Hard-Earned Leadership Lessons from 35 Years on the Razor’s Edge

Over the past 35 years, my efforts to make reliable health information and care more accessible have been rewarding but challenging. Thanks to the talent and dedication of many teammates, we have had a positive impact on our nation’s hidebound and inefficient healthcare delivery system, but progress has been hard fought and certainly not in a straight line.

Nevertheless, I learned a few things along the way about leading during times that have become increasingly unpredictable, and about leading companies that are trying to break the mold without knowing exactly what the new one should look like. I don’t claim that any of these leadership lessons are original, but they have been battle-tested and worked for me.

1. Make it Mission Driven – I was fortunate to find my passion in healthcare, and my companies’ missions to make it more accessible and affordable kept me going through thick and thin and enabled me to attract great people to join in this quest. Though strong financial results are always important, they are generally the byproduct of team members who are proud of what they do and are committed to a cause that transcends the size of the company’s EBITDA.
2. It’s All About the Team – Your #1 job should be to find good people and help them grow. No matter how talented and committed you are, you will not achieve anything of consequence unless you surround yourself with individuals who are more capable in certain areas and ways than you are. Sometimes these individuals already exist inside or outside of your organization, but frequently you must find people with potential and coach them. This usually means you sometimes have to let them fail rather than jumping in to do their jobs when they may be falling short. This is hard for type-A personalities to accept, but you must do it or your company will never have the human capital it needs to grow beyond your own limited ceiling.
3. Servant Leadership Works – To attract and retain talented and motivated team members, you must strive to serve them. Much has been written about “servant leadership,” so I won’t repeat it here, but I can say without reservation that it works. If your teammates (never “employees”) know you are there to support them and have their backs – as long as they are honest and hard-working – this will create the kind of discretionary effort required for companies to succeed against all odds. I’m not saying you don’t need to define the vision, drive for results, or make the tough calls, but your main job is to set aggressive but realistic goals, make sure your direct reports have the resources they need to achieve them, and then monitor their efforts and progress in a supportive manner.
4. Give the Credit to Others – Part of this is making sure they (and others in the organization) get most of the credit for goal achievement, even if you played an important part in making it happen. Someone once said that there is no limit to what you can accomplish if you don’t care who gets the credit, and I have generally found this to be true. Money is important, but for many people, recognition is equally if not more important, so you need to take advantage of every opportunity to provide it.
5. Take the Blame for Yourself – Conversely, you need to own whatever didn’t work or isn’t working. Jocko Willink and Leif Babin elaborate on this very well in their book, “Extreme Ownership.” If you want to be an effective leader, you must give all the credit to others and take all the blame for yourself. If your ego is too fragile to handle this, your chances of success will be diminished.
6. Embrace All Obstacles – Since things will frequently not go as planned, particularly in early-stage companies for which there is no proven business model, good leaders must learn to embrace all obstacles. In his good book, “The Obstacle is the Way.” Ryan Holiday stresses the importance of seeing every obstacle as an opportunity for improvement. Gone are the days when leaders could simply “plan the work and work the plan.” As Mike Tyson said, “Everyone has a plan before they get punched in the mouth.” Good leaders expect to be punched in the mouth, and rather than letting it get them down, focus on what they can control and use obstacles as fuel to take their businesses to the next level.
7. Pressure is a Privilege – Remember that, as Billy Jean King said, “Pressure is a privilege.” When you’re feeling sorry for yourself because it seems like the weight of the world is on your shoulders, it helps to remember that it is a privilege and a responsibility to others that you are in a position to make a difference.
8. Don’t Take Shortcuts – The challenges of running any business in these turbulent times can put tremendous personal pressure on leaders and tempt them to take shortcuts – financially and in ways they interact with others. But good leaders don’t succumb to these temptations. As General Norman Schwarzkopf said, “The truth of the matter is that you always know the right thing to do. The hard part is doing it.” It’s a simple statement but an accurate one. I can’t remember a single ethical dilemma I faced when I didn’t know in my heart how I should handle it.
9. Put in the Time – Good leaders are not only known for their integrity, but also their work ethic. It seems obvious, but I have always found that you must work extra hard to accomplish anything of consequence and have a tendency to never take “no” for an answer. I read an interview many years ago with one of my few fellow Harvard graduates who was playing in the NFL. Harvard doesn’t give athletic scholarships so it doesn’t necessarily attract the nation’s best athletes, but this guy had become a successful, if undersized linebacker. When the interviewer asked him how he had made it in the NFL in spite of not having the college pedigree and physical attributes of a typical professional football player, he responded that he had a sign in his bedroom that read, “Let no one outwork you today.” Hard work is how you beat the odds and set the right example for your teammates.
10. Take Care of Your Health – You’re not going to be a good leader, though, if you are so focused on your job that it impacts your health. You must have an outlet to blow off steam in a positive way, and for me this has been regular exercise. I have been accused of taking it to an extreme, but even at my relatively advanced age I generally get at least two hours of vigorous exercise every day, almost always in the early morning before the workday begins and (in the old days) before my family awakened.
11. Stay Close to Your Family – Another important aspect of work-life balance is staying close to your family and non-work friends. This is not easy when you are pulling 80-hour work weeks and spending most of your time with co-workers. The danger is not only that you have little time and energy left over for anyone else, but also that being in the bunker with co-workers can strengthen these relationships to the point that they may seem more important than any others. While I have made many lifelong friends through work, my family members and non-work friends have provided a combination of dependable sustenance, pride and joy, healthy distraction, and a sense of purpose not available elsewhere. However, this only happens if you consciously nurture non-work relationships, so you must make time and be present for them.
12. Don’t Ride the Roller Coaster – You cannot allow yourself to ride the business roller coaster, or to make others ride it with you. Your business will experience good times and bad ones, but your emotional well-being should not be tethered to them. Furthermore, part of your job as a leader is to shield your co-workers and family members from high-level uncertainties so they can focus on what they can control and not spend needless energy worrying about the future. Not that you should withhold important information from people who are close to you, but you must be strong enough to absorb the body blows unless it is clear that exposing others to them can help you manage through a tough situation. On the other hand, it is important to share good news when things go well, and as I said before, use these moments to recognize others for their contributions.

I wouldn’t trade my mission-driven, entrepreneurial experience for anything, in spite of the speed bumps, potholes, and a few near-death business experiences. This is partially because I have been able to make a small dent in our healthcare system, achieved some financial success, and worked with so many great people. It’s also because overcoming challenges along the way has made me a better, stronger person, and a more effective leader.

Written by Web Golinkin.

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