Once, in a high school baseball game, Netflix co-founder Marc Randolph was playing second base. When the ball was hit toward the first baseman, Marc did what he practiced every day and backed him up. The ball eluded the first baseman, so Marc snagged it and threw the runner out at second. When he returned to the dugout, he was surprised to be met with an enthusiastic round of “atta boys” and pats on the back.
Marc remembers his exact response to all the praise. “I’m there every play.”
No, Marc wasn’t bragging to his teammates, he was just being literal-minded. Backing up the first baseman was exactly what he practiced doing time and time again until it became second nature. But he was also trying to relate the lesson he learned on that exciting play. “No one ever sees all the times you do something until the one time you do it and find yourself in the right place at the right time,” he said in this episode.
Marc went on to apply this leadership style, with its emphasis on semper paratus (always ready) to Netflix where he established a company-wide policy that any athlete can appreciate: Use your best judgment.
“Most companies, especially as they get bigger, are building all these guardrails around people,” said Marc. “We believed that what makes someone want to work at a company is being treated like an adult.”
During Marc’s tenure at Netflix, the company had no travel policy for just this reason. “If you have a $30 million budget, we expect you to go out there and land these huge contracts,” he explained. “I mean, you have the ability to make big decisions for the company, but we don’t trust you to make the little ones like whether to fly business class or coach?”
Listeners will learn the leadership philosophy and practice behind the company that grew to more than 250 million subscribers and fundamentally altered how the world experienced media.
"Don is one of the best storytellers I’ve ever met. I’ve known him for a long time and every time we talk I walk away wiser and more inspired. He is the best in the business at teaching you a skill – storytelling – that will last you a lifetime.”
“The ability for athletes to get hired is carried on through you because you are putting out the message that lessons learned from sports are important in life. It is embedded in this podcast, what you’re doing is significant.”
We speak the same language. I am inspired by the stories you tell, the people you have met, and the things you’ve done. Those of us that are competitors like to follow others that have been down that journey, so it is always fun talking to you!”
“Many of the leaders I have worked with were excellent athletes, and I think there is a direct correlation. You’re one of the few people that really has pursued this study, Don. Keep up the great work. What you are doing really makes a difference.”
“Don, you have mastered the skill of interviewing and asking great questions. That is a great skill all leaders need in order to understand their team members’ thought processes.”
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