Great Leadership Is Pretty Damn Hard To Execute. Susan Wojcicki Gave Us A Master Class.
I posted about former Youtube CEO Susan Wojcicki's tragic passing last weekend and it got me thinking. The digital media and technology space is not exactly littered with great leaders. There seems to be a lot of noise about "strength" and "winning at all cost" and "never admitting you're wrong" these days which can confuse those who are genuinely trying to figure out their own leadership beliefs. It's easy to be confused about the qualities of great leadership if you've never worked for someone who showed you what it is. And our new hybrid work world makes it even harder for great leaders to make an impact and for future leaders to learn.
As a recruiter, I can tell you that what matters to company boards and C level leaders who are building out their teams is knowledge, vision, compassion and the ability to build and motivate a world class team. Building a world class team requires a combination of confidence and humbleness as well as great listening and communications skills. If you've had multiple bosses in your career you can probably single out the great leaders. They tend to hire people that are smarter and more capable than they are and then give them the freedom to excel. While many leaders declare this as a goal, in practice its pretty damn hard to execute.
When we are hiring for C level leadership roles, we ask candidates multiple questions about their team building philosophy because we are looking for signals about what kind of people they have hired and what kind of retention they've been able to achieve. High team retention coupled with high performance is rare. I didn't know Susan Wojcicki well but her team was world class and while she resigned her role nearly two years ago I would be willing to bet that Youtube's success now as the most dominant social platform can be attributed to her leadership and the team she put in place. If you are curious as to how she did it, here were some of her strengths:
Strategic Vision
Wojcicki was known for her strategic insights and business acumen. She played a key role in Google's acquisition of YouTube in 2006, recognizing the platform's potential early on. Under her leadership, YouTube grew into a global powerhouse with over 2 billion monthly active users.
Growth and Innovation
During her tenure as CEO from 2014 to 2023, Susan oversaw the expansion of YouTube’s monetization strategies, including the introduction of successful ad products like TrueView (now 14 years old!) subscription services like YouTube Premium, and the development of YouTube TV. These innovations contributed to YouTube becoming a major revenue generator for Google and the #1 streaming platform with a larger streaming audience than Netflix.
Built Lasting Trust With Critical Partners
Wojcicki was known for being an advocate for content creators on YouTube. She understood that without creators, there was no platform. Under her leadership, not only were creator rev shares not clawed back, Youtube even had the confidence to support off-platform monetization because they knew that this would only strengthen their relationships. Can you imagine Facebook or Tiktok doing that? Susan also frequently communicated directly with the creator community through blog posts and videos, addressing their concerns and highlighting their importance to the platform's ecosystem.
Stood Up For What She Believed In
Youtube's focus on Inclusion and Diversity was something Susan owned. Wojcicki was recognized for her commitment to diversity and inclusion within the tech industry and whe worked to ensure YouTube promoted diverse voices and perspectives, both within the company and on the platform itself.
Owned Mistakes and Faced Controversy
While Susan faced criticism over how YouTube handled issues like misinformation, hate speech, and content moderation, many acknowledged the complexity of these challenges and the efforts she made to address them. Youtube's continuous push to balance free expression with the need to enforce community standards was a challenge she faced head on despite the murkiness.
Empathy and Approachability
Colleagues and employees often described Wojcicki as approachable, empathetic, and supportive. She was praised for her management style, which emphasized collaboration and listening - all hallmark qualities of effective leadership.
For those who knew her better I am sure there are other things to celebrate, but the leadership lessons she taught us all are worth honoring and learning from. Not to mention that she built the most successful and dominant social platform on the planet.
RIP Susan Wojcicki..
