The Most Underrated Driver of Success & Happiness (Classic)

What's up, everyone. This is Alex Lieberman, co-founder and Executive Chairman of Morning Brew. Welcome back to Founder’s Journal, my personal audio diary, where I give you, the business builder, the tools you need to think better in order to build better, whether that's building a business, a team, or a new product. Before we get started, I want to share a little update with you all. For the next little while, we are going to be republishing classic episodes of Founder’s Journal. Why? Well, one, I think these past episodes are really good and with so many new listeners over the last few months, it's very possible you haven't actually heard some of these older episodes. And two, I am spending the month of May evolving Founder’s Journal so that we can make this show as good as humanly possible for the next generation of builders. I would love your help as I dream up the future of this show. So once you've listened to the episode, shoot me an email to alex@morningbrew.com and tell me what you'd like to see from me. All right, that's the update. Now time for the episode. In today's classic episode, originally published on July 14th, 2021, I discuss the foundational skill that, if mastered, can drive long-term professional success, and most importantly, personal happiness.

Great leaders keep their word

 In 2007, Steve jobs stepped onto the stage at Macworld and shared that Apple would be introducing not one, not two, but three revolutionary products to the world: A widescreen touch iPod, a revolutionary mobile phone, and an internet communicator. But there was a kicker. These wouldn't be three separate devices. This was one device. And that device is the iPhone. Steve Jobs finished his famous lead-in by saying, today, Apple is going to reinvent the phone, and that is exactly what he did. Fourteen years later, Apple has shepherded an entirely new way of communicating an entirely new industry of smartphones, and arguably one of the greatest product successes of all time with more than 1 billion iPhones actively used. There are so many lessons to be learned from Jobs’s speech and the advent of the iPhone: the power of innovation, the power of imagination, the power of technology. But I think there's a more nuanced, yet more applicable lesson, to be gleaned from this invention and so many other groundbreaking announcements in history. Whether it's the iPhone, the Tesla Model 3, or rockets that land back to Earth, the greatest lesson to be learned from the greatest inventors of our time is the lesson of your word. I know it sounds kitschy, so let me explain. There is nothing more powerful than keeping your word. Your word is the most important tool you have to establish trust and it is the most powerful tool you have to lose trust instantly. I believe we're so fascinated by the iPhone not because of what it can do, but because some crazy man who dreamt up a revolutionary product, actually made it happen. He gave his word that he’d change society forever, such a ridiculous claim. It's like babe Ruth pointing to the outfield before hitting a home run. But then he actually did it. That is why we're so mesmerized by Steve Jobs. And I believe to this day, that's why, although Jobs is no longer with us, we implicitly trust that Apple will continue making revolutionary product after revolutionary product.

Now, while it's cool to study the most important innovations of our time, we need to also ask ourselves, how can we apply these lessons to our lives? In this case, I think it's simple: The lesson to be learned from Jobs and the iPhone or Musk and the Model 3 is that we are fascinated when someone's word is crazy, but reliable.

Keep your word in your career

In everyday life, though, creating trust is no different. Maybe the stakes are a little bit lower, but the highest-leverage way to build trust and be successful is to be known as someone that says they're going to do something and actually does it. When I think about the best employees I've ever worked with at Morning Brew, it's the people who I can rely on implicitly, someone who does exactly what they say they're going to do. If they're a senior employee, I know when they say they'll have an annual plan by next Tuesday, they will 100% have that plan by next Tuesday. If they're a junior employee, I know when they say they'll have cuts of Founder’s Journal ready for social by tomorrow, they will 100% have it ready for social by tomorrow. It really is so simple, but it is so powerful for two reasons. First, you very quickly realize in business that you can plan all you want, but without execution, you'll never push anything forward. And the best type of execution is predictable execution. The type of execution where when you want something to get done, it just gets done. That's why having employees who treat their word like gold is such a massive unlock in business. The other reason working with people who keep their word is so huge is because it gives you back mental space to allocate to anything else. When someone keeps their word, they offer you the opportunity to think about or worry about anything else because now you have a shortcut. It's like breathing or walking or washing your hands. You just do it without thinking about it. With reliable people, the second they tell you, they will do something, you no longer need to think about it. It's one of the most liberating feelings in business. But this isn't just powerful from the perspective of a founder or a manager. It's also an incredible competitive advantage if understood by an employee. It's powerful to understand how helpful staying true to your word is for your boss, but it's equally as powerful once you realize that most people are just really, really bad at keeping their word. It makes you realize what an opportunity you have in your career if you can simply do the things you say you're going to do. Think about how often someone in your company is late to a meeting. Think about how often someone say they'll get you something and they won't end up getting it to you. Think about how often someone overpromises and under-delivers. Now imagine if as a professional, you are never that person, simply by having an awareness of what you promise and the word you give to others and actually following through on it, you can be a more trustworthy, more reliable professional than literally 95% of people. 

