.
In today's office hours, we talk about how to handle your first senior role at work, losing friends as you get older, and whether to follow your passions or follow the money. I have not seen or heard these questions. Question one. Our first question comes from Jake who emailed us. Hi, Scott. I recently landed my first senior role in a large company. I'm 28 years old and this is a huge increase to the level of responsibility I'm used to. The company has 31 significant businesses it owns and operates. My job will be both to develop the partnerships that make the businesses possible and to drum up new business. What advice do you have for young people who land their first senior role? What is the best approach I can take for the first few months to ensure long-term success in the job?
Well, typically most people who get a promotion have already started doing the job. I've said if you want to be promoted, start doing that job. Start behaving as if you are doing that job. So my guess is you're already — you know, my guess is the people who made the promotion are smart. So what advice? Be humble. Meet with the people who are now reporting to you and ask them, you know, check in with them. Ask how you can be helpful to them. Do a really good job. Go overboard in public circles of praising your team and deflecting credit to members of your team. Be seen as like a good person who's empathetic and who wants them to win. Meet with them a lot. I wouldn't be drunk on your power. I think the last thing you want to do is be like the young [__] that's like all of a sudden telling everyone what to do. So I think the first thing to do is probably to have a coffee with your entire team. Take them out. Get their impression of what's going on. How can you help them be more successful? And you know, just bring it. Show up 10 minutes early to everything. Leave 10 minutes after everyone else. Show you're willing to roll up your sleeves. I'm a big fan. I think there's two management styles — or two leadership styles, I should say. There's the inspiring leader who gets up and gives a speech and tells people what to do and wow, isn't this person compelling? And then there's the player coach. I've always been the inspiring leader, and that is I like getting up at all hands and talking about the business and I'm articulate and trying to motivate people. That only lasts so long because after a while people start hearing the same stories and get a little bit cynical and get sick of the kind of rah-rah.
The second — player coach — actually the woman Kathryn Dillon, who runs Prof G Media, is a great example of a player coach leader. And that is, if she doesn't like the edit you did on one of these podcasts, or one of the producers does on one of these podcasts, she'll typically go through the edit with them and show them what to do. When we've worked together about 15 years, when we were in an office space in Greenwich Village, I constantly saw her when she was editing videos or working on a report or doing charts. She was our creative director back then. She would take her chair and pull it next to the person and be next to that person for an hour. She wouldn't come back and say, 'This is wrong. This is wrong and this is wrong. Fix it.' She would sit down and say, 'This is how I think we can make this better,' and would teach them. A player coach. I actually think that's a much more valuable means of leadership. So try and be a player coach, and that is where you see opportunities to help the people working with and/or reporting to you. Sit down with them and try and upskill them and give them the sense that you're going to make it more likely that they'll win. And I would also just, in meetings, deflect — again, deflect credit, let other people speak, try and listen, just be very thoughtful. And then for three or six months, just show that you, you know, you've come to play and work very hard. I guess that's about it. And don't be afraid to check in with your boss and say, 'Hey, it's been three months, six months. How am I doing? Where can I improve?' Congratulations. That's exciting for you. It's what you call a good problem.
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Question number two.
