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."

这是我与 QXO 的董事长兼首席执行官 Brad Jacobs 的对话，他是八家独立的十亿美元公司的创始人，包括 XPO Logistics、United Rentals 和 United Waste。 (0:00) 引言与基调设定 (0:31) 导师关系与 Ludwig Jesselson 的关键教训 (2:41) 将问题视为机会 (6:07) 招募顶尖人才的重要性 (7:58) 维护长期声誉 (10:14) 寻找背景与中心 (19:50) 完美主义与认知疗法 (26:29) 建立十亿美元公司 (36:50) A 玩家在成功中的角色 (42:27) 人在商业中的力量 (44:23) 优越智力的重要性 (45:54) 工作与生活的平衡 (48:11) 激情在成功中的作用 (51:59) 有效的领导与会议 (1:05:41) 反馈循环与持续改进 (1:16:29) 公共公司与私人公司的区别 (1:22:55) 对压力与激情的驱动 (1:23:16) 向其他企业家学习 (1:23:41) Fred Smith 的遗产与影响 (1:29:19) 技术在商业中的重要性 (1:40:25) 时间管理与首席执行官的责任 (1:54:34) 激励的力量 (2:01:04) 全力以赴：最后的想法 包括付费合作。