← How Leaders Lead with David Novak
How Leaders Lead with David Novak
3 More Questions (Stanley Druckenmiller) with David Novak and Koula Callahan
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- [00:04]
A
Welcome to How Leaders Lead. I'm Kula Callahan here, bringing you another episode of Three More Questions with David Novak.
- [00:11]
B
I'm looking forward to this, Kula. So let's get started. And today we are discussing my conversation that I had with the greatest investor of all time, Stanley Druckenmiller. Nobody has a record of performance like Stanley. And amazing returns year after year and never a down year.
- [00:31]
A
David, this might be my favorite interview you've ever done. I mean, when I started listening to it, I didn't think I was going to hear Stanley talk about how he didn't apply to an Ivy League school because he didn't think he could get in. He wanted to be an English professor when he first started college, and then he gets into grad school and drops out before getting his PhD. I mean, I think I have a lot more in common with Stanley Druckenmiller than I thought I would.
- [00:55]
B
Well, let's get going with the three questions.
- [00:59]
A
All right, here we go. Question number one. There was a line in this episode that really resonated with me. He says, finding passion can make an average person great. How do you really find your passion?
- [01:11]
B
Well, first of all, I have to tell you, that resonated with me as well, because when I was in college, I was a very mediocre student. You know, my first couple years, in fact, I partied way more than I studied. I had about a 2.0 grade point average. But then I took some advertising marketing courses at the University of Missouri, and, you know, I loved them. And then all of a sudden, I really knew exactly what I wanted to do because it was so much fun learning about advertising and marketing and getting better and better at it and reading everything I could on it. And at that point, I realized that's what I wanted to do with the rest of my life. And thank God I took that course because that put me on a journey that helped me have a career that I really enjoyed making. When you think about how you find your passion, one of the exercises that I like to talk about and actually wrote about it in my book take charge of how self coaching can transform your life and career, I talked about the importance of writing down all the joy blockers you have in your life. Just write them down. What are the things that take away your joy? And then write down all the things that give you joy. And then look at how you're spending your life. Are you spending time in areas that block your joy, or are you spending time in the areas that give you joy? And I Think if you can really identify those areas that really give you joy and then say, hey, how do I get in that area doing those kinds of things, you'll be on your way to finding your passion. But I think Stanley makes a great point. An average person can become great once you really find what you love. Because then all of a sudden, you're not. You're on a mission to do what you love. You never feel like you're going to work. You're actually pursuing your job. You work harder than the next guy. You really are focused on doing what you love. And when you do that, that old phrase comes to light, and it's very, very true. Do what you love, and you'll never have to work a day in your life.
- [03:16]
A
I love that Joy Blockers and Joy Builders exercise. When I did it for the first time, I realized that I was unknowingly spending a lot of my time doing things that I just didn't like, and so I cut them out of my life. And I feel like I have a lot more joy and passion every day because of that.
- [03:32]
B
You know, I think it's important to look at that even if you're actually working in an area that you love, because, you know, one of the things that I loved was advertising and marketing and customers. But one of the things I really hated was doing all the analytics. I liked looking at the numbers after somebody done all the analysis, but I hated doing the analysis. So I always made sure that I had people who were really good doing that around me so I could focus in on the areas that I could have the most value.
- [04:01]
A
Absolutely. All right, let's move on to question two. At 25 years old, Stanley got promoted to head of research at pnc, where he was managing people much older than him. What advice can you give people who are in a position where they're managing older, more experienced team members?
- [04:18]
B
Well, I think the first thing I would tell someone is that the reason why you got that job is that the powers that be think you're more qualified than the next people. So that means that you're in that job because you deserve it. So you are now the head coach. And in that head coach role, you have to grow your people so that you can grow the business. Now, it's always easier to give people who have less experience than you or who are younger than you to give them coaching because you think you're totally qualified to do it. But it's tougher when you're having to give feedback to older people who in many cases, Thought that they maybe should have got the job that you got. But you have to remind yourself that you are in that job for a reason. You are in that job because you're the most qualified to do it. And everybody, no matter what their age is, that's on the team, they work for you, and you need to hold them accountable and you need to grow them just like you would anybody else. If you don't do that, you're not going to be doing your job, and somebody else will probably end up doing that job because there'll be a vacuum there that needs to be filled. So you got to step up, have the confidence that you've been put in the job for the right reasons, and then, you know, make sure that you give everybody the feedback they need, regardless of their age. And just as a reminder, I think the best way to give feedback and to give coaching and to develop the people around you is let people know what you appreciate about their performance and then say, and you can be even more effective if you do these things. That simple coaching model, I think, is a great way to say, hey, this is what I appreciate about you, which makes people want to hear what you have to say. And then when you turn the corner and say, these are the things that you could do to be more effective, they're going to be much more open to that kind of feedback.
