“Fear and anger give bad advice.”
— Matt Mochary
Matt Mochary (@mattmochary) coaches the heads of top Silicon Valley tech investment firms and companies on how to be the best leaders and build the best organizations possible. His philosophy and method are captured in both the Mochary Coaching Methodology (which is available as a free Google Doc) and in his book The Great CEO Within, which is available on Amazon and online (also as a free Google Doc).
As a former founder, CEO, and investor, Matt knows firsthand the challenges of those roles as well as solutions to the most commonly encountered problems. His coaching is not questions-only; there is real guidance. Matt specializes in helping CEOs and their companies (or investment firms) transition from freewheeling startups to dominant enterprises.
Please enjoy!
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The transcript of this episode can be found here. Transcripts of all episodes can be found here.
#658: CEO Coach Matt Mochary — Live Coaching with Tim, Why Fear and Anger Give Bad Advice, How to Perform Personal Energy Audits, The Power of Accountability Partners, Delegation Tips, Strategies for Hiring the Right People, and More
This episode is brought to you by Athletic Greens. I get asked all the time, “If you could use only one supplement, what would it be?” My answer is usually AG1 by Athletic Greens, my all-in-one nutritional insurance. I recommended it in The 4-Hour Body in 2010 and did not get paid to do so. I do my best with nutrient-dense meals, of course, but AG further covers my bases with vitamins, minerals, and whole-food-sourced micronutrients that support gut health and the immune system.
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This episode is brought to you by FreshBooks. I’ve been talking about FreshBooks—an all-in-one invoicing + payments + accounting solution—for years now. Many entrepreneurs, as well as the contractors and freelancers that I work with, use it all the time.
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Want to hear an interview with another world-class coach? Listen to my first conversation with Jerry Colonna, in which we discuss being complicit in creating the conditions in life we don’t really want, nagging self-doubt, finding time for self-discovery, confronting the difficulty most of us have with saying “no,” acknowledging compassion from a distance, journaling, guilt versus remorse, and much more.
#585: Professor Donald Hoffman — The Case Against Reality, Beyond Spacetime, Rethinking Death, Panpsychism, QBism, and More
What was your favorite quote or lesson from this episode? Please let me know in the comments.
SCROLL BELOW FOR LINKS AND SHOW NOTES…
SELECTED LINKS FROM THE EPISODE
- Connect with Matt Mochary:
SHOW NOTES
- [05:36] Fear and anger give bad advice.
- [10:23] Dispelling dating dread.
- [17:19] The power of prediction.
- [27:07] Next actions.
- [30:56] Turning conversations into action items.
- [33:36] Accountability for introverts and extroverts.
- [38:20] What is Focusmate?
- [40:23] Separating decision from implementation.
- [44:43] Firing well.
- [51:33] Effective and efficient recruiting.
- [1:01:41] Getting honest feedback from past managers.
- [1:04:10] The energy audit.
- [1:10:36] Running effective and efficient meetings.
- [1:18:56] Reducing and removing energy-depleting obligations from the calendar.
- [1:34:01] Assistance with assistants.
- [1:44:37] Why did Matt stop making documentaries?
- [1:55:30] Why Matt’s building a startup.
- [1:59:52] Rules, guide rails, and exit protocols.
- [2:03:26] Downregulating anger and feeling the pain.
- [2:19:16] Parting thoughts.
MORE MATT MOCHARY QUOTES FROM THE INTERVIEW
“Fear and anger give bad advice.”
— Matt Mochary
“When I coach someone, I become their manager, period, end of story. And if by the third meeting they feel more successful, more engaged, more empowered, then they know the system works. And it’s all written out, so they can just copy, paste, use with their team members, and then it works with their team members as well.”
— Matt Mochary
“In any organization, there’s a human that you are prioritizing. So if it’s a company, you’re probably prioritizing the customer. If it’s an investment firm, you’re probably prioritizing your LPs. If it’s your own personal life, you need to be prioritizing you.”
— Matt Mochary
“I find that generally, humans are not incompetent … they’re uninterested. But if you can find a place where they’re interested, suddenly they become very competent.”
— Matt Mochary
“I would say the most valuable thing about recruiting is first, learn how to fire well. And if you can do that, now the pressure is off, and you can take a little bit more chance on people you have intuition about that you really like, but maybe they’re inexperienced, maybe they’re young. And I find those people are often insanely good performers.”
— Matt Mochary
“Allow yourself to feel pain.”
— Matt Mochary
PEOPLE MENTIONED
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