Another interesting factor is someone like James Vowles, who came through Mercedes under Toto's leadership and has become a well-respected people-first manager at Williams in his own right. A great example of the finding your people & changing culture Toto talks about!
Yes, I love that example! James Vowles is such a clear proof that when you create a strong culture, people carry it with them. The ripple effects are real!
Reflecting on one's own leadership style and making adjustment is useful, but I find that in any reasonably sized organization, it's helpful to have both types of leaders since both types of "drivers" exist---some engineers really like the high pressure, rockstars only approach to team composition and they will leave the second type of team.
I agree that reflection and adjustment are valuable, but I'd push back on the assumption that we need pressure-cooker environments to retain top performers. Three thoughts:
First, Tech rockstars differ slightly from F1 drivers: in Tech, rockstars win when the team wins, not just when they individually win (think successful impactful launches). In F1, a driver wins if they win Drivers' championship primarily, and secondarily the Constructors.
Second, even within Tech, not all rockstars are the same:
The best rockstars I've worked with are intrinsically motivated and don't need additional pressure or a rockstar-only environment to perform; they're focused on winning as a team, period.
The rockstars who don't care about others and the team aren't the ones you want to build around anyway - they tend to create dysfunctional, jerk-like dynamics that ultimately hurt performance.
Third, the retention issue may be backwards. True rockstars don't leave teams because everyone else isn't a rockstar - they leave because the team is losing. And the reason the team is losing can be varied, and sometimes it’s when others aren't pulling their weight. So, if you want to retain top talent, the solution is to get the whole team to perform and be functional, and therefore win. And for that, the answer isn't a Horner-style "pressure-cooker, rockstars only" approach but more of a Wolff-style leadership that gets the team to win.
What do you think, am I missing something about why pressure-cooker environments might be necessary?
I don't have enough F1 knowledge to hang with you on that front---everything I know about F1 I learned from your post here :P.
My argument is there's a spectrum of pressure/ambition/psychological safety that the post over-reduces. Some leaders focus on ambition, business outcomes, fast career growth, hire and fire quickly, and are transactional in nature. If the rewards are present, they will attract employees who will enjoy being in that environment, even if those employees are transactional. "Delivery" is their mantra.
There were teams like that at Google when you were there, right? I'd bet money there were teams like that a Uber :)
Other leaders focus on long term development of employees, building close relationships on and off the team, building consensus so solve problems, etc. "Support" is their mantra.
Or put another way, if you're a CEO of a "reasonably sized organization," which let's say means 3000+ people, why not build around both kinds of rockstars and create teams with different characteristics that attract different kinds of people, not selecting only one kind of leader.
Being mean or dysfunctional---all the way to the right of the spectrum---is a net negative in my view, though I have seen very successful teams led by leaders who fit that description. To protect the guilty from my life, let's just use well-known examples like Steve Jobs or Bill Gates: yelling at employees, publicly humiliating them, sending flaming email, etc. They're successful because they have a unique talent that can't be replaced and have managed to insulate the rest of their org from the dysfunction by a layer of resilient and flexible lieutenants.
Totally agree! Senna's story is truly incredible and pulled me into F1 too. If you haven't already, I highly recommend watching the Senna miniseries on Netflix too.
Another interesting factor is someone like James Vowles, who came through Mercedes under Toto's leadership and has become a well-respected people-first manager at Williams in his own right. A great example of the finding your people & changing culture Toto talks about!
Yes, I love that example! James Vowles is such a clear proof that when you create a strong culture, people carry it with them. The ripple effects are real!
Reflecting on one's own leadership style and making adjustment is useful, but I find that in any reasonably sized organization, it's helpful to have both types of leaders since both types of "drivers" exist---some engineers really like the high pressure, rockstars only approach to team composition and they will leave the second type of team.
I agree that reflection and adjustment are valuable, but I'd push back on the assumption that we need pressure-cooker environments to retain top performers. Three thoughts:
First, Tech rockstars differ slightly from F1 drivers: in Tech, rockstars win when the team wins, not just when they individually win (think successful impactful launches). In F1, a driver wins if they win Drivers' championship primarily, and secondarily the Constructors.
Second, even within Tech, not all rockstars are the same:
The best rockstars I've worked with are intrinsically motivated and don't need additional pressure or a rockstar-only environment to perform; they're focused on winning as a team, period.
The rockstars who don't care about others and the team aren't the ones you want to build around anyway - they tend to create dysfunctional, jerk-like dynamics that ultimately hurt performance.
Third, the retention issue may be backwards. True rockstars don't leave teams because everyone else isn't a rockstar - they leave because the team is losing. And the reason the team is losing can be varied, and sometimes it’s when others aren't pulling their weight. So, if you want to retain top talent, the solution is to get the whole team to perform and be functional, and therefore win. And for that, the answer isn't a Horner-style "pressure-cooker, rockstars only" approach but more of a Wolff-style leadership that gets the team to win.
What do you think, am I missing something about why pressure-cooker environments might be necessary?
I don't have enough F1 knowledge to hang with you on that front---everything I know about F1 I learned from your post here :P.
My argument is there's a spectrum of pressure/ambition/psychological safety that the post over-reduces. Some leaders focus on ambition, business outcomes, fast career growth, hire and fire quickly, and are transactional in nature. If the rewards are present, they will attract employees who will enjoy being in that environment, even if those employees are transactional. "Delivery" is their mantra.
There were teams like that at Google when you were there, right? I'd bet money there were teams like that a Uber :)
Other leaders focus on long term development of employees, building close relationships on and off the team, building consensus so solve problems, etc. "Support" is their mantra.
Or put another way, if you're a CEO of a "reasonably sized organization," which let's say means 3000+ people, why not build around both kinds of rockstars and create teams with different characteristics that attract different kinds of people, not selecting only one kind of leader.
Being mean or dysfunctional---all the way to the right of the spectrum---is a net negative in my view, though I have seen very successful teams led by leaders who fit that description. To protect the guilty from my life, let's just use well-known examples like Steve Jobs or Bill Gates: yelling at employees, publicly humiliating them, sending flaming email, etc. They're successful because they have a unique talent that can't be replaced and have managed to insulate the rest of their org from the dysfunction by a layer of resilient and flexible lieutenants.
"Senna" is, in my opinion, the best documentary on Netflix. It has inspired millions and sparked their interest in Formula 1, including myself.
Totally agree! Senna's story is truly incredible and pulled me into F1 too. If you haven't already, I highly recommend watching the Senna miniseries on Netflix too.
I like the text! Didn’t know that you like F1. Toto is one of the person that I admire a lot in the leadership style.