CEO Leadership Success: The 3 Rules from the Turnaround Masters at Sequoia Capital

it's Connor here in Costa Brava and Sal

gear

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beautiful beach in the costa brava

Vanara barcelona and the last time i was

close to getting a job i had an

interview with a cool sequoia at Sequoia

Capital in the last 30 years four

companies run them for two years and

sold them for ten times what they bought

them and eight years ago I had an

interview with the founder and he told

me when I asked him what's the secret

how have you time and time and time

again turned around these companies and

his answer was that three rules and the

three rules are 30 30 80 20 19 10 30 30

every single person in the company must

create a plan to increase their output

by 30 percent reduce their use of

resources by 30 percent

is it this is tough but when you put the

pressure everyone understands what they

need to do but it means that if you

manage the station recovered you need to

create a plan to reduce the use of

pencils use of a4 paper by 30 percent

during sales increase sales by 30

percent but thirty thirty said it can

take from three to five months but

everyone in the organization has their

thirty thirty plan

what's importantly 80/20 every single

person in the company is asked to focus

on the 80% of activity that they believe

adds value so if you attend ten meetings

every week you attend two meetings if

you produce five reports every week you

produce one report and the rule of

Sequoia Capital every individual decides

what is important what are the 20% of

activities that they do that are really

important to getting the results of the

company 80/20 and he said any debate if

an employee doesn't go to the meeting of

his manager because he decides it's not

one of the 20% of activities that lead

script various value in the managers of

some like it has to go to California for

resolution

doesn't get solved so he said those

first two thirty thirty eighty twenty

any company in the rule that makes a

difference

1910 and the golden rule ninety ten of

Sequoia Capital if somebody doesn't

achieve their plan ninety percent of the

blame is given to their immediate

supervisor to their boss and in Sequoia

Capital you told me if someone doesn't

achieve their plan it's for three

reasons one they don't know what the

plan is

bosses fault second they don't have the

resources necessary to achieve the plan

bosses for third they're not motivated

it's their fault but it's their bosses

fault for not recognizing this early

enough and intervening changing their

role moving them to another position so

if you lead a team of ten people and one

or two of those teams do not achieve

their plan it's you as the boss that is

removed from your role in this rule of

ninety ten make sure that leaders know

what leadership is leadership is that

the people around you are better when

you are there they're better because you

are there and the only measure of the

success of a leader is that people know

their plan achieve their plan have the

resources enough are in roles where they

feel motivated to make a difference

that's the role of the leader and that's

why Sequoia Capital over 30 years with

this clear focus on thirty thirty 8020

ninety ten being able to deliver such

value time and time again in these

companies have a great week Connor hear

from a Sunday afternoon we had a

beautiful pea here on the beach in cell

garrets now time to see whether the

traffic back home is going to allow us

to get on

really

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