🏁 Axios Finish Line: Purging bad people

Tells we look for | Thursday, March 24, 2022

Open in app View in browser   Presented By Emergent BioSolutions   Axios Finish Line By Mike Allen, Erica Pandey and Jim VandeHei ·Mar 24, 2022 Mar 24, 2022 Welcome back. Axios CEO Jim VandeHei is steering today's newsletter with another hard-learned lesson. As always, share your own stories with him at jim@axios.com. We'll be back Monday. Smart Brevity™ count: 398 words ... 1½ mins.     1 big thing: Learning good lessons from bad people Illustration: Sarah Grillo/Axios   While most people are good and generous, some are real, unrepentant, unfixable jerks, Jim writes. Why it matters ... A good hack for leadership and life: Study the jerks — the people who do the wrong things for the wrong reasons — and do the opposite. Then, purge them from your life. It's easy to be inspired by acts of great heroism or actions. But many of my defining memories often come from witnessing baffling or bad human behavior. At Axios, we made being routinely self-centered, petty or mean a fast-fireable offense. In making this clear in words and actions, we have mostly eliminated the mischief-making and back-biting all of us witness at school, work and relationships. Here are the truisms that guide our philosophy: Badness trickles down — fast. Any bad habit in a group or company can be traced to someone at the very top. You see this at schools, jobs and on sports teams. Bad habits are insanely contagious. One reason we prohibit people at Axios from talking crap about colleagues is witnessing how free others then feel to do the same. Behind most bad behavior lurks deep insecurity. Beware of those who surround themselves with people with bad character or limited talent. This flows from insecurity. Don't be delusional about our species. It's so tempting to try to see a path to change for someone who is routinely selfish or petty or untrustworthy. Most fully formed humans set in long patterns don't. Run. We all need a DJ. We have a longtime colleague, Danielle Jones, who has a sixth sense for spotting bad eggs. And she isn't shy about holding us accountable. Find people of high character and trust — and listen to them. The big picture: Good bosses, company and friends are everywhere. Live life in perpetual pursuit of them. Purge the others. Share this story.     A message from Emergent BioSolutions We Go to create a world that's prepared and protected     Emergent maintains a critical role in the ongoing opioid crisis. We're developing emergency rescue medications that can help reverse an opioid overdose. It's just one of the ways we defend people from things we hope will never happen. Learn more about Emergent's protections.     👎🥚 Spotting bad eggs Danielle Jones, mentioned above, is our talent whisperer, and heart-and-soul of our company. These are tells she looks for in spotting problematic people: Lack of humility. Lack of authenticity. Favoring personal ambition over the greater good. Taking yourself too seriously.   Thanks for reading. Please invite your friends to sign up here. Like this email style and format? It's called Smart Brevity®. Over 200 orgs use it — in a tool called Axios HQ — to drive productivity with clearer workplace communications.   Axios thanks our partners for supporting our newsletters. If you're interested in advertising, learn more here. Sponsorship has no influence on editorial content. Axios, 3100 Clarendon B‌lvd, Suite 1300, Arlington VA 22201   You received this email because you signed up for newsletters from Axios. Change your preferences or unsubscribe here.   Was this email forwarded to you? Sign up now to get Axios in your inbox.   Follow Axios on social media: