Comments on: Why CEOs Are So Boring http://blog.redfin.com/blog/2010/03/why_ceos_are_so_boring.html Redfin Corporate Blog Fri, 10 Feb 2012 02:35:37 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.0.1 By: About Last Night… | Redfin Corporate Blog http://blog.redfin.com/blog/2010/03/why_ceos_are_so_boring.html/comment-page-1#comment-9059 About Last Night… | Redfin Corporate Blog Thu, 17 Jun 2010 06:32:32 +0000 http://blog.redfin.com/?p=2458#comment-9059 [...] and Mike can’t understand why he’s being treated like the CEO of Motorola or Boeing, who never say anything interesting because their every utterance is, for both speaker and listener, nothing more than a recalibration [...] [...] and Mike can’t understand why he’s being treated like the CEO of Motorola or Boeing, who never say anything interesting because their every utterance is, for both speaker and listener, nothing more than a recalibration [...]

]]> By: Ben http://blog.redfin.com/blog/2010/03/why_ceos_are_so_boring.html/comment-page-1#comment-7818 Ben Thu, 18 Mar 2010 21:53:00 +0000 http://blog.redfin.com/?p=2458#comment-7818 My first job out of school was at a management consulting firm. I came in big-haired and untamed, a flyer in the recruiting process that didn't fit the mold but presented as someone with potential, if he only had some grooming. I learned quickly: the hair soon cut, I shopped for khakis at the Gap, and even wore the requisite suit and tie til 6.30pm most Mondays through Thursdays. But along with the standout rawness of youth, my standout brutal honesty and even my creativity were tempered. Since they weren't backed by years of business experience, that rawness was more likely to more often cause big problems with the client than to produce unexpected insights. Over the years, I admit it, I've gotten boring. The allure of avoiding making mistakes is that it spares the pain of the hot stove burner. But it doesn't create success. Now I search deeper within myself to find the impulsive brash strength of self and let it out more often. My first job out of school was at a management consulting firm. I came in big-haired and untamed, a flyer in the recruiting process that didn’t fit the mold but presented as someone with potential, if he only had some grooming. I learned quickly: the hair soon cut, I shopped for khakis at the Gap, and even wore the requisite suit and tie til 6.30pm most Mondays through Thursdays. But along with the standout rawness of youth, my standout brutal honesty and even my creativity were tempered. Since they weren’t backed by years of business experience, that rawness was more likely to more often cause big problems with the client than to produce unexpected insights.

Over the years, I admit it, I’ve gotten boring.

The allure of avoiding making mistakes is that it spares the pain of the hot stove burner. But it doesn’t create success.

Now I search deeper within myself to find the impulsive brash strength of self and let it out more often.

]]> By: Glenn Kelman http://blog.redfin.com/blog/2010/03/why_ceos_are_so_boring.html/comment-page-1#comment-7756 Glenn Kelman Tue, 09 Mar 2010 23:52:58 +0000 http://blog.redfin.com/?p=2458#comment-7756 Excellent points Anonymous. There is some nostalgia about the absence of partisanship among "statesmen" of a different era. And I agree that we have to less disagree about than in the past, which makes the disagreements all the more silly... Excellent points Anonymous. There is some nostalgia about the absence of partisanship among “statesmen” of a different era. And I agree that we have to less disagree about than in the past, which makes the disagreements all the more silly…

]]> By: Anonymous http://blog.redfin.com/blog/2010/03/why_ceos_are_so_boring.html/comment-page-1#comment-7749 Anonymous Tue, 09 Mar 2010 19:04:29 +0000 http://blog.redfin.com/?p=2458#comment-7749 Glenn - I love almost everything you write. I wonder how partisan things actually are. We did have a Civil War at one point. That was pretty partisan. During the election between Adams and Jefferson, allegations of incest were bandied about. Alexander Hamilton was shot in a duel. William Jennings Bryan, as Secretary of State, resigned in protest at the start of World War I. We had McCarthy. Nixon-Kennedy in 1960 was almost as close as Bush-Gore. We had the Civil Rights Era. Politics is politics. Do you know what happens when people agree: You get things like the Gulf of Tonkin Resolution passing 416-0 under false pretenses authorizing use of military force in Vietnam under the President's authority. Today seems downright boring. Both parties basically agree that Capitalism works. No one can argue about present American supremacy, especially militarily. Both parties have a similar foreign policy. There is no risk of overturning Roe v. Wade. Crime is the lowest it has been in decades. What exactly is the divisive issue of our day? Nothing, it seems. Glenn – I love almost everything you write. I wonder how partisan things actually are. We did have a Civil War at one point. That was pretty partisan. During the election between Adams and Jefferson, allegations of incest were bandied about. Alexander Hamilton was shot in a duel. William Jennings Bryan, as Secretary of State, resigned in protest at the start of World War I. We had McCarthy. Nixon-Kennedy in 1960 was almost as close as Bush-Gore. We had the Civil Rights Era. Politics is politics. Do you know what happens when people agree: You get things like the Gulf of Tonkin Resolution passing 416-0 under false pretenses authorizing use of military force in Vietnam under the President’s authority.

