The Story of Bill Campbell, a Legendary Coach Respected by Silicon Valley Leaders.

Shh, please be quiet. It is a funeral home. there are a lot of people

See those people standing in the front row over there? They're great characters.

Google's Larry Page, Sergey Brin, and Eric Schmidt. Apple's Tim Cook, Amazon's Jeff Bezos, Facebook's Mark Zuckerberg, and Sheryl Sandberg

It seems like some sort of Silicon Valley All-Star gathering today.

The most famous tech entrepreneurs and venture capitalists have gathered here. Why?

It's Bill Campbell's funeral.

Although Bill Campbell is not well known to the public, he is the most respected coach among Silicon Valley business leaders.

Bill Campbell was a very different person from the typical Silicon Valley entrepreneur.

He said he was born into a poor working-class family in Pennsylvania.

He was a Columbia University football player, later working as a manager.

However, it was not until he was in his forties that he began his business career.

When he was 43, he got a job at Apple, and it was his first visit to Silicon Valley.

He didn't study computer science at a famous university, he didn't have an MBA, was he an American football coach? He's a career that's hard to think of as a regular Silicon Valley star.

But he was such an influential person that former Google CEO Eric Schmidts said, "If it weren't for Bill, he wouldn't be the Google he is today."

But while he was reluctant to go on the front lines, he was a friend and mentor to big business executives like Steve Jobs, Eric Schmidt, Sheryl Sandberg and Ben Horowitz.

And last 2016. He passed away at the age of 75.

So, now you know why the funeral attendees face was so glamorous?

What was his business philosophy and how he coached so many leaders.

It would be best to hear from the people who were mentees for details!

[embed]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YKihvXD0xIc[/embed]

Larry Page (Founder of Google)

“That time… It must have been 2001. Has it been 3 years since you founded Google?

We just launched AdWords. The number of employees has grown to hundreds.

The development organization kept creaking.

I figured out the cause.

The middle manager was the problem.

As the company grew, senior engineers became managers.
But it turns out that great engineers aren't... great managers.

Me and Sergei thought so.

‘If the manager is a problem, can’t we just get rid of the manager?

‘If you let smart engineers work to their heart’s content, creative results will come, so why do you need a manager?’

So we eliminated the development team manager altogether. We called it 'Disorg'.

That's when Bill started coaching Google leaders.

Bill had a lot of conversations with me and Sergey and other key executives.

Then one day he suddenly said to me:

‘Larry, this company needs a manager’ I didn’t agree with that.

“We can do well without middle managers,” he said. Then Bill grabbed me and went outside. I asked some developers working outside.

“Do you want to have a manager?” But all developers

“I wish there was,” he replied. Only then did I know that Bill was right.

Bill broke my preconceived notions of managers.

I have always said that good management is the most important thing for a company to be successful.

The real manager wasn't the gossip guy like I thought.

A real manager's job is to make meetings effective, foster strong teamwork among team members, and help each individual work happily.

Bill said, “To be a good leader, you must first be a good manager.”

I especially remember this saying.
“It’s a good manager to make team members feel like, ‘I’m valued.’”
"listen. And pay attention. That’s what good managers and good leaders do.”

Ben Horowitz (Founder Andersen Horowitz)

When I coached with Bill, I felt that Bill really listened.

He didn't check texts or emails, he didn't even look at the clock or the window.

He really listened intently to the other person. I felt recognized.

Bill didn't tell me to do this or that. Instead, keep asking questions.

He wants to hear the real problem.

Talking to Bill, I learned something important. The president always feels he has to give the right answer.

So, when the representatives of my investment companies consult with me, most of them tend to ask questions after thinking about the answers they want to hear.

But I don't give 'answers'. Conversely, I do the reverse question.

Dig deeper into what the real problem is. To see the various complex situations surrounding it. It helps a lot to see the essence.

Dick Costolo (Former Twitter CEO)

My original meeting was
I was like everyone else. We're talking about the agenda one by one, each checking to see if there are any problems, some looking at their phones... But Bill's advice is this.

When you have a meeting, start with small talk. They say, ‘what did you do on the weekend’ or ‘what did you see on your business trip last week,’ etc.

I thought it was really weird at first, right?
But when I actually did it, wow! There was a really big difference.

The atmosphere in the conference room has changed. People were more empathetic to each other and more dynamic.

Bill said personal stories such as family stories and travel stories allow us to get to know each other better and, above all, to see each other as people and not simply co-workers.

From the moment I listened to his advice, I started to feel that I was working ‘with’ the team.

Sundar Pichai (CEO, Google)

I was at a Google executive meeting one day. Bill was there too.

The topic was a new business promoted by Google.

Someone said this. ‘This business is growing much faster than expected.’

‘Shouldn’t we be looking into more detail to see if things are going well?’

Then Bill said.

'do not worry. We put the right people in the right places. That's it. It’s a team that can solve problems well.’

Bill always looked first at the ‘person’ who was solving the problem, not the problem.

It's easy for managers to focus on problems. ‘How is the situation now? what's the issue? What options do we have?’

Of course, that is also necessary.

But Coach Bill always pointed out something more essential.

'Who's in charge of that?' When I became Google's CEO, Bill told me:
'If you have reached this level, you should focus more on the strategy of betting on people.'
'Choose your team wisely. You have to think a lot more about the ‘fit person’ than you do now.’

Jonathan Rosenberg (Google Senior Vice President)

There has been an article published in a media in the past. It was titled ‘The 10 Most Notorious Dictators in the Tech Industry’.

There was a list of people who were famous for getting angry and talking to their employees.

Famous names such as Steve Jobs, Steve Ballmer, Bill Gates, and Mark Benioff came up one after another.

