How to Take Radical Ownership of Your Life and Career - Claire Hughes Johnson

Claire Hughes Johnson currently serves as a corporate officer and advisor for Stripe, a global technology company that builds economic infrastructure for the Internet. Claire previously served as Stripe’s chief operating officer from 2014 to 2021, helping grow the company from fewer than 200 employees to more than 6,000. Her book is Scaling People: Tactics for Management and Company Building: www.amazon.com/Scaling-People...
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Momentous high-quality supplements: livemomentous.com/tim (code TIM for 20% off)
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Resources from this episode: tim.blog/2024/02/27/claire-hu...
[00:00] Preview
[01:00] Say the thing you think you cannot say.
[07:05] Detoxifying your left-hand column.
[15:30] Victim versus player.
[25:05] Recommended reading.
[31:32] The case for reading fiction.
[39:43] Crafting a working-with-me document.
[48:11] Make the implicit explicit.
[54:01] An Irish Goodbye.
[55:11] Email policies.
[01:01:03] Renegotiating the terms of expectations.
[01:03:28] Listening for the quiet no.
[01:06:02] Money versus time.
[01:08:02] Good rules can be liberating.
[01:11:12] Leadership and disappointment.
[01:16:39] Renegotiating past disappointment.
[01:37:34] Asking a question versus stating an opinion.
[01:41:17] Training wheels for a “no.”
[01:42:54] Time, talent, treasure, and testimony.
[01:47:29] Spotting bad apples while hiring.
[01:49:34] If you’re not self-aware, how would you know?
[01:52:34] Work style assessments for self-awareness building.
[02:00:10] Paragons of no.
[02:02:36] No more boards.
[02:06:50] Pushers and pullers.
[02:14:20] Parting thoughts.
Please enjoy!
Tim Ferriss is one of Fast Company’s “Most Innovative Business People” and an early-stage tech investor/advisor in Uber, Facebook, Twitter, Shopify, Duolingo, Alibaba, and 50+ other companies. He is also the author of five #1 New York Times and Wall Street Journal bestsellers: The 4-Hour Workweek, The 4-Hour Body, The 4-Hour Chef, Tools of Titans and Tribe of Mentors. The Observer and other media have named him “the Oprah of audio” due to the influence of his podcast, The Tim Ferriss Show, which has exceeded 900 million downloads and been selected for “Best of Apple Podcasts” three years running.
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[@timferriss]

Timestamps will be added shortly. This episode is brought to you by: AG1 all-in-one nutritional supplement: drinkag1.com/tim (1-year supply of Vitamin D (and 5 free AG1 travel packs) with your first subscription purchase.) LinkedIn Ads marketing platform with 1B+ users: linkedin.com/TFS (free $100 LinkedIn ad credit for your first campaign) Momentous high-quality supplements: livemomentous.com/tim (code TIM for 20% off)

[@Eggs-n-Jakey]

I could listen to her talk all day, so interesting. Great episode.

[@helgipalko]

“Reading fiction is an emotional workout”. Such an important thought, reading fictions is just that - a great way to build your emotional intelligence. Thank you for the gorgeous questions, Tim, you are doing some world-class listening there. And Claire is an absolute gem!

[@richigil9883]

Claire, I am one of the founders of Axialent, together with Fred Kofman. I love to listen to you speak about the work Axialent does in the world, helping individuals, teams and organizations discover their true nature and to express it skillfully. Self Awareness, “say the thing you think you cannot say” can completely change the way you have conversations and therefore shift into a culture at the service of your business strategy. A culture based of authentic conversations, where nothing is left unsaid, where conflicts are dealt with in a constructive manner; a culture of impeccability where people say what they will do and then do as they say.

[@moniquefrench]

Axialent, Fred Kofman course and book remain the best live course I have ever attended. 👍

[@robertmichon5448]

This was one of the best conversations I've heard in years. Talk about hard-won, deep insights from a courageous, self- aware human. Rarified air.

[@manideli2662]

Claire is so relatable, so relevant!

[@dank.6942]

Just before she said 100 years of solitude, I was saying that title in my head. It is magical and brilliant.

[@leadgenjay]

Claire's insights on scaling a company are spot on, especially the part about crafting a working-with-me document. A little-known tactic for entrepreneurs is establishing a 'user manual' for yourself, which can help your team understand your work style and preferences, leading to better communication and efficiency as you scale. This is a game-changer for leadership transparency and team dynamics.

