Critical Thinking and TRICK: Takeaways from a conversation with Esther Wojcicki
What insight or secret would you hope to learn from someone who seems to have cracked the nut of raising successful people? What indicators would you look for to qualify their results? Perhaps a child in a position or prominence in the field of medicine, science or business? Esther Wojcicki can claim all three. Her daughters can be found teaching pediatric medicine at a top ranked medical school, running the genetic testing company 23andMe and as the CEO of YouTube.
Esther brought her A-game to a Zoom session for our Reputation Management class at the Stanford University Graduate School of Business, sharing more quotable material than could fit into an 800-word blog post. The author of How to Raise Successful People had an open conversation with us — it didn’t disappoint. My non-parent classmates walked away with tools to tackle parenthood, and the few of us with kids left searching for a reset button on our own parenting techniques.
Esther presented material applicable to both parenting and business. Of the many takeaways from our Zoom time together, I want to highlight what stood out to me both as a parent (son 6, daughter 3) and as a working professional with 11 years of experience (Goldman Sachs) prior to graduate school.
Esther’s book focuses on five key elements to implement in any parenting or leadership routine: trust, respect, independence, collaboration, and kindness, presented in the handy acronym, T.R.I.C.K.
The most important skill we can develop is critical thinking
As a leader, encouraging critical thinking sounds fine and dandy, and Esther’s book abounds with real-life examples that illustrate this concept in practice. But this is a unique concept because of its increasing relevance in today’s world. Developing and applying critical thinking is a crucial skill in a world where innovation, disaster, disruption, growth, and disease COVID-19 constantly demand and disrupt nearly all aspects of our lives.
Yes, critical thinking is a crucial skill to encourage and develop as a leader and as a parent. But how does someone effectively cultivate it in today’s world? It’s hard! Just look at the responses from parents now responsible for home-schooling their children!
Setting the stage/Establishing a foundation
The answer dates back to the beginning of time when histories, traditions and culture were passed down through the art of storytelling. People remember stories better than statistics. This is more than a simple bedtime story; these are life lessons. Storytelling is a change agent. So how do we find our stage or engage our audience to lend us their ears? This is where Trust and Respect from the TRICK system come into play.
Trust is the foundation of relationships. It gives credibility to what someone says and determines how likely it is that someone will pay attention to a story. Trust isn’t just about someone trusting you — it goes beyond that. Trust is a two-way street. If you want your kids, students or colleagues to trust you, they need to see that you trust them. Esther shared, “Effective leaders do the same thing. They trust their team. And when you trust them, they trust themselves and people need to trust themselves in order to be innovative. Belief in yourself drives passion and it drives grit and you stick to something when you believe in yourself. When you’re hesitant and when you’re worried about what everybody thinks, then your passion dissipates and your grit disappears.”
People need to trust themselves in order to be innovative
If the goal is to teach critical thinking, we need an environment where people are willing to experiment, learn and try new things — in other words, they need to feel confident as they develop these skillsets themselves. Esther shared one of her teaching philosophies in this way: “I want my students to feel empowered, and you only feel empowered when you actually are doing it. And when you are practicing yourself.”
You only feel empowered when you actually are doing it
Respect is the next critical element to a team, or family relationships. You show respect by listening with undivided attention, by making yourself available, by modeling positive leadership. Respect others to gain their respect. Effective leaders and teachers lead with respect. Each of us wants to feel respected, and when we do, we feel encouraged and empowered to be ourselves.
This concept is covered in more depth in the book Trillion Dollar Coach, where examples illustrate that people are most effective when they can completely be themselves and bring their full identity to work. Without total trust and real respect, people struggle to reach their full potential.
People are most effective when they can completely be themselves and bring their full identity to work
When leaders and parents create and maintain an environment built on trust and fostered with respect, they create an atmosphere that will influence those around them. When a person feels trusted and respected, they are willing to take risks. Risk takers are innovators.
When a person feels trusted and respected, they are willing to take risks.
Risk takers are innovators.
Building on a solid foundation
Within the TRICK framework, I view Trust and Respect as “laying the foundation” for creating meaningful relationships. Independence, Caring and Kindness then follow to “build the house.” It’s important to remember a few things about house-building: humility is essential. Building a house requires effort, it requires a team’s worth of contributions. A person can recognize their independence in the midst of collaboration, especially in an environment that encourages caring and kindness. As Esther shared, “Ten brains are more powerful than one brain, even though you’re one brain is really smart and really good.” You can acknowledge your strengths and your worth, while still contributing to and working with a team.
Ten brains are more powerful than one brain, even though you’re one brain is really smart and really good
My final takeaway is something that resonates on both a personal and a professional level. Esther said, “The most effective role of a leader is that of a coach.” In my personal experience, the most influential coaches convey trust in my abilities and show me respect. They encourage individual growth, learning, and performance while highlighting how considerate, concerted, and genuine teamwork results in success.
In my experience, the leaders, parents, and coaches in my life who’ve applied these principles highlight the efficacy of Esther’s TRICK framework. The lessons I learned from these coaches remain with me today. As I continue my personal journey, I intend to continue teaching the efficacy of Esther’s TRICK framework, and I hope my efforts as a leader, parent, and coach reflect the life lessons taught by those who have TRICKed me.
The most effective role of a leader is that of a coach
