Facebook’s Sheryl Sandberg Shares the Key to Creating Chemistry at the Top

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  • It’s no surprise that the most successful companies have great leadership teams at the top. Dubbed Silicon Valley’s “oddest couple” by The New York Times, together Sheryl Sandberg and Mark Zuckerberg have driven Facebook’s astronomical growth and supported one another along the way.

    I recently connected with Sheryl for my Office Hours podcast series to discuss what’s behind Facebook’s success and her partnership with Mark – it’s a dynamic countless CEOs and COOs dream of having. In a relationship as critical as the one at the top, how do you create open lines of communication, respect differences and grow the business together? If we take Sheryl and Mark as the model, it boils down to three things: carve out time to communicate, prioritize the relationship and find a partner who shares your values.

    As with any healthy relationship, open communication is key according to Sheryl. Despite their well-documented differences – from their backgrounds to their working styles and even clothing (she dresses up; he’s usually found in a hoodie) – Sheryl and Mark both believe in open communication. For them, that means 1:1s at the beginning and end of every week.

    “It was my husband Dave's good advice: You stay close, you work things out, you talk one-on-one and have good communication. I knew that getting feedback from Mark every week, and even giving feedback to Mark every week, was really important. That way problems didn't build up.”

    Sheryl and Mark’s shared commitment to communication is why their relationship works; you can bridge differences if you talk about them.

    Zillow Group’s COO Amy Bohutinsky and I also have different backgrounds, and sartorial tastes, but we work well together because we communicate openly and often. Amy’s background in PR and marketing makes her a natural storyteller, while my background in finance has instilled a love of data and number-crunching. Our skills complement each other, but it’s communication that makes our partnership tick.

    Relationships at the top need to be prioritized because they impact business outcomes. As much good as you read about Sheryl and Mark, you see as many (or more) examples of companies that struggle with senior leadership. Consider Uber’s public quest to “find a Sheryl Sandberg” to complement CEO Travis Kalanick, or Twitter’s carousel of executives that has fueled its struggle to find direction and identity.  

    The lack of a strong partnership can also hinder an organization’s ability to live its values and fulfill its mission. That’s why constant communication between senior executives is so important; at this level, you can’t let problems slide.

    “I think you have to figure out if the person is an honorable person you want to work with, because I don't believe everyone can work with anyone,” says Sheryl. When she was considering taking the job at Facebook, Sheryl vetted Mark’s character by speaking with people who knew him well. She needed to know there was a values fit. In fact, Mark and Sheryl’s partnership is a great example of why I think a “values fit” is more important than a “culture fit.”

    I often write about the importance we place on core values at Zillow Group; we can come from completely different backgrounds, but we all need to know how to move fast and think big… and be good people and work like a team in the process. If you don’t have a shared language of values in an organization, it won’t work. And if you don’t have it at the top, it really won’t work.  

    For more anecdotes and lessons from Sheryl Sandberg, listen to the latest episode of Office Hours below, or read the full transcript.

    Subscribe to "Office Hours with Spencer Rascoff" on Apple Podcasts, Google, Stitcher and other streaming platforms. 

    Originally published on Linkedin Pulse. 

  • Spencer Rascoff
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