- [06:07]
A
It's interesting that you say that. You know, at my old job, I was in charge of our certification program. So There were about 600 folks who I wasn't directly managing, but essentially I was kind of their boss. And they were much older than me, you know, 20, 30 years older than me. And at the beginning, I had to navigate some anxiety about offering them feedback and coaching. But I think, you know, what's so important is I always came back to what I knew best and reminded myself that I was put in that role because I had done all the research I needed to do to be an expert at that thing. And so reminding yourself that, you know, you were chosen for this because someone believes that you are capable of it is such a helpful thing just to keep top of mind.
- [06:52]
B
And you bring up a great point. When you take a new role and you have different people reporting to you, no matter whether they're older than you or not, you have anxiety, and you got to work through that anxiety. And you do that by building trust with your team. You do that by getting people together and asking them what they think. And then you do that by doing what you say you're going to do. And that really builds trust, and people will believe in you, and you will get into the position, and it'll take a natural flow over time.
- [07:21]
A
All right, question number three. Stanley has been recognized for being one of the top philanthropists in the world. How do you look at philanthropy and giving back to others?
- [07:30]
B
I like to think I look at it very similar to Druck. I mean, Druck really has focused in on what he and his family are passionate about. They are passionate about leveling the playing field for people who are disadvantaged and don't have all the privileges that maybe the upper class might have. That's why he's so passionate about the Harlem Children's zone. He and his wife Fiona, are very passionate about medical breakthroughs. You know, they focused and spent an enormous amount of time and effort and money trying to develop cures for cancer and the research that's required to do that. And now they're really focusing in on another area that they have passion on that they think is critical to the success of our country and the world, and that's the neurological diseases that are out there. So I think focusing in on what really matters to you and what you're passionate about is the first place to start. As far as I'm concerned and our family's concerned, we've honed in on what we're passionate about. We have a foundation called the Live to Life foundation, and my daughter Ashley runs it. And the first thing she did is she developed the focus areas that we wanted to concentrate on because of the passion that we have for those areas. That includes the leadership development, things like we're doing right now, this podcast, and how leaders lead, and a number of other programs that we have. That includes the diabetes. My wife's a type 1 diabetic. We have the Wendy Novak Diabetes center in Louisville. In fact, I'm having a fundraising dinner for that tonight. It includes early childhood education. It includes hunger, helping people get the meals they need, that, you know, unfortunately, just in The Louisville area, 40% of the population, kids go to bed hungry at night. I mean, that's just a sad thing to think about, but it's very true. And last but not least, you know, we focus on veteran support and helping veterans and their families get the scholarships that they need to pursue the American dream. So that's our focus areas. But they all hone in on the passion. And that's the. The. That's the advice I would give you, is follow your passion first. And a lot of times, you don't have money to spend, but you sure have time that you can use. And I think the best combination is to believe in something so much that you will invest both your time and your money in.
- [09:47]
A
That's excellent guidance, David. And I know that all of our listeners will take that to heart as they think about the things that they really want to invest in and the causes that they really care about seeing through. Well, that does it for today's episode of three more Questions. Thanks again for tuning in to How Leaders Lead. We're on a mission to make the world a better place by developing better leaders. And if you carve out a little time with us each and every week, we'll help you build the confidence you need to lead.
- [10:14]
B
Well, you're right about that, Kula. And tune in on Thursday for my conversation with my very good friend Brian Cornell, the CEO of Target. And I gotta tell you, he's done one heck of a job at Target and he owns my credit card. My family spends more money at Target than it should, but I'm sure Brian and his team are very, very happy about that and are really happy. There are a lot more people than me out there that feel the exact same way.