I think every leader is an editor. ~@jack
Adam Rifkin stashed this in @jack
Stashed in: #TED, Leadership!, Authenticity, CEOs, Silence, Square, @shervin, Awesome, Stories, Feedback, M.C. Escher
From a tweet from @Shervin quoting @Jack:
“I’ve often spoken to the editorial nature of what I think my job is, I think I’m just an editor, and I think every CEO is an editor. I think every leader in any company is an editor.
Taking all of these ideas and editing them down to one cohesive story, and in my case my job is to edit the team, so we have a great team that can produce the great work and that means bringing people on and in some cases having to let people go.
That means editing the support for the company, which means having money in the bank, or making money, and that means editing what the vision and the communication of the company is, so that’s internal and external, what we’re saying internally and what we’re saying to the world – that’s my job.
And that’s what every person in this company is also doing. We have all these inputs, we have all these places that we could go – all these things that we could do – but we need to present one cohesive story to the world.”
These words come from Jack Dorsey's Golden Gate Bridge speech.
It strikes me that Jack believes he is a good storyteller.
Seth Godin's best storytelling rules:
Be consistent and authentic.
Promise fun, safety, or a shortcut.
- Emphasize the worldview of the audience.
Suite 101's best storytelling rules:
Start with a catchy beginning.
Keep it short.
Use silence.
- Satisfy the audience.
This reminds me of Doc Jensen on LOST:
We are feedback loops. We are the stories we tell ourselves...
I wonder if Jack believes he is the stories he tells.
I'm reminded of the words of M.C. Escher, who said,
He who wonders discovers that this in itself is wonder.
Consider Chimamanda Adichie, The Danger of a Single Story:
I don't buy it. I think this whole thing is a Steve Jobs-inspired act.
Zuck, Bezos, Cook, Page, Chesky, Houston seem so much more authentic.
The only thing he's editing, it seems, is his own persona. He lives his act.
What is it about his act that makes you not buy it?
It's just a gut feeling, over time, having read dozens of articles about twitter, Dorsey / ev / biz and the other folks on the team. Of course I'm sure he's an inspired, hard working individual; however, it seems Jack is about Jack.
Yes, but that's clear just from reading his tweets.
Here's my favorite inspirational tweet: https://twitter.com/jack/status/260960224041652224
Again, sure he's a great guy, but it feels Romney-esque to me.
Also, because he's now transcending tech and is involved with two high-profile startups, I'm sure we're no longer going to get honest discourse or criticism of him from folks in the industry because they'll be too busy sucking up. :)
That's not an inspiration, it's a list of his iPhone shortcuts!
Very few people can suck up to Jack because he's not publicly available.
4:44 PM Oct 25 2012