Kara Lilly

founder, investor, pro athlete

[Kara Lilly @karelilly]

Sign the person in front of you is a hack:

They speak about how a company is a “play” on something — usually an overhyped trend — but can’t articulate how the business makes money.

[Kara Lilly @karelilly]

Good ideas are rare. When the odds are in your favour, bet heavily.

[Kara Lilly @karelilly]

Be the person who shows up when the work is unglamorous, hard, messy.

[Kara Lilly @karelilly]

If your coach, partner or leader kicks you when you’re already down — then they are not doing their job.

You can be a jerk to people when they’re down, that’s cool. Your choice. And, this makes you a bad leader, partner or coach.

[Kara Lilly @karelilly]

Good coaches, leaders and partners build you up when you’re in a rut. They don’t just praise you when things are going well. They help you fight through the hard times. They set a high bar and help you meet it.

And in case it’s not obvious — this is the minimum bar for “good.”

[Kara Lilly @karelilly]

If you’re not clear and willing to disappoint others, you may end up disappointing the people you care about the most.

[Kara Lilly @karelilly]

When someone doesn’t respect your boundaries, it’s because you either haven’t communicated them, that person lacks the skill, or they feel entitled.

Regardless, the ball is in your court. You get what you tolerate.

Your job is to communicate and protect your requirements.

[Kara Lilly @karelilly]

Trust is a slow mountain you climb together.

Destroying trust is a water slide.

Rebuilding trust is 5x taller and harder than the first mountain.

Act accordingly.

[Kara Lilly @karelilly]

How you deliver feedback is as or more important as the feedback itself.

Whether you think you’re in the right or not, if you don’t deliver input respectfully then it probably won’t be heard.

This is literally biology — no one listens well when their body perceives a tiger.

[Kara Lilly @karelilly]

Teams begin and end with we.

[Kara Lilly @karelilly]

Rushing through something is the fastest way to ensure it takes twice as long.

Deadline brain = fight-or-flight mentality

Take care to do it right the first time. Sometimes this means you renegotiate the deadline. A messy start is harder to work with than a clean one.

[Kara Lilly @karelilly]

It is the greatest fallacy in all of leadership to think pitting teammates against one another is a good idea.

Hyper-competition from within poisons culture.

Facing an external threat together as one, immovable undaunted unit?

That’s powerful.

[Kara Lilly @karelilly]

The greatest teams on the planet have one thing in common:

Trust.

Deep trust.

Everyone feels safe enough, together, they reach for more and expand.

[Kara Lilly @karelilly]

Michael Jordan was one of the greatest athletes of all time — and wildly competitive in his nature.

His best performances all happened under Phil Jackson with the Chicago Bulls

… in a culture that emphasized the sublimation of selfishness for the greater good of the team.

[Kara Lilly @karelilly]

In trusting teams, high performers with deep competitive impulse will naturally bring out the best in each other.

Every true competitor delights in having training partners who push them.

Bringing out the best in a team requires unit harmony.

[Kara Lilly @karelilly]

Research on this front is abundantly clear:

High-performing teams require cultures of trust.

Trust is the non-negotiable unit.

Leaders who seek short-term results at the expense of culture are short-sighted and ignorant of what works.

[Kara Lilly @karelilly]

One of the worst strategies in all of leadership is pitting teammates against one another.

Teams are built on trust. Trust only exists with safety.

Unhealthy competition poisons cultures and teams.

[Kara Lilly @karelilly]

Michael Jordan didn’t train with his email on and neither should you.

Clean up your focus.

[Kara Lilly @karelilly]

You don’t get over your pregame nerves, you quiet and channel them