[@ASwae]

"Say the things you THINK you cannot say" spot on! Great podcast as always

[@wildwhyvodcast]

I met Claire at a talk she gave at Brown and she was kind enough to sign a copy of her book for me and answer a question I had about communicating the mission of our company. Just wanted to say Thanks and that I am looking forward to listening to this conversation!

[@maryamgharavi]

This is by far my favourite Podcast of yours Tim. Perhaps because of the timing with my life , either way thank you for sharing :)

[@ruruganda]

I couldn't agree more. Worth watching twice. is there a framework for a 'working with me' document? what were your key takeaways?

[@jonkraghshow]

This episode has some of the best advice for running a tech org that I've ever heard.

[@Wealth-and-Wellbeing]

Jeannette Winterson! Such dense luscious writing. It is fabulous to hear her mentioned.

[@ThomasAndersonPhD]

This was a fantastic episode for leadership and mentorship.

[@RugilePenno-qr1nh]

"The toy is broken" nice description. Thanks for mentioning "John Wick ", watched bits of it, very good. That was a very insightful and enjoyable episode. Thank you Claire and Tim

[@kindedge]

INTJs (me) are brilliant prob solvers & intuitives…. But MUST have pause BEFORE and MIDDLE - 2 meetings: introduce the prob & openly share dynamics…. (Intj goes away … masterminds solutions, has time to seek to understand with teams needed in the solution)…. Then INTJ comes back w solution with INTENT to right fit / modify the plan for reality & intj does NOT get butthurt over feedback, she likes to ‘get to truth of what works.’ But needs time alone to play w the puzzle pieces or will be silent in meeting.

[@jenniferhall5375]

Such an insightful episode. And have never read Virginia Wolff. Ordered To the Lighthouse.

[@happy_homesltd]

Oh wow - this episode was GOLD! I need to re-listen and take notes (was out walking, an experiment that you're into as well, right Tim!?) Will absolutely be getting her book and so many tactical pieces of advice for any sort of leadership/colleauge communication!

[@DrewSidoro-tx3ui]

❤️Imagine feeling like you're constantly spinning your wheels in the trading world, trying out different strategies, putting in countless hours of research, and yet, seeing little to no profit to show for it. It's like hitting a brick wall of frustration, where every setback feels like a punch to the gut, leaving you questioning if success in trading is even possible

[@medauric6026]

This is gold guys. Thanks Claire and Tim

[@venkydecodes]

I've observed that Claire said "by the way" a lot during the conversation 😉 By the way, this was a masterclass convo in leadership & mentorship. So many things revolve around the psychological aspects. Thank you Tim and Claire!

[@VeronicaBetty]

One of your best shows ever. More brilliant women, please

[@matejsvec4451]

This was sooo great! I struggle with a lot of leadership problems in my work and this was ust so valuable to listen to! many practical concepts to apply!

[@evelynteoh2018]

Watching this halfway and want to say that i love the dynamic of this conversation. It feels like the gems are flowing through me in an effortless way.

[@ryanrsullivan]

She needs a podcast if shew doesn't have one....her voice is seriously soothing!

[@cathughes6]

Another amazing episode. Took away a ton of notes on things to read and things I need to work on myself. Thank you both.

[@Kat-ef2qr]

Such a good discussion ❤ Would love to have Claire as a Coach. Will listen to her book and Conscious Business. Thanks to the both of you!

[@TheBoxerduke]

Really great nuggets throughout. Super smart person

[@Cruize91]

I really enjoyed how concrete and specific she is, and it's an interesting peak behind the scenes of the corporate world. With regards to "Working with me" documents, I really like this idea, and just recently took a personality test for a new job. The test produced a report that will be shared with my colleagues about how one typically would interact with my personality type and vice versa. Thought it was kind of interesting, and pretty precise with regards to my personality type.

[@pennygrimes8425]

Great conversation, thank you Tim + Claire.

[@coppersense999]

1:15:30 Real quick I absolutely love this interview and her leadership tips and as a stripe customer I have to say kudos for staying late on Fridays to take care of support tickets and step further let's just go ahead and scale back on all those support tickets so you don't have to stay late!

[@joseontiveros1942]

Incredible conversation !! Didn’t know Claire and now I’m a fan.

[@MichelleBrownAU]

Brilliant conversation!!

[@joryiansmith]

This conversation was overflowing with golden nuggets 🔥🙏

[@diananebria9943]

Thanks for this episode Tim. I learned a lot from your conversation with Claire and will definitely apply it in my area of work.

