Adam Markel delivers a short, anecdote-driven talk about modern leadership: the importance of having each other’s backs rather than exercising authority, and shifting how leaders should question and support their teams. He contrasts older "grit" models (arrive first, leave last) with younger generations’ different life priorities, urging leaders to ask more curious, humane questions (e.g., "What are you doing?") to understand and accelerate organizational performance.
Chapters
We're talking about having each other's backs. That came up this morning. Couldn't have been better. What does it look like? You know, Blair Braverman said this. She said, you can't force these dogs to run, but if they know that you have their back, they run because they want to, because they burn to. And then they bring you along for the ride. This is what it means to be a leader, not just have the whip. What does it look like to have each other's backs? Well, back in the day, as I said, I used to have hair. And then people thought I looked like this guy because, you know, I could. I could do this. I could go, hey, how you doing? How you doing? And when we ask people this question, how you doing? What are the answers we get? What are the answers we give? Great. I am a liar. Fine. Good. Maybe. Great. Yeah, we hear it. It's the wrong question. It's the wrong question for the times we want to meet. The moment we hear about people, we know what the labor challenges are. And it's not just with this company. It's with every company that I work with. We're all experiencing the same thing because the marketplace, the earth, the tectonic plates have shifted in the workplace. We got to wake up and smell this. Now I have Millennial and Gen Z kids. I know why they won't take it. They are thinking differently about their lives than many of us were trained to think about ours. I am a grit guy. What I was taught was you wake up, you get in there first, and you leave last. That's what leadership looks like. That's the model that I was taught. That is not the model today. That is going to carry the day. We've got to ask a better question. And now, for whatever reason, I'm on a plane. Somebody goes, hey, we want to. Hey, can we buy you a drink? I'm sitting in a restaurant, literally, with my wife. Guy walks up, he. He puts out his mitt. He goes, you know, I just gotta tell you, I Love your show, Mr. Tucci. I love that. So is that unethical? I couldn't. I didn't have the heart to tell him no. I just. I just smiled at the guy. He went off. He was happy. This is the question we gotta be asking now. What are you doing? That's what we're here for. That's a big part of the reason that this summit existed. What are we doing? What are we doing? How do we accelerate our operational excellence? What does that look like? How do we sustain performance. We've got to get more curious, ask deeper, more incisive questions. When it comes to the people that we lead, we have to ask them, what are you doing with your weekend? So that they can tell you to your face, what weekend?