Today seems downright boring. Both parties basically agree that Capitalism works. No one can argue about present American supremacy, especially militarily. Both parties have a similar foreign policy. There is no risk of overturning Roe v. Wade. Crime is the lowest it has been in decades. What exactly is the divisive issue of our day? Nothing, it seems.

]]> By: julie S. Jacobson http://blog.redfin.com/blog/2010/03/why_ceos_are_so_boring.html/comment-page-1#comment-7737 julie S. Jacobson Tue, 09 Mar 2010 05:19:06 +0000 http://blog.redfin.com/?p=2458#comment-7737 GO Bears - don't we usually just stick it to Stanford though, isn't that what they're there for?? BA 1994 me ;-) thank you for this piece. it is true, in this age of everything landing on the internet we do need to be mindful, yet stay genuine. a fine balance. GO Bears – don’t we usually just stick it to Stanford though, isn’t that what they’re there for?? BA 1994 me ;-)

thank you for this piece. it is true, in this age of everything landing on the internet we do need to be mindful, yet stay genuine. a fine balance.

]]> By: Glenn Kelman http://blog.redfin.com/blog/2010/03/why_ceos_are_so_boring.html/comment-page-1#comment-7735 Glenn Kelman Tue, 09 Mar 2010 01:20:54 +0000 http://blog.redfin.com/?p=2458#comment-7735 Spencer, I'll try to spice things up once and a while just for you... Bryan, how do fortune cookie companies hire such geniuses? I really like that line. And William, thanks very much for the kind words. A very thoughtful comment. Spencer, I’ll try to spice things up once and a while just for you…

Bryan, how do fortune cookie companies hire such geniuses? I really like that line.

And William, thanks very much for the kind words. A very thoughtful comment.

]]> By: Bryan Waters http://blog.redfin.com/blog/2010/03/why_ceos_are_so_boring.html/comment-page-1#comment-7733 Bryan Waters Tue, 09 Mar 2010 00:57:59 +0000 http://blog.redfin.com/?p=2458#comment-7733 "Good judgment comes from experience. Experience comes from bad judgment" from fortune cookie I received last week. I believe you, Fred, and the person who wrote that fortune cookie have it figured out! Very interesting, thanks. “Good judgment comes from experience. Experience comes from bad judgment” from fortune cookie I received last week. I believe you, Fred, and the person who wrote that fortune cookie have it figured out! Very interesting, thanks.

]]> By: William Carleton http://blog.redfin.com/blog/2010/03/why_ceos_are_so_boring.html/comment-page-1#comment-7732 William Carleton Mon, 08 Mar 2010 22:35:39 +0000 http://blog.redfin.com/?p=2458#comment-7732 Glenn, this is really thoughtful, and moving (and sobering). One thought, or hope, I have is that folks like you and Fred Wilson are really ahead of the curve. That is, having behaved and spoken in the public eye eye for so long and having blazed the trail of transparency for others to emulate, you guys are now feeling the implications that argue for reassessing the wisdom of limits. But you've earned that re-assessment. Others remain withdrawn for not-the-right-reasons. Some of us are still on a journey exploring what happens when transparency, not secrecy, becomes the default. Glenn, this is really thoughtful, and moving (and sobering). One thought, or hope, I have is that folks like you and Fred Wilson are really ahead of the curve. That is, having behaved and spoken in the public eye eye for so long and having blazed the trail of transparency for others to emulate, you guys are now feeling the implications that argue for reassessing the wisdom of limits. But you’ve earned that re-assessment. Others remain withdrawn for not-the-right-reasons. Some of us are still on a journey exploring what happens when transparency, not secrecy, becomes the default.

]]> By: Spencer Rascoff http://blog.redfin.com/blog/2010/03/why_ceos_are_so_boring.html/comment-page-1#comment-7731 Spencer Rascoff Mon, 08 Mar 2010 17:54:52 +0000 http://blog.redfin.com/?p=2458#comment-7731 Glenn Kelman "boring"? Say it ain't so!? Never. Glenn Kelman “boring”? Say it ain’t so!? Never.

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