I’ve been saving these for a while — good stuff from Reid Hoffman via Casnocha:
16 Lessons Learned (Among Many!)
-People are complicated and flawed. Root for their better angels.
-The best way to get a busy person’s attention: Help them.
-Keep it simple and move fast when conceiving strategies and making decisions.
-Every weakness has a corresponding strength.
-The values that actually shape a culture have both upside and downside.
-Understand someone’s “alpha” tendencies and how that drives them.
-Self-deception watch: even those who say they don’t need or want flattery, sometimes still need it.
-Be clear on your specific level of engagement on a project.
-Sketch three possible outcomes for a project: the likely upside, likely ‘regular’, and likely downside scenarios.
-A key to making good partnerships great: Identify and emphasize any misaligned incentives.
-Reason is the steering wheel. Emotion is the gas pedal.
-Trade up on trust even if it means you trade down on competency.
-Tell the truth. Don’t reflexively kiss ass to powerful people.
-Respect the shadow power.
-Make people genuine partners and they’ll work harder.
-Final: The people around you change you in myriad unconscious ways
Source: Casnocha
