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Bob McGrew on what he learned about managing talented people at Palantir and OpenAI
“This sounds boring, but the core thing you have to do as a manager is really care about the people you’re managing. A lot of times in your day-to-day job of coordinating and helping people understand things, loyalty doesn’t really matter that much. But there comes a time as a manager when you have to ask someone to do something hard.”
“Early on in your career, this is when you have to ask someone to come in on a Sunday,” Bob says. “But later in their career, it’s working with someone and asking them to give up a project they really care about.”
One of the things Bob learned from Alex Karp at Palantir is that very talented people have superpowers, but they also have debilitating weaknesses. Your job as a manager is to help them see those weaknesses, which is why actually caring about the people you manage is so important.
As Bob explains:
“If people think you’re in it for yourself, they won’t trust you when you tell them to do something. But if they know that you are doing what’s best for them, when you tell them to do that thing that is super hard and scary for them, sometimes you can help them cross the chasm and solve the problem.”
He continues:
“When I am talking to someone, I have to be giving them advice and helping them do the thing that is best for them and the company. Even if you’re firing someone. If they’re not going to succeed in this role, then it is in their own best interest for me to tell them that they’re not succeeding and give them the opportunity to succeed somewhere else… Loyalty, in the end, is the thing that I think unlocks all of the other things you want in management.”