Bet Your Job Every Day
Be willing to risk your job daily by challenging leadership; operate out of courage, not fear.
- Difficulty
- Advanced
- Time to result
- ~ongoing to results
- Steps
- 3
- Confidence
- 88%
Behar's advice to anyone who wants to get things done in an organization is to be willing to bet your job every day, meaning take the risk that goes against the grain when it's needed, knowing you may sometimes pay a price. If you operate out of fear, nothing good will happen, yet most people are unwilling to challenge leadership even when it needs challenging. He credits his own willingness to this: he never needed a job at Starbucks because he could always support himself, which freed him to be honest. He explicitly told his reports to step up and tell him things he might not like. This is how organizations grow and move forward.
Origin
Behar framed this from his own posture at Starbucks, where he took risks against the organizational grain and, because he didn't financially need the job, always felt free to challenge leadership.
Core principles
- 01You must be willing to bet your job to get anything real done.
- 02Operating out of fear guarantees nothing good happens.
- 03Challenge leadership when leadership needs to be challenged.
- 04Financial independence buys the freedom to be honest.
How to run it
- 1
Spot the against-the-grain call
Identify where the right action cuts against what the organization currently wants, which is exactly where courage is required.
- 2
Speak and act despite the risk
Take the stand or challenge leadership even knowing you might pay a price for it.
Watch out Operating out of fear means nothing good gets done; fear is the real failure mode.
- 3
Invite the same candor from your team
Tell your reports to bet their jobs with you, to step up and say the thing you might not want to hear.
Pro tip Behar told people: you think I might not like it? I don't care, tell me anyway.
In the wild
Behar broke company rules and could have been fired to trial the Frappuccino that leadership didn't want, betting his position on a frontline manager's conviction.
→ The risk produced a $4 billion product line, illustrating that betting your job is how big things get done.
Common mistakes
Operating out of fear
When people are unwilling to challenge leadership or take risks because they fear for their jobs, nothing good happens and the organization stalls.
Betting the farm
Behar cautions this is about betting your job on a well-considered call, not recklessly betting the entire enterprise.
Is it for you?
Best for
Intrapreneurs and senior professionals who want to drive change inside a larger organization.
Not ideal for
People in precarious circumstances who cannot absorb the downside, or reckless bets that risk the whole enterprise.
From the transcript
“you got to be willing to bet your job every day”
“if you operate out of fear then nothing Good's going to happen”
From the episode
Howard Behar: Former Starbucks President Reveals How Starbucks Grew to 15,000 Stores