Ann Hiatt - Bet on Yourself: Recognize, Own, and Implement Breakthrough Opportunities

For entrepreneurs everywhere

2021 Ann Hiatt

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Published by HarperCollins Leadership, an imprint of HarperCollins Focus LLC.

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ISBN 978-1-4002-2030-4 (eBook)

ISBN 978-1-4002-2026-7 (HC)

Epub Edition August 2021 9781400220304

Library of Congress Control Number: 2021941747

Printed in the United States of America

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E veryone can remember a similar feeling when the COVID-19 pandemic took hold: a sense that many things were no longer under control. As the virus spread around the globe, parts of daily life that many had taken for granted before were gone. Working in an office, gathering with loved ones, attending events, and traveling were out the window as staying healthy became the foremost concern. As I write this in June 2021, that feeling is ending thanks to advances in science and technology and the invention of life-saving vaccines. People are getting more control over their livesand what comes next can be a once-in-a-century chance for reinvention.

How can we seize these kinds of moments? A variation of that question has probably dawned on all of us. We need advice. My former chief of staff and dear friend Ann Hiatt reminds us in these pages that pivots are part of every life and career; whether intentional or not. Change is constant. The pivot to a post-pandemic world will be historic, but it wont be the last shift in our lives.

Turning these pivots into opportunities requires a strategy to reimagine whats possible. That strategy could include reflecting on fundamentals, rethinking priorities, and asking ourselves what we value and why. This is not an easy task. A book with great stories about a life full of changes, challenges, and purposea book that shows tanglible ways we can all find meaningcouldnt be timelier. And it starts by giving the advice that so many need to hear after so much has been out of our controlBet on Yourself.

Ann was on her way to becoming a Scandinavian studies professor, not the chief of staff at Google, a speaker, and a leadership strategist, when a persistent recruiter gave her a call in 2006. The recruiter had to pick up the phone three more times before Ann even agreed to tour Googles campus, let alone leave her PhD program. But that persistence paid off, and Ann took a bet on herself that she was the person our team needed to accomplish our mission through some of the most important years of my career and Googles history. That bet made all the difference.

Before Ann and I worked together, she had established a reputation built on excellence without ego. She always did her homework. She had a track record of being a force multiplier for those around heran ability she may have picked up as the oldest of seven children descended from Idaho farmers and an Air Force pilot based in Alaska, who flew F-4 Phantom fighter jets. She could be in several places at once, managing projects in London and New York while spearheading the team at our headquarters in California. Most importantly, she empowered and elevated her teammates to pursue excellence.

How she did all this has often been a mystery. But in reading this book, her method and dedication come through. Each chapter goes through case studies and business lessons from her career and then invites the reader to apply them in their own lives through an ROI sprint, wherein you Recognize, Own, and Implement your own course toward a rewarding professional and personal life. These ROI sprints demonstrate that the lessons we learned in Silicon Valley are applicable in any field.

Thats especially true for those of us who want to use opportunities for reinvention to achieve new goals. Three years into our partnership, Ann entered my office with the objective of taking the next big step in her career. She was ready to be chief of staff. She had a habit of laying out clear objectives six months or a year in advance, but this was different. The role of chief of staff didnt yet exist. So, she invented it. She put together a roadmap of what the role could look like and how she could develop the skills to take our operation to the next level. What I didnt fully appreciate before Bet on Yourself was the legwork Ann did to find new ways to make meaningful contributionsit involved a lot of spreadsheets. The template she outlines can help you take a proactive approach to your career and chart your growth, no matter what business youre in. Today, the role of chief of staff is standard in the technology industry.

This book also contains stories of some of the mistakes we made along the waysome serious and some we now laugh about. An anecdote in the latter category came to mind when I read Anns discussion of her rituals to build resilience, including her commitment to work out every morning. She was gracious enough not to include this, but when I made a commitment to become fitter during my tenure, I went with her to one of her dawn high-intensity interval training classes. It was in the company parking lot, where our colleagues pulled into work. That day, they got to see me embody Googles emphasis on failing early and often, as I struggled to keep up while the sun rose. I may not have gone back to the class the next day, but Anns right that challenging ourselves builds resilience. We all need new challenges.

Resilience was necessary in 2011, when I became the executive chairman of Google after 10 years as CEO. I wanted to take the opportunity to reimagine what leadership could look like. Every one of my direct reports assumed new roles, except for one. Ann became the only person who reported directly to me as we entered this new phase. With just a small team after the reorganization, Ann created what I later described as an embarrassingly good operation. In this book, she goes through chapter and verse how she made that happenfrom the structure to the staffing to the ethos of collaboration and information-sharing.

Making sure that we all understood we were on a team and had one anothers backs was very important. In 2017, I gave a speech where I was followed by the newly elected president of France, Emmanuel Macron. Ann noticed I was on edge, which wasnt typical. But the truth is, I was on edge. Not only was it a high-profile event, but the world was going through significant changes that made us all uncertain about the future. I wanted to convey some counterintuitive hope about topics that worry many people, especially the rapid pace of technological progress. Anns steady presence and the sense that we were on a team helped me to deliver that message at a time when it needed to be heard.

Bill Campbell, the coach to some of the most powerful executives in Silicon Valley, taught me, Your title makes you a manager, but its your team that makes you a leader. As we pivot toward a post-pandemic future with a chance for reinvention, the world needs good leaders. From someone whos dedicated her career to bringing out greatness in those around her and in herself, I cant think of a more fitting contribution to that cause than Bet on Yourself.

Eric Schmidt, cofounder, Schmidt Futures, and former CEO and executive chairman, Google