Thread by @mattschnuck

The most sought-after exec coach in Silicon Valley coached
@naval.

Then went on to coach the CEOs of Reddit, OpenAI, Coinbase....even Sequoia Capital.

Here’s the tool he uses to help Naval & CEOs unlock success AND happiness:

You can’t actually hire Matt Mochary as a coach.

As @balajis would say, he is “post-economic.” He only works for the people he chooses.

His clients are either the fastest-growing tech companies or the top 5 VC firms.

Fortunately, he is very generous with sharing his techniques

Matt has a tool he uses to identify each executive’s Zone of Genius.

He used this with @naval when he was still running AngelList.

First, let’s identify the four zones we all play in at work:

1. Zone of Incompetence
2. Zone of Competence
3. Zone of Excellence
4. Zone of Genius

The first two are obvious. But let’s break down the key difference between zones 3 & 4.

Zone of Excellence

These are areas in which you are excellent (better than most) but do not enjoy.

The world gets value from you focusing on these tasks, but you become drained by doing them.

This is the zone where leaders can get trapped.

Zone of Genius

These are activities where:

1. You are uniquely good at them (best-in-class)
2. You enjoy them so much that you lose track of time

This is where you add the most value to an organization (and yourself!)

So how do you clearly define your Zones of Genius?

Energy Audit:

Take the last 2 weeks of your calendar and categorize EVERY activity by the following criteria:

-Did this activity give me energy? (green zone)
-Did this activity drain my energy? (red zone)

If you are on the fence, consider it energy-draining (red).

Mochary’s goal for all leaders: Spend 80% of your time in the energy-giving green zone.

Let’s discuss how you get there.

For the red zone activities that drain you, either:

1. Outsource or delegate them
2. Eliminate them
3. Make them sacred tasks
(one of a few “musts” outside your Zone of Genius)

Often the things you don’t like are in the Zone of Genius of someone else on your team.

And if not, that can inform a hiring plan as your business grows.

In the case of Naval, the Energy Audit inspired him to do something very rare.

AngelList was doing well when he was CEO, but...

...the tasks required of that job fell outside of his Zone of Genius.

He was burning out.

Naval: “This is where the Zone of Genius concept comes in. It is so important.”

Naval’s Zone of Genius for AngelList:

Strategy
Recruiting
High-Level Sales
Product Creativity

His day job required solving lots of people and customer challenges (in his Zone of Excellence).

Drained, he made the rare choice of delegating his role.

He brought in a great CEO who loved operating (Avlok Kohli).

Naval’s time was freed up.

With more Zone of Genius time, Naval came up with the idea for Rolling Funds for AngelList.

Rolling Funds became a tremendous innovation in Venture Capital.

AngelList is performing better than ever with a new CEO.

Naval continues to support the company from his Zone of Genius.

Mochary interviewed Naval after making this shift.

Matt: “How was your life as CEO of AngelList?”

Naval: “3 out of 10 in terms of enjoyment”

Matt: “How is your life now?”

Naval: “10 out of 10. If I had to articulate how good my life is, they would have to lock me up.”

In Summary:

-Perform an Energy Audit to find your Zone of Genius

-Delegate, Eliminate or Make Sacred anything that drains your energy

-Partner and hire those with complementary Zones of Genius

-Aim for 80% of life in your Zone of Genius

If you enjoyed this thread:

• Follow me @mattschnuck for more threads on EQ, entrepreneurship, and growth.
• Retweet the first tweet to share these tools

https://twitter.com/mattschnuck/status/1587820151813988353

To hear Matt Mochary interview Naval on his Zone of Genius and stepping away as CEO, check out this interview: