Phyl Terry: observation

Transcript context

…Please. That's so great. So Bradley Horowitz joined Google in 2008 as director of product. He had come from Yahoo, but he was initially intimidated. He had a weekly meeting with Jonathan Rosenberg, who was the SVP of product, with Susan Wojcicki. Susan just passed away tragically. Absolutely fabulous person by the way, if people don't don't know her, go learn about her. Marissa Mayer, and also another director of product named Sundar Pichai, right? Who is now the CEO of Google. And Bradley, he was nervous, he didn't know how to be in that meeting. One of the things I tell people, when you ask for help, use your emotional intelligence, use your product council if you're in a job or your job search council, if you're looking to get feedback on, am I thinking about this well? Because I don't want you to ask the wrong people for help. Someone who's going to take advantage of that. You have to be thoughtful about this. He was picking up vibes from Sundar that he was very approachable, that he lacked guile. Bradley told me Sundar just made it easy for him to say, "Hey, after one of these meetings, could I ask you a couple of questions?" And he says, first question he has is, "Is this meeting, is it just me or is this meeting intense?" Sundar was like, "Oh, no, no, this is intense. I feel the same way you do and I've been here for a couple of years." So they start to build a bond, and that's a form of asking for help. It's like you're checking, is your experience the same as mine or am I missing something? And then Horowitz who felt relieved at this point, felt more trust with Sundar, decided to ask him another question and this question. And by the way, now Bradley, he's kind of embarrassed that he asked this question, although I'm really happy that he did, I told him this. He asked this question, he basically said, " I haven't been here very long, but you, Sundar, you strike me." "I haven't been here very long, but you, Sundar, you strike me as a really thoughtful person and great leader. Why is your remit just working on a toolbar for Marissa?" Whoa. Heard the wrong way, that could sound like an insult or something, rather than an honest attempt to understand the culture of Google and how it operates. But again, he had trust with Sundar at this point. And it was an open and vulnerable question, and it was great. Pitch I basically said, "Listen, I don't worry about title or scope or any of that. I've really been focused on just doing good work and letting the right things happen. That's the culture of Google." I will tell you that that was more true of the culture of Google in a way that's not so... You have to be a little more politically aware at Google today. But the point is not so much the exact question he asked, but that he was open and vulnerable. He was thoughtful about who he asked, and it really made a difference in terms of his entry into Google and eventually led him to the VP of Product role. he asked, but that he was open and vulnerable. He was thoughtful about who he asked, and it really made a difference in terms of his entry into Google and eventually led him to the VP of Product role. Of course, Sundar came into the CEO role down the road, but that's what I'm talking about, right? He was part of the product councils, Bradley. You need to have that sounding board so you can be thoughtful about... I teach people how to map and figure out who their allies are and their blockers and play what I call positive politics. That's all in my next book, Never Lead Alone, just to give a little. Don't worry, at least a year away. When I write a book, I do... I did 400 drafts of Never Search Alone. I had a couple of thousand people help me with it and 200 people read it and use it. I had 2,500 comments and 400 drafts. I like to really dock through this stuff. I'm doing the same with Never Lead Alone. That's how I know it works, by the way. I'm a prouded person, Lenny. I mean, that's what we do.…

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