[@TitanCoach]

This was a great episode @timferriss ! As a retired CIO, Executive Coach and life long learner I plan to add many of the practical concepts and insights to my toolkit! -Joe

[@karenkeiper1278]

WOW!! what a great interview.

[@SAfanasyev]

This is such an insightful podcast! @timferriss and Claire, you’ve answered so many questions I’ve had on my list. A heartfelt thank you for this conversation ✨💫

[@RabbiT-qh8pd]

Great episode thanks Claire and Tim

[@BibBobBibOnVacation]

Smart woman ☘️enjoyed her input 🎈

[@DonovanWillisDMK]

Hi Tim. Your content is great. Thanks for sharing

[@billpapad]

Excellent interview! Thanks for this!

[@firstsecond9569]

I am Irish. When they first said the phrase "Irish goodbye", I assumed it meant a long drawn out goodbye that breaks into a half hour chat before you actually go, which is typical in Ireland, but that definition didn't fit with what they said, and when I googled it, its the exact opposite. Is there a reason that the phrase means exactly the opposite of what would be expected?

[@medauric6026]

Anthony de Mello… what a blast from the past. Lovely

[@BlakeElliott35]

Solid advice

[@richigil9883]

Also Claire, to detoxify you need to get beyond the toxicity of the left hand column and discover the story that gives rise to it. That story is almost always (like 100% of the time) a story of honoring values that are dear to you that you believe are at risk. Once you discover that story, it is much easier to speak about that story of nobility that allows you to naturally detox your LHC. I hope this makes sense…

[@robertmichon5448]

Excellent comment. Rare on YT.

[@user-jy5gv8vc2x]

do you have any worksheets for your podcasts.

[@jonathanemeryarena]

Interesting, Claire says Tim’s name a lot in the conversation - tell tail artifact of corporate management and leadership training.

[@cag1]

1. What is a corporate officer? conf. video description 2. Why do Tim's videos get so little views when he's got 1,43 mio followers on yt?

[@janetstauffer9138]

Listen to the quiet ‘no’. ‘When do you need to know’?

[@madviolettecottageserenbe]

Bruno🔥

[@CryptoC4T]

I don't get the first example of player vs victim. If Lucy didn't make her notes on time how is it comparable with me makeing another thing a priority? Its like two answers for two different facts so comparing them is lost on me.

[@9xixix9]

She’s saying if you know task #1 is important, and you don’t get it done because someone else didn’t, then a Player would find a creative way to still meet the end goal as best they can. Instead of just making that excuse and blaming it on Lucy. It’s not so much about this exact example because you can get lost in debating the specifics, it’s more the mindset overall. Meaning do you just sit back and blame others for stuff not done, or do you usually take proactive action to find solutions to solve a problem?

[@CryptoC4T]

@@9xixix9 I understand the concept, as I wrote, I don't get the example. From what you wrote, you also don't, since you feel the need to generalise it - examples are the opposite of generalisation. Also if there is a way to do the task without Lucy's input then this is a whole different situation than the example given.

[@dollyxyz]

Another kind way to say no -"I DECLINE". People don't like hearing NO - but they're fine with hearing "I DECLINE". And then you can give them your reason for declining. The use of these words catches them off guard. It's so polite but firm.

[@scottinguito5997]

The Waves by Virginia Woolf.

[@ahikernamedgq]

It is not a "victim mentality" to acknowledge that your work is dependent on others.

[@mariaisabelpinero5415]

I partially agree. She is really saying you need to do the job of other lazy or irresponsible coworkers to meet objectives, and the other person can keep behaving the same way, while you are 100% accountable. Sorry but i dont agree.

[@ppvdani794]

boriiiiing , like she trows away a business book after 10 pages i shut down this episodes after 20 minutes so gave it a chance bbut really really nothing interesting but thanks for the work nevertheless , give us more Tim

[@MrLyell]

Best of luck with your low-risk-low-reward-9-5

[@jasongravely7217]

Hmmm. Whah exactly did you not find interesting? “Say the thing you think you cannot say” is boring? Accountability, productivity tools, collaboration are boring to you?

[@jollyrogers99999]

OK but too verbose & self-laudating....

[@highendbutthurt2781]

Where was this conversation 5 years ago. I learned all of this the hard way, and internalised a lot of it, and I have trail of burned bridges to prove it haha