Two Letters
Why this is true, is because leadership rests so heavily on integrity. The simplest and most straightforward definition I heard of integrity is simply “doing what you say”: so simple, and also helpful. And yet, it’s such a rare thing in the world that when we actually DO see it (e.g. seeing the picture of Mr LKY’s super simple basement, or seeing how bare my meditation teacher’s cave is), it is HUGELY inspiring.
And that inspiration is probably 90% of the power and job of leadership.
A huge part of doing what you say, is about living one’s values: to walk the talk, not just talk the walk.
And talk is cheap, until you have to put your money where your mouth is. The real test of integrity is when you HAVE to do something, often against your will. Everyone can be generous with food when they’re well-fed, but true generosity can really only be seen in a famine: same concept.
And so, I have a small assignment for you: read these two CEO letters. And let’s discuss the similarities/differences afterwards.
I should caveat that my thoughts are just based on my personal experiences and views, based on incomplete information (except what’s published). While I don’t accept the view that “there’s no right, there’s no wrong” (this type of relativism is a slippery slope and is just BAD laziness), I do accept that the “right solution set” tends to be broader than a singular answer.
The two letters:
https://www.onefc.com/news/a-letter-from-chatri-sityodtong/
https://news.airbnb.com/a-message-from-co-founder-and-ceo-brian-chesky/
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(Please read the two letters before proceeding below)
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So what are your first impressions of both letters? I’ll share my thoughts below, happy to hear your thoughts in comments.
The similarities between both letters are very superficial.
Both letters are by large company CEOs facing layoffs.
Both are letters that are published on their respective websites.
Both give generous benefits to their employees.
Both try to be empathic and appreciative: only one letter succeeded at that imo.
The differences are huge.
My first thought on reading Chatri’s letter was that of confusion. This paragraph made absolutely no sense to me:
“It is one of the most heart-wrenching decisions I have ever had to make in life. On the one hand, ONE has a strong balance sheet with a 9-digit war chest after today’s new funding announcement. It puts us in the perfect position to continue aggressively building Asia’s largest global sports media property. On the other hand, these extraordinary times for the world require unusual prudence to protect our company and to ensure its longevity for many years to come. With the decision to sharpen our focus around core strategic priorities, ONE will undergo a 20% reduction in total worldwide headcount.”
If you have a strong balance sheet and a 9-digit war chest from new funding, AND your first step with that is to cut your headcount by 20%, er, why is there a need to reduce your headcount again…? That was confusing.
And why did you increase the headcount in the first place? How come nobody got penalized for that decision’s consequences?
And as someone who had been retrenched twice in my life, I think my PTSD came back as the smell of bullshit wafted into my nostrils. It felt like deja vu: “Thank you for everything from the bottom of my heart”, “Please know that I appreciate everything you have given to our dream. “, “You are all superstars.” etc. etc. He could have written “it’s not you, it’s me”, and that would have been more honest and accurate.
What he did and how he did it is way more telling than everything else he wrote. He basically has said that “people are less important to me than a IP heavy, asset light, global platform business”. Or rather, people are less important than IP to him.
Even if he had built a team of missionaries, with this letter, I’m willing to bet money that they have all turned into mercenaries from this moment on. From now on, it’s going to be a clear CBA calculation with the personal interest at heart. From now on, you can be sure that nobody under him will be willing to put 100%, and sure as hell nobody will be willing to take a bullet for him.
In contrast, Chesky’s letter has to be one of the most empathic letters I’ve ever read. He talked about the sadness, explained clearly the process he took to arrive at the decision (no mention of the recent funding they raised to survive), and everything, EVERYTHING is all about “how to support the people who will have to leave”. No “future-proof”, no “streamlining”, no “sharpening core strategic priorities”, but “A more focused business”, “How we approached reductions”, “Process for making reductions”. Plain language that your kids might also understand!
For me, the biggest surprise was this: We are dropping the one-year cliff on equity for everyone we’ve hired in the past year so that everyone departing, regardless of how long they have been here, is a shareholder. Additionally, everyone leaving is eligible for the May 25 vesting date.
That was totally unnecessary, but as a gesture, it was super generous and smart. You can be damn sure that this over generosity would have largely negated any negativity or ill-will on the part of people leaving. Heck, I’m even willing to bet that some of them would jump back to Airbnb, given the chance.
But more than any single measure, it was the coherence of everything, that seems to point to an underlying motivation driven by kindness and empathy, not greed nor ego. It felt like a good person who is focused on people first, who has to make a terrible decision, but has tried to mitigate the human cost as much as possible within his power. And he didn’t just do it himself: he also opened the door for his colleagues to help those leaving too: Employee Offered Alumni Support — We are encouraging all remaining employees to opt-in to a program to assist departing teammates find their next role.
Again, I put on my retrenched-person hat, and felt “wow”ed. Those folks from Airbnb were quite lucky to have crossed paths with a person like that.
But that’s just my two cents.
Coming back to you, what are your takeaways? And what does this mean for your leadership journey: what would you want to emulate or not?
Updated date 4 May 2020