Ten Lessons from Bill Campbell
Bill Campbell was my boss, mentor and friend for 35 years, and I can’t bear the thought of him being gone. If you’re reading this piece, you’ve probably already read a lot about Bill. Rather than repeat all of that, I want to share with you some of the specific lessons I learned from him. I can think of no greater tribute than to pass his wisdom along to others. So here, in no particular order, are ten of the many lessons I learned from Bill.
1. Sell your ideas.
A Harvard business school case tells the story of me at Apple Computer, when Steve Jobs decided that we should eliminate our distribution warehouses. I was opposed to this change based on what was required to support our under-capitalized dealer channel. But I was also very busy, so I ignored the proposal and assumed that common sense would prevail. It didn’t. Bill explained to me that being right isn’t enough. You have to get the data, build an argument, work on the key influencers, and convince them. I didn’t like “politics”, but Bill showed me that’s how you get things done.
2. Think about the whole.
I was Vice President of International at Claris, Apple’s software subsidiary, where Bill was CEO, and my boss. I was passionate about international issues, and built a business that ultimately became half of Claris’ revenue. I needed a lot of help to do that — localizations from product marketing, HR support to hire international employees, etc. I was relentless in getting the resources I needed from others. One day Bill called me into his office and explained that I was an employee of Claris, not Claris International. He said I needed to think about whether, really, the next best use of our resources was to do the Finnish version of MacWrite. He taught me that everybody should think like a CEO, not just the CEO.
3. Sometimes, you just gotta go for it.
We started Claris International by distributing our product through the local Apple subsidiaries. I had great difficulty getting their attention because they were naturally focused on the high-dollar hardware sales. I tried and tried, and complained frequently to Bill. Finally he said we should drop Apple distribution and hire independent distributors who will be much more motivated. My inclination was to be persistent and try to make Apple distribution work, so the idea of abandoning that plan and going a totally different way came like a lightning bolt. But we did exactly that, and we found independent distributors to be much more effective.
4. Governance is critical.
Governance sounds boring, but Bill taught me that it is critical. Who is on your board? What committees do you have? How are agendas put together? I was on the board of Intuit when Bill was board chair, and I learned by watching him how to run a smoothly functioning board. I am a Yale trustee, and I spent hours talking with Bill about university governance. As long time board chair at Columbia, Bill remade their committee structure and spent a great amount of time recruiting outstanding trustees, leaving a strong legacy at his alma mater.
5. It’s okay to care.
Current management practice discourages a boss from being nosy about an employee’s business. To be sure, this area is a minefield, and one must tread carefully. Bill, however, cared about everybody’s business. He cared if your spouse was sick. He cared if your child had learning disabilities. In fact, Bill seemed to know more about the people who worked in my group than I did. Although I don’t think a boss should stick their nose into people’s affairs without being asked, just listening and being empathetic creates an enormously supportive environment.
6. Diversity is not optional.
Long before it was widely discussed in Silicon Valley, Bill felt it was critical to get diversity on his teams. He hired women into key executive positions, and he didn’t see why there shouldn’t be multiple women on the boards he chaired. He despaired at how we struggle to have better racial diversity in our industry. To Bill this issue was not a matter of fairness, it was to get the best possible people; eliminating a big section of humankind made no sense.
7. Focus on the person you’re with.
There’s a reason why so many people think Bill was their best friend: he had an uncanny ability to focus on just you. He didn’t look around to see who else might be around the corner. He didn’t look at his watch. He responded to every word you said. He heard you.
8. Have a deliberate communications strategy internally.
I think of Bill’s internal communications as a “communications architecture”, i.e., how to build organizations for effective communications. I patterned my own companies after this architecture. Bill had an executive staff who reported to him and met weekly; any issue, grievance or concern was discussed as a team. The next level of directors and key managers were the expanded management team. This group would meet offsite frequently to review the business plan, think about the future, and construct the next phase of the plan. Each of these managers was chartered with communicating the messages down through the organization. You cannot assume this communication just happens; you need to build it into the structure of the company.
9. Humility.
Bill came from modest roots, and because of this humble beginning he never took his success for granted. He wasn’t a limelight kind of guy. When he travelled internationally for Claris he would refuse press meetings, preferring to spend the time with employees and customers. He wasn’t interested in seeing his name in the paper and resisted the many writers who tried to profile him. (A few managed to anyway). He went to the Super Bowl because he loved football, not because he wanted to be seen there. He didn’t go to Davos. He taught me that substance trumps form every time.
10. Have fun.
Bill loved to have fun: to go to sporting events, to take his family on a vacation, to chill in the bar with a few colleagues. He showed me that business need not be drudgery. It has hard moments, to be sure, but it also has moments of joy, friendship and just plain fun. I have albums full of photos of Bill giving out awards at employee and distributor functions. If there was something to celebrate, Bill would be there.
When I decided that I wanted to be a CEO, the first person I went to see was Bill. I asked him “Am I ready? Will you support me?” He said yes. I’ve had success in my career, and I worked hard for it. But I know that without Bill, I would not have had the same opportunities. Without the lessons I describe here and many more, I would not have been as effective. An amazing number of people in Silicon Valley can tell this same story.
For Bill, “rest in peace” does not feel sufficient. “Thanks, coach … I’ll miss you terribly” will have to do.
