- Bill Campbell, dubbed the “Trillion Dollar Coach,” has mentored tech leaders including Steve Jobs.
- Campbell, who died in 2016, was “blunt and clear,” Google exec Ruth Porat said on a recent podcast.
- Here’s what other prominent tech execs learned from him.
Bill Campbell isn’t a household name himself — but at one time or another, he had the ear of some of the most prominent leaders in the tech sector.
Campbell, who died in 2016, mentored the industry’s biggest players over the years, including Apple’s Steve Jobs, Twitter founder Jack Dorsey, and a rash of Google executives, from cofounders Larry Page and Sergey Brin to former CEO Eric Schmidt.
Ruth Porat, the president of Google’s parent company, Alphabet, recently spoke about her experiences with Campbell on an episode of the podcast “In Good Company.”
“He was always an advisor who was here on campus and just the wise voice who was blunt and clear,” Porat said. “When something didn’t make sense, you know, he was famous for kind of throwing the flag on the field and just truly brought out the best in everyone.”
So great was Campbell’s influence on Google’s Schmidt that he, along with Jonathan Rosenberg and Alan Eagle, dubbed him the “Trillion Dollar Coach” in a book of the same name. It included testimonials from a slew of executives who benefited from the coach’s mentorship — including the current head of Google, Sundar Pichai.
Here’s what some of them learned from Campbell.
Care about the “whole you”
When Porat first transitioned into her former role as Google’s CFO, she also took on a long commute, according to Schmidt and his co-authors. She recalls that Campbell was most concerned with how the change would affect her husband.
“He cared about the whole you,” Porat said. “We talked about that a lot.”
Porat said Campbell had a way of bolstering his mentees’ convictions, which helped her achieve “whatever daunting task” lay ahead.
“He gave me permission to go forth,” Porat said. “To have confidence in my judgment.”
For Pichai — who also benefited from Campbell’s more holistic approach to coaching — their discussions afforded an opportunity to zoom out of his hectic daily routine.
“I was always busy going into these meetings, with lots of things to do, but my time with Bill always gave me a sense of perspective,” Pichai said. “That whatever I was doing was important, but he showed me that what really matters at the end of the day is how you live your life and the people in your life.”
Choose your team wisely
Campbell also furnished his mentees with a wealth of more practical management advice.
“When I became CEO of Google, Bill advised me that at that level, more than ever before, you need to bet on people,” Pichai said, according to the book. “Choose your team. Think much harder about that.”
Scott Cook — the cofounder of Intuit — was also a firsthand witness to Campbell’s people-oriented approach.
“He appreciated that each person had a different story and background,” Cook said in “Trillion Dollar Coach.”
“He was so nuanced and different in how he approached growth challenges and leadership challenges. I was looking for a way to grow our people in a way I couldn’t. Bill was great at that,” he said.
Prioritize honesty
In particular, Cook said, Campbell’s commitment to transparency influenced his own leadership style.
“A coach coaches in the moment,” Cook said. “It’s more real and more authentic, but so many leaders shy away from that.”
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