Listening To--And Learning From--The Masters
I had a few moments of free time, so I started looking back at some blog posts I had saved but hadn't really had time to read and think about. Guy Kawasaki of How To Change The World posted about an interview with Eric Schmidt, the CEO of Google. Guy's post caught my attention because of it's title--"You don't learn very much when you yourself are talking." Despite having a hard time following that axiom myself, it is one I really believe in, and there is not a meeting of Cub Scout Pack 69 where I don't say the very same thing to my scouts. So I figured I would give the interview of whirl. After all, Google has encountered a bit of success and maybe the people who helped them achieve that success might know a thing or two. So I was off to the interview, found here on YouTube.
The interview begins by noting that its taking place on the campus of Stanford University, where Eric Schmidt teaches two days a week. When asked why he teaches, Schmidt talks about the value of listening to the new generation of entrepreneurs and the questions they ask. Schmidt offers that he learns from these questions and from the teaching experience.
The CEO of one of the great companies of the world actually talking about the value of listening. But not only talking about it, but showing he believes it. Most lawyers refuse to believe they can learn much from non-lawyers. Makes me wonder at times.
Its a 10 minute listen, and well worth the time.