The power of your word may be obvious to you, but it needs to be talked about; one, because even if you understand it, it doesn't mean you're following through and keeping it; two, because something I've noticed about myself and about professionals in general is that as we look to grow, we tend to focus on the sexiest skills from business school or the newest growth hacks, but sometimes the highest-leverage ways for us to grow as people and professionals is to master the things that stare us straight in the face. Something that my friend Dickie Bush said recently that really resonated with me is that as we look to improve, there are two buckets of things that we can do to get there. There are strategies and there are tactics. Tactics are your tricks, your tips, your hacks. Strategies are your boring but proven ways of being, and this concept of treating your word like gold, like doing what you say you're going to do, it is a strategy. It goes unspoken because it's so obvious, so close to your face that people can't even see it. But if mastered, it truly is an exponential driver of growth in your life, your word is the atomic unit of so many good or bad outcomes in life. Being a great salesperson or storyteller is using your word intentionally. Being on time for meetings is keeping your word to others. Under-promising and over-delivering is taking a bet on your word, telling yourself you're going to work out today and actually doing it is keeping your word to yourself. Lying is intentionally manipulating your word. The greatest entrepreneurs are people that keep their word, even when their word sounds crazy and impossible. 

Keep your word to yourself

Now I've one final thought on the power of our word, and it's probably a little less obvious. Many of us are good at keeping our word to others, but we're horrible when it comes to keeping our word to ourselves. Keeping your word to yourself is just as important, and I believe one of the greatest determinants of satisfaction in your personal life. One thing I've noticed about myself is how shitty I feel when I procrastinate. And for the longest time I was trying to figure out what it was about procrastination that made me feel so shitty. I think I figured it out and I'm pretty sure it comes back to my word. For example, the reason I feel shitty every time I check Twitter, when I should be writing a Founder’s Journal script is because I'm treating my word like trash. Each time I procrastinate, I trade my word and my long-term trust in myself for a short-term hit of dopamine that social media gives me. And the feeling is lingering where residual effects of disrespecting my word last for hours after failing to keep it. I call this an integrity hangover. 

Try this exercise

Now whether it's preventing an integrity hangover or making sure you respect your word in work, I want to leave you with an exercise. I call it a word audit, and I'm going to do it alongside you because I need it. For the next 24 hours, I want you to make a list on your phone or in a journal. And in that list, I want you to write down every time you give your word to yourself or to someone else. Then, over the next week, I want you to revisit your list and put a check next to any promise that you keep and an X next to any time you treat your word like trash. This exercise will help create an awareness around just how often you give your word a lot of the time, probably without realizing it. And also how good you are at treating your word like gold. I'd say if you have checks on 80% of your list, you're probably in a good spot. If you have checks on less than 80%, maybe you should think a bit more about what's keeping you from keeping your word. 

I want to hear from you

Shoot me an email if you have any reactions to the power of your word, or if you have any thoughts or feedback for the show in general. Just shoot the email to alex@morningbew.com or DM me on Twitter @businessbarista. As always, thank you so much for listening to Founder’s Journal. And if you enjoyed, please let others know who you think would enjoy the show as well. Thanks again. And I'll catch you next episode.