Reed Hastings

360 written report is a good mechanism for annual feedback. But avoid anonymity and numeric ratings, don’t link results to raises or promotions, and open up comments to anyone who is ready to give them.

use the Start, Stop, Continue method with roughly 25 percent positive, 75 percent developmental—all actionable and no fluff.

WHEN ONE OF YOUR PEOPLE DOES SOMETHING DUMB DON’T BLAME THEM. INSTEAD ASK YOURSELF WHAT CONTEXT YOU FAILED TO SET. ARE YOU ARTICULATE AND INSPIRING ENOUGH IN EXPRESSING YOUR GOALS AND STRATEGY? HAVE YOU CLEARLY EXPLAINED ALL THE ASSUMPTIONS AND RISKS THAT WILL HELP YOUR TEAM TO MAKE GOOD DECISIONS? ARE YOU AND YOUR EMPLOYEES HIGHLY ALIGNED ON VISION AND OBJECTIVES?

For top performers, a great workplace isn’t about a lavish office, a beautiful gym, or a free sushi lunch. It’s about the joy of being surrounded by people who are both talented and collaborative. People who can help you be better. When every member is excellent, performance spirals upward as employees learn from and motivate one another.

The brain is a survival machine, and one of our most successful survival techniques is the desire to find safety in numbers. O

Today, in the information age, what matters is what you achieve, not how many hours you clock, especially for the employees of creative companies like Netflix.

One study showed people spend twice as much time thinking about their secrets as they do actively concealing them.

After a few weeks at Netflix, I was preparing for my first customer dinner. I asked my boss, Tanya, “What’s the policy for expensing meals with customers?” Her response was infuriating: “There’s no policy. Use your best judgment. Act in Netflix’s best interest.”

Once you have a workforce made up nearly exclusively of high performers, you can count on people to behave responsibly.

The great software engineer is incredibly creative and can see conceptual patterns that others can’t. She has an adjustable perspective, so when she gets stuck in a specific way of thinking, she has ways to push, pull, or prod herself to look beyond.