Google CEO: Young people who learn this tactic can become more successful than most—it's crucial to career growth
"Try to get yourself in a position where you're working with people who you feel are stretching your abilities. [That] is what helps you grow," Pichai, 53, said on an episode of the "Lex Fridman Podcast," which aired on June 5.
Earlier in his own career — he was an engineer at Applied Materials and McKinsey & Co. consultant before joining Google in 2004 — Pichai experienced multiple moments of working "with people who I felt were better than me," he said. He described the feeling of talking to a colleague and having a "Wow!" moment when he realized that their skills and knowledge surpassed his own.
"You want that feeling a few times [early in your career]," said Pichai.
If you feel daunted by the realization that your skills lag behind those of some colleagues, try to be "open-minded enough" to commit to spending time around those people whose talents exceed your own, Pichai said.
Gravitating toward and observing those people can help you learn by absorbing as much of their expertise and work ethic as possible, according to research into the "Positive Spillover" effect by Northwestern University. In the tech industry, just sitting within 25 feet of a high performer at work can boost your own performance by up to 15 percent, Northwestern researchers found in a 2017 study.
"Putting yourself in uncomfortable positions" can help you develop new beneficial skills and practices, said Pichai, adding: "I think, often you'll surprise yourself."
Pichai isn't the only successful executive to share this advice. Surrounding yourself with smart people who have good values is "enormously important," billionaire investor Warren Buffett told attendees of Berkshire Hathaway's annual shareholder meeting in May.
"You are going to have your life progress in the general direction of the people that you work with," said Buffett, Berkshire Hathaway's longtime CEO, adding that "you'll learn all the time" if you surround yourself with impressive people.
Buffett has preached that message for more than two decades, noting at Berkshire Hathaway's 2004 shareholder meeting that young people can especially benefit from "[hanging] out with people better than you." When you're less experienced in the workplace, your mindset is likely to be more malleable, helping you learn and adopt positive habits more easily, he observed.
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19 minutes ago
- Yahoo
Meta Clashes With Apple, Google Over Age Check Legislation
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Android Authority
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