Brad Jacobs on identifying A players: "I do a mental exercise where I picture the person coming into my office and saying, 'Brad, I quit.' And then I try to feel and visualize what would be my reaction if that person came in to me and quit. If my reaction to that is, 'Yes! I don't want to smile, so I don't want to act like I'm happy about this. Nobody likes firing people. No problem at all, we'll replace them'—that's a C player. That's someone you should get the courage to get off the team right away. On the second category, if my reaction to it is, 'You know, it kind of sucks. I would've preferred that person stayed, but it's not the end of the world. We'll hire a headhunter. We'll get someone as good, maybe someone even better, and things will work out'—that's a B player. But if when I visualize that person quitting, my reaction to that is pure terror and absolute panic, and like somebody took a baseball bat and just whacked me in the stomach and then punched me in the face. I'm going, 'Oh my God! Like I'm never going to find someone as good as her. No way. I'm never going to have someone as talented as that person. I'm never going to have someone who brings to the table their particular superpower.' And I can't even hear what they're saying anymore because I'm just having this internal panic dialogue going on—that's what you call an A player. So I want all A players around me. I want people whose relationship with me I value so much that if it was terminated, I would be lost."

Berikut percakapan saya dengan Brad Jacobs, ketua dan CEO QXO, pendiri delapan perusahaan miliaran dolar terpisah termasuk XPO Logistics, United Rentals, dan United Waste. (0:00) Pengantar dan Pengaturan Nada (0:31) Bimbingan dan Pelajaran Kunci dari Ludwig Jesselson (2:41) Merangkul Masalah sebagai Peluang (6:07) Pentingnya Merekrut Talenta Terbaik (7:58) Menjaga Reputasi Jangka Panjang (10:14) Menemukan Konteks dan Pemusatan (19:50) Perfeksionisme dan Terapi Kognitif (26:29) Membangun Perusahaan Bernilai Miliaran Dolar (36:50) Peran Pemain dalam Sukses (42:27) Kekuatan Orang dalam Bisnis (44:23) Pentingnya Kecerdasan Unggul (45:54) Menyeimbangkan Pekerjaan dan Kehidupan (48:11) Peran Gairah dalam Sukses (51:59) Kepemimpinan dan Pertemuan yang Efektif (1:05:41) Loop Umpan Balik dan Peningkatan Berkelanjutan (1:16:29) Perusahaan Publik vs. Swasta (1:22:55) Dorongan untuk Stres dan Gairah (1:23:16) Belajar dari Pengusaha Lain (1:23:41) Warisan dan Pengaruh Fred Smith (1:29:19) Pentingnya Teknologi dalam Bisnis (1:40:25) Manajemen Waktu dan Tanggung Jawab CEO (1:54:34) Kekuatan Insentif (2:01:04) Going All In: Pikiran Akhir Termasuk kemitraan berbayar.