Some call the Stanford Graduate School of Business “drinking from the fire hose.” I prefer to call the GSB “a buffet of awesome.” I made a point to define my experience as a continuous prioritization exercise. The short-cut? It’s either “Hell Yes, or No.”
Welcome to Timeless Leadership! This week I share a story about how I founded the “Hell Yes Club” (HYC) at Stanford GSB, and how the idea behind it facilitated a year of continuous growth in my life and leadership.
Also in this issue:
Preview of my LinkedIn update
Calls for guest authors! (March-May)
Picture taken on July 3rd, 2016, when Nimmi and I road-tripped to CA for me to start at Stanford.
The birth of an idea
For years, I would always plug in a podcast or audiobook while physically busy but mentally unoccupied. This gave me great fodder for innovative ideas and strategies.
I cherished the creative swirl of thoughts that spin up while listening to great thinkers all during mundane routines like commuting, exercising, or doing chores.
Then one day in April 2015 I was running in Central Park, training for the Brooklyn Half Marathon, when I finished listening to Essentialism by Greg Mckeown.
Instead of immediately advancing to the next book or switching on a song, I continued my run in silence.
Essentialism made me pause and think:
When it comes to ideas, just like food, there can be too much of a good thing. I realized that rather than voraciously consuming content each spare moment I could find, perhaps I needed to more heavily curate what I consumed, and align it with my true purpose and values.
With more mental space I might also better process and act on what I already know.
Essentialism brought together many disparate ideas that I had entertained up to that point (ironically, all discovered because of my previous consumption habits):
Stoicism
Minimalism
Lean Startup
Marie Kondo’s art of tidying up
Michael Pollan’s 7 Rules of Eating
Derek Siver’s famous “Hell Yea or No” litmus test for decisions
The last of those ideas in particular stuck out to me. When we have enough privilege from effort and luck that many good opportunities come our way, the benefits of holding out for the truly great ones matters a ton.
Conveniently, I crystalized these ideas just months before applying to business school.
Thus, the first big test was where will I apply?
I sorted by program quality, geography, school brand, and alignment to my personal growth goals. I decided that I’d only consider programs where I could earn “at least 1 degree per year.” This left me with two schools, and three “Hell Yes” options:
Stanford GSB - either the joint MBA/MA in Education, or the MSx
Kellogg MMM - a joint MBA and MS in Design Innovation
3 months later I was accepted to both the MSx and the MMM. It was a tough call but Stanford won out on school brand, opportunity cost, a more mature cohort of classmates, and the weather.
Going to Stanford GSB was a clear Hell Yes.
Making a plan
Now that I had decided on the MSx program at Stanford, I got to work developing a plan for how to make the most of that one, precious year.
My Essentialism and Derek Sivers inspired vision came together quickly.
At admin weekend in April 2016, with ~80% of the class accepted and committed, I starting pitching this vision to any of my future classmates as possible.
“So I’m going to launch The Hell Yes Club.”
“You should join. We’re going to make the most of the year.”
“Check out the website* and sign up if you’re interested!”
I made it very clear to myself and my peers that I wasn’t fucking around at Stanford. I was going to only do the shit that I really believed in - and I wanted them to too!
(Yes, I cursed a lot. It was very on brand for me as a New Yorker.)
(*the website is gone, but you can see the Internet Way back machine archive of it)
Launching the Club
I had two conceptions of the Hell Yes Club.
The first was an actual, “capital C” Club. This one involved bringing people together under some form of a club charter and governance, and trying to establish a rhythm of doing “Hell Yes” decision making together.
The second was a mindset. I viewed Stanford GSB itself as one big “Hell Yes or No” club already. I just wanted to put a name to it, and help myself and others consciously live up to the full potential of the year.
To tackle the first, I got started by organizing an event the very first month after our program started. This was the agenda:
Presentation of "Hell Yes, or no" heuristic, its origins, and the rationale for a "club"
Presentation of the recommended modalities to foster a HY community, with examples
Small group discussion
Closing
In that first session about 20 people showed up.
After some discussions with members and reviewing my own calendar, I then held two “forums”, one in the fall and one in the winter quarter, as formal gatherings for “members.”
An image from a promotional email I sent out about one of the HYC events I hosted. My friends are shown hands raised while partying late one night at a bar in New York City.
The club served it’s purpose - it helped shape the conversation for our class, and it helped me and several of my peers process important decisions.
But the more important work - my true “Hell Yes” - was making sure that I maintained a mindset of thoughtful consumption at Stanford’s Buffet of Awesome.
I did not want to drown from the firehose.
Living the mindset
Outside of the handful of club activities I organized, the GSB afforded me opportunities to practice “Hell Yes or No” decision-making on an almost daily basis.
The big decisions like class selection and taking on leadership roles had a major impact on how I spent my time and ultimately influenced others.
But the little decisions were just as important. My daily schedule and the effort I put into any given task cumulatively drove the effectiveness of my larger commitments.
I could literally write an entire book made up of the most fun and interesting experiences I had at the GSB. For now though, what’s most important is the path that this year put me on.
A turning point?
Like everyone else, I went to business school to build skills, credibility, and a network. Unlike most of my peers, I had spent my entire career up to that point in the non-profit and social impact space.
To put it bluntly - I didn’t have the bank account of a banker.
I also deeply wanted to be in a position to start and support a family.
This gave me a strong incentive to prioritize financial gain after Stanford.
I hadn’t originally set out to pivot to Tech after the GSB, but I did think going into the private sector, at least for a while, would help me learn and earn.
At first, I spent a long time looking at edtech companies.
Then one of my mentors succinctly described the unique moment I was in.
“You only graduate Stanford once,” he told me. “Leap as far as you can.”
You’re right I thought. What’s more “hell yes” than taking a big leap when you’re already on a kick-ass springboard?
A lot of people take the leap into entrepreneurship at the GSB.
For me, I took a leap into a profit-seeking venture - complete with the pressures from Wall Street to deliver results each quarter, and offer ever more enticing guidance about the future.
Part of the welcome kit Box sent me when I was offered a position on the team.
Next week: how did the pivot work out?
Did you have a major “Hell Yes or No” decision in your career? Did it have anything to do with business school? Drop a comment or send me a message and share your story.
My Upcoming LinkedIn Announcement
On Thursday I’m going to update my LinkedIn to add the new role I started two weeks ago. I’m excited to officially share the news soon! If we’re connected there, look out for the post and my updated profile.
You'll also get a more complete breakdown of the new role and how it fits into my Timeless Leader journey right here in this newsletter. So stay tuned on Feb 20th!
Fun fact: my new boss is a fellow GSB alum!
Calls for guest authors!
After Season 1 my goal is to feature some guest authors while I prepare for Season 2 and focus on my day job. Would you like to write a guest post sometime between March-May? The kinds of topics you can write about could include:
A story of when you had a “time crisis” and how you led through it
Your philosophy of managing time as a leader across personal, organizational, and societal spheres
A specific tool, resource, or framework that has helped you as a leader when facing time pressure - and why it helps
Something else that’s personal, unique, and thematically relevant to the Timeless Leadership topic!
If you’re interested, fill out this quick form and I’ll be in touch.
That’s all for this week.
Time to go!
-Joe
Thank you so much for this walk through of huge decisions that so many of us face through our careers, Joe. Great anthology of reads too. And essentially, the Hell Yea philosophy is one that I know I could use more of every single day..!