Leadership, ability, affability, availability, excellence — April 28, 2011 17:52 — 12 Comments
The 3 Pillars of Excellence: Availability, Affability, and Ability
“We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, then, is not an act, but a habit.” -Aristotle
Wisdom from my Father. I called up my dad the other day just to say hi. He regaled me with a few exciting stories from the hospital, where he works as a neurologist. I asked him something I had never asked before: “What makes an excellent doctor in your opinion?” My dad said being an excellent doctor boiled down to three things: 1) availability, 2) affability, and 3) ability (in that order). It’s likely these 3 pillars aren’t only the makings of an excellent doctor, but an excellent entrepreneur and an excellent human being.
Being Available. With startup founders constantly clamoring for his investment dollars and entrepreneurial wisdom, Boulder-based venture capitalist Brad Feld is probably one of the busiest people around. Considering this, you’d think he’d be highly selective about who he speaks with, but he’ll actually talk to anyone for 15 minutes. Like a college professor, he holds regular office hours. Anyone can show up to pitch him on an idea, ask for his advice, or just chat. Of course, after the 15-minute conversation, he’ll be honest about whether he’s interested in having future conversations or not. Even still, because Brad is one of the most approachable VCs in Boulder, he’s also one the most reputable and best respected.
If he weren’t so approachable, he might not have such a remarkable reputation. As an illustration, a respected mentor introduced me to a certain impact investment fund (which will remain nameless). I sent them 4 heart-wrenching emails and they never responded. They’re undoubtedly busy, but even still, I felt ignored. I felt like this organization didn’t even have the courtesy to tell me whether it felt our collaboration would not be ” a good fit.” I’m left with pretty negative feelings about this group and won’t be contacting them again.
That feeling is exactly why the sort of openness to conversation is so important. It’s best captured by something Maya Angelou once said: “I’ve learned that people will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel.” I definitely don’t remember everything my dad said or did while I was growing up, but I definitely remember that he was at almost every one of my tennis matches, that he was never too busy to help me with my homework, and that he always supported me no matter what I wanted to do with my life. His ability to make people feel like he always has time for them is probably why patients keep coming back to him. And as an entrepreneur or VC, it’s probably why people will keep coming back to you.
Being Affable. Keen on learning a little bit more about how my dad does his job, I asked him if he gets tired of treating the same illnesses day after day. He said, “I do get a lot of the same cases, but I don’t get bored. That’s because I don’t treat an illness, I treat a person.” Because he treats his patients as people, my dad has been late to see most of his patients. But in over 20 years of practicing medicine, only 2 patients have complained about his tardiness, according to his receptionist. Why? Because my dad doesn’t see the 15-minute appointments his patients make with him as enough time to treat them like people. He might spend 45 minutes with one and show up late to his next appointment. But his next patient knows that she will get the same intensity of attention.
Hearing my dad say this reminded me of what my teammate Daniel Epstein always says: “business isn’t business, business is people.” Those who are truly successful in business are those who connect with others on a deep human level (see Daniel’s blog post on how to build genuine relationships).
In addition to being caring, one thing Daniel always reminds me of is that one of the best ways to connect with other human beings is to show that you too are a human being. That means being your quirky and unique self. I am always amused by Google’s annual April Fools’ Day antics. I love flying Southwest Airlines because the flight attendants sing songs instead of giving you the standard “this is how you fasten your seat belt” spiel. And as I explained in our last blog post, I will return to Northwestern University’s Global Engagement Summit as much as I can because it is comprised of a group of people who love having fun. That too keeps people coming back to you.
Being Able. In the end though, you’re unlikely to be available or affable if you aren’t good at what you do. Being competent gives you the confidence to be available and to be your quirky self. Brad Feld, Google, Southwest Airlines, and the Global Engagement Summit are not only approachable and likable, they show up and deliver. They find good people, they provide invaluable services, and they do both damn well, again and again and again.
If that’s not excellence, I don’t know what is.
Photo Credit: Jonas Hansel
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I want to live in a world where every human being can be the master of their own fate, unbound by the chains of poverty, oppression, or injustice.
Tej – great post. Love it. Tell your dad hi
Very good post… I'd add Flexible and Adaptable to the list of Pillars for Excellence. Flexibility meaning that you are open to new possibilities and have the ability to discern which of these possibilities should have you re-think or modify your plans. Adaptable meaning that, once you've made that decision to modify plans, you have the ability to think through and implement that changes required back into your focused plans — so that the "new direction" doesn't become a distraction that splits your focus and/or energy.
As a physician/ Dad of one of your fellows, you might add the modern pillar (note the bill boards): Advertising!
At the intersection of these three pillars lies generosity and authenticity. Thanks for this reminder and thanks for bringing emotion and humanity to your work once and again and then again. It would be easy to focus just on the business model of the 25 fellows, but it turns out this post underlines the skills that will truly matter in our times. These are the skills that make remarkable remarkable and memorable memorable.
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Francisco
Happy father's day to your dad! It seems he's not only an awesome dad but an awesome person! thanks for the post.
I like how the first pillar is availability but the writer has not responded to any of the commentators, just as the unnamed company had not responded to him.
I still like the post but how about pillar 4, follow-thru.
@eradke, that's an absolutely excellent point. Thank you for calling me out on that and for keeping me true to what I wrote. Some of the best advice I ever got from a teammate was about the value of following up and following through.
Commenters, please forgive me for my delay in responding to all of you! Thank you all so much for your interest in this post and for sharing your thoughts!
@Luke, I fully agree about being flexible and adaptable. One of the key characteristics of successful social entrepreneurs How To Change the World author David Bornstein identified was an ability to self-correct and an ability to adapt – an entrepreneur absolutely has to be able to do both!
@Larry, I also think marketing and advertising are hugely important. One of our mentors, Paul Polak, is famous for saying that developing a transformative service of technology is only 20% of the job. 80% of the job lies in the marketing and distribution of that service so it gets in the hands of the people you're trying to reach.
@Jason, @Alma: I'll pass along your good wishes to my father!
@Roshan, and @Francisco: Thank you so much for your kind words. Indeed, genuineness is vital to all of these things. Which is why I truly appreciate @eradke for making me follow through on these comments.
credit due.
No Way! My Dad's a doctor too (Cardiologist) and said the exact same thing to me… It must be ingrained doctor wisdom past down through the generations. I'm coming up to 10 years in the workplace and you see it every day. The chaps with brains but poor social skills struggle to succeed.
Wow Gareth! Doctors must attend the same conferences where this kind of wisdom is preached regularly!
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