🔑#1 - On Great Leaders

This post makes me think of a famous Warren Buffett quote:

The manager of an already high‐cost operation frequently is resourceful in finding new ways to add to overhead, while the manager of a tightly‐run operation usually continues to find methods to curtail costs, even when his costs are well below those of his competitors.

The best leaders will track each expense and aggressively decrease their operating costs every year. This is a relentless march that never stops. There is no such a thing as “we are getting the best possible efficiency” on our dollar.

You can recognize this quality in a leader in the first 60-days you work with them.

They will gloat to you how they analyzed every expense, and boast openly and regularly about something that seems like a small number of savings relative to their operation. That’s because there’s no such a thing as an expense that’s “too small”. If you’re a cost-efficient leader, you question every expense and you press your team for better prices at every turn.

Keep an eye out for these types of leaders, they will transform your organization.

🔑#2 - You’re Responsible For Your Own Health

I’ve learned a tough lesson a few times that I’d like to share with you. Hopefully, you’ll avoid my mistakes.

When I started my first company, I hired a fancy lawyer.

I figured big brand + high price = perfect service, right?

Wrong.

First problem, I was a small fry for the firm. My attorney was also servicing the needs of Brian Chesky at Airbnb. So you can imagine, I had to wait weeks for a reply sometimes.

Second problem (more importantly) - I didn’t know how to work with lawyers. I thought if I told them a problem, they would provide the best solution tailored to my needs.

Since then, I’ve learned that each client’s needs are so varied, that generic legal advice will serve you poorly.

Also, the feedback cycle is slow. It took years for my lawyer’s poor advice to become apparent. Unfortunately, that’s how legal advice works. You only see how good it is if things go south.

If you ask your lawyer a question, and they respond “this is the market approach”, do not take that as the answer to your question.

Your job is to use Lawyers as an advisor. That means you need to talk to other business owners, and other lawyers to solicit feedback on how different people have approached your particular situation. Then you tell your lawyer what you would like to see in the documents.

Over time you’ll learn that there really is no such thing as a “market” approach. The best business leaders are incredibly creative with their deals and negotiations.

This experience with lawyers made me think of my mother’s attitude with doctors when I was a child.

I’ll explain.

At the age of 9, one day I woke-up with some issues breathing. My mother rushed me to the emergency room. Once in the hospital, my mother promptly and loudly told everyone within earshot “no residents, doctor only”.

I felt embarrassed. I didn’t even know why she said that, but it felt disrespectful to the residents in the hospital who seemed like nice adults. We then had to wait an extra half hour for the doctor to show up (doctors are busy).

Once the doctor assessed me and presented his plan, my mother asked him to wait in the room while she called my dad’s friend, a pulmonology expert to opine on the doctor’s plan. Again, I was embarrassed. This nice old doctor man seemed very knowledgeable, why were we double-checking his work?

I’ll tell you.

My mother trained to be a doctor back in the Soviet Union.

She knew that residents in hospitals are a risk. They’re undertrained, inexperienced, and oftentimes exhausted (she had been a resident in the past).

She also knows that doctors are not gods. They don’t have a perfect answer to your problem. They have an opinion or advice based on their experience.

There is too much medical information in the world for a single doctor to know the best solution at any given time. So it’s your job as a patient to be obnoxious at times, take your health into your own hands and question your doctor’s opinion.

Only You Are Responsible for Your Health 👏 (thanks mom!)

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Have an amazing week,

~ Sieva

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