But at the end there is my name!

To be honest, I felt good hehe. My name went up with the best leaders in the industry.

A few days later, I had a 1:1 coaching session with Bill. Bill put the print of the article on the desk.

I got a laugh. But Bill didn't laugh.
“Jonathan, this is by no means a knight to be proud of!” I was shocked and just stuttered.

It was the moment when Bill introduced the spirit of ‘It’s the people’.

Bill believed that the success of a company depends on its people.

A manager is said to be the role of supporting, respecting, and trusting the people in the organization.

That's why he said, 'Never mistake charisma or dictatorship for leadership'.

I asked, 'Well, isn't Steve Jobs a great leader?'

Bill has been working with Jobs for over 20 years.

‘When Jobs returned to Apple in the 1990s, he wasn’t just a charismatic guy!

I have matured as a manager.

Steve Jobs was also charismatic and had the ability to manage people, so it was only then that he became a great leader.’

 

Eric Schmidt (Former Google CEO, Alphabet Chairman)

If there is a conflict between people/organizations, we should discuss it together and make a rational conclusion and end it. However, this is usually not the case.

The more important the issues, the more they are buried in the corner. Why? Because it's uncomfortable.

Everyone wants to avoid awkward situations.

This is often referred to as ‘the elephant in the room’. It's an intrinsic problem, but it's something people don't want to see.

When I was meeting with Bill, there was never an ‘elephant in the room’. If any, Bill must have put the elephant on the desk in the middle of the room.

Once upon a time, Google had to choose a leader for a specific department.

There were two different managers.

He insisted that each himself be the head of that department.

They both deserved it. At first, I thought it was just a problem that would be resolved over time.

I didn't take it very seriously.

But things didn't go that way. In the meantime, the conflict between the two grew more and more intense.

That problem is starting to cause problems for other sectors as well.

It was then that Bill intervened. In fact, to resolve the conflict

As a result, one leader had to win and one leader had to lose. It was really difficult.

Of course, Bill didn't know how to solve the problem either.

But at least it was clear that this issue was rocking the entire organization.

So he jumped in without hesitation. Best thing I've seen on Google in 15 years

It must have been one of the toughest meetings ever. But in the end, Bill came to an agreement.

Eddy Cue (Apple Senior Vice President)

I still remember the date.

It was July 11, 2008.

The day Apple released the iPhone 3G.

By the way! The server had a problem that day. fully stretched out.

After I bought my iPhone, I had to connect to Apple's servers to activate it. To put it simply, people bought an iPhone, but it won't open!

under… It was a huge panic. It was the worst day I've ever worked at Apple.

I've been trying to see what's going on

People were crazy. In that moment, I remembered what I had learned from Bill over the years.
“When something bad happens, be honest and talk about it.”
‘Instead, don’t make people think about it for too long. The contest of complaints should never be dragged on.’

So I said this.
‘Let’s take care of the smartphone sales performance and the upcoming protest calls’
‘Let’s take out the problems we need to solve one by one. And let’s move on to what we can’t do quickly and focus on the problems we can deal with first.”

Once I did the iOS update, luckily the server was restored soon.

As I later found out, psychologists call this "problem-focused coping."

The opposite is 'emotion-focused coping'. Bill didn't avoid bad situations, but he didn't let people get distracted by them. He made me see the things that can be done, the positives.

Deborah Biondolilio (Former Vice President of Human Resources at Apple)

There were very few female executives in tech companies in the 1980s, and I was one of them.

When the weekly executive meeting started, I sat in a chair by the wall, not at the conference room desk.

Bill didn't like it. ‘What are you doing behind the scenes? Come to your desk and sit down!

Then one day I got up the courage and sat down at my desk.

Soon after, Al Eisenstadt, one of Apple's earliest public figures and general manager, came in and sat down.

He was surprised to see me sitting next to him. ‘What are you doing here?’

He growled. ‘It’s a meeting.’

I pretended to be confident. He looked at me for a few seconds.

Then he looked at Bill over me.

I knew he didn't say more because Bill was concerned.

Bill will be on my side. Bill always had a female team member.

I was passionate about ‘sit down at my desk’. In a way, it might be surprising.

Bill has a mouthful of hers, and she's a typical 'fucker' who likes to talk about American football and drink.

But he believed that diversity was important for the team to work, and that more women should have a voice in the company.

Susan Wojcicki (YouTube CEO)

There was a media conference I really wanted to go to a long time ago.

YouTube was growing quite a bit at the time, but I wasn't invited to that conference.

I was upset. I've tried asking a few people, but there's no way to do it.

I brought it up during a 1:1 session with Bill.

Then Bill got angry like his own. 'Nonsense. Of course you should go there!’

A few days later, an invitation email came in. It's Bill's strength. She probably called him several times.

Bill always did. He always tried to help his colleagues as much as possible.

Even if it's not that great. Most of the managers

I am reluctant to give personal help.

But Bill said he valued the team, and he loved people.

He always helped people like his best friend would ask him to.

Bill Gurley (Benchmark Capital Partner)

When Bill came into our office, it seemed like a bunch of people were coming in.

He greeted everyone by name, hugged and greeted them. After hugging and saying hello, Bill talked about their family, their travels and their friends.

Bill was the coach of the team, and he really loved his teammates.

If there's one thing I've learned from Bill, it's that people can never do anything alone.

Bill was the man who showed what camaraderie is.

In fact, everyone is taught that you have to hide your personal feelings at work. So the me at work and the real me are separated.

But not Bill. He did not separate himself.

He saw everyone as one person, and he treated them with the utmost sincerity.

When you do that, Bill has shown many times that the team becomes more united and stronger.

I hope the readers of this article will also learn the same.