One of the most important skills is the ability to listen. Good listening allows you to delegate better, trust team members more, build more empathy, and just generally avoid becoming the stereotype arrogant CEO who is short-term effective but often grows toxic and ineffective over time.
That works its way into my decision-making frameworks in a few ways:
- I trust my team. I spend huge amounts of energy on recruiting and hiring excellent people who bring experience that I can trust and I feel will be additive to my skills and the strengths of the team. Then, when they’re here, they are empowered to make an impact in the areas where their superpowers are at work and give them the support system (including myself) on everything else.
- I trust myself. This is the mild dose of “reality distortion field” that ends up being helpful in moments of doubt or despair. Major decisions come from a place of vision, which often requires a level of trust – validated by good listening and good data – that we are on a bigger, better journey.