Brother -
In letter 5, I told you how early in my career, I was part of a team that significantly raised my standards. Our key communication tool with our partners were slides, and throughout the