Why Google picked Sundar as its CEO

Or: Why nice people don’t finish last

When Alphabet emerged in August, 2015, Larry made Sundar Pichai the CEO of the core business. Most people outside Google, Forbes included, all had the same question: “Who is Google’s New Chief?” Google’s notoriously focused on intellect, from the brainteaser interview questions to its sci-fi style moonshots. Yet the answer had very little to do with Sundar’s superior intelligence (despite his Stanford masters and Wharton MBA).

Everyone wants to be the smartest person in the room. That is an understandable goal early in your career. But to grow into an actual leader, intelligence is necessary but not sufficient. Constantly and combatively trying to establish your intellectual dominance is a losing strategy. Sundar’s rise to Google’s CEO shows a better path, where bringing the best out of others matters more than parading your intellect.

Sundar: The Great Compromiser

The press’ depiction of Sundar, long before he was CEO, has consistently been someone who brought warring factions within the Google behemoth together. He’s willing to defer judgement, give up teams, and lose arguments for the greater good. He deescalates the intellectual arms race that normally takes over in a culture like Google.

A profile in The Information from June ’14 (emphases are mine):

“What’s perhaps most striking about Mr. Pichai’s ascent at Google is that he has operated differently from most other senior executives at the company. Google has had a combative internal culture in its upper ranks and turf wars can be fierce, yet Mr. Pichai is subdued and usually eager to collaborate rather than wage a political fight. He’s even been willing to give up some territory for the sake of harmony with other executives — something that’s won him respect across the company and the trust of Mr. Page…

That “team player” approach has enabled Mr. Pichai to outlast or gain more power than his peers as Mr. Page has sought to quell infighting among top executives.”

The Verge interview from May ’15:

“Executives in Pichai’s position tend to lead their teams with vision, charisma, bombast, or (usually) some combination of all three. But there’s no bombast to Pichai. Pichai is thoughtful and friendly in person, nodding carefully as he listens and then responding with real empathy.”

The Guardian profile from Aug ’15:

“Pichai projects the image of a passionate nerd, but without any of the sociopathic egotism that plagues Silicon Valley executives (and their underlings). It’s a skill set that has made him one of tech’s most eligible executives.”

While I never worked with Sundar directly at Google, many close friends and former coworkers who have all have shared similar perspectives.

11 ways to grow your influence beyond your intellect

Instead of trying to to get people to respect your superior smarts, get them to want to follow your leadership. Whether you’re a product manager, an engineering lead, a manager, or a senior executive, there are a number of specific things you can do:

1. Develop personal relationships outside tactical work discussions. Go for a walk outside. Get a coffee. Drink beers or cold-pressed juices together.
2. Be more approachable, even if you initially think an idea is awful. Every idea is worth 5 minutes. You never know when one will be truly great.
3. Respond with more “Yes, and…” instead of “No, because…”. You’ll get better ideas encouraging others instead of shutting them down.
4. Show more emotion, ditch the poker face, and expose chinks in your armor. People want to work with other people, not emotionless robots.
5. Never let your frustration show in a meeting, and even more importantly in email/slack.
6. Can you make a great argument for the other person’s side? If you can’t, put on your empathy hat. You might convince yourself to compromise.
7. Force hard decisions, but make few decisions unilaterally. Make sure to communicate them tactfully with everyone involved.
8. Make fewer assertions. Ask more pointed — but not aggressive — questions.
9. Make fewer demands. Your ratio of suggestions : informed observations : directives should be 100:10:1.
10. Give credit 10x more than you take it, and take blame 10x more than you give it.
11. Be relentlessly optimistic and perpetually pragmatic. Hope is inspiring, as long as it’s grounded in reality.

Get people to love working with you instead of hating how smart you are. If it worked for Sundar in Google’s hyper-intellectual culture, it probably will work at your company, too.