Trillion Dollar Coach

Trillion Dollar Coach will help you become a better leader in the office by sharing the life and teachings of businessman Bill Campbell who helped build multi-billion dollar companies in Silicon Valley.

Bill Campbell was well-known for his casualness and friendliness, even in the most formal of settings. From his profanity to giving bear hugs and even blowing kisses to others across the table in meetings, Campbell wasn’t afraid to show his personality.

After Steve Jobs’ cancer diagnosis, for example, Bill was in the hospital to visit him daily. While some may argue that showing emotions at work is a sign of incompetence, it’s the mark of an efficient leader.

A study by Sigal Barsade and Olivia O’Neill discovered that emotional openness in the workplace improves team performance and employee satisfaction. Fostering this kind of connection between employees also decreases absenteeism among team members. It feels good to be ourselves, and science shows that when we do so at our jobs, we improve the workplace.

If you’re afraid of showing emotions like Bill Campbell in the workplace, don’t worry, you don’t need to go that far to reap the rewards of it. Think of more simple ways to show a little personality in the office.

Find out what works for you by trial and error, and don’t give up. It may be as simple as asking people how they are doing, chatting about their personal lives, or being curious about what they’re working on.

As Bill began his work in Silicon Valley in the 1980’s, the majority of executives were men. Apple’s head of HR in the US, Deb Biondolillo, was one of the few women in a leadership position at the time. She was known for always sitting at the back of the room in weekly staff meetings. Campbell suggested that she “get to the table!” and participate more by moving to the front, which she tenaciously tried one day. As another top executive wondered why she was there, Bill let him know that he had decided to have her sit closer. Deb knew then that this new change would be a good thing because Bill had her back. Although eccentric, Campbell’s methods made him a great champion of getting more women on board in meetings. He learned to pick the best players and get them into the game front from his sports background. And he wasn’t wrong when it came to bringing more women into the spotlight. Research agrees with Campbell on this point, too. A 2010 study in the journal Science reviewed what contributes to the “collective intelligence” of a team. Smarter groups, they discovered, let everybody participate, showed more emotional intelligence, and had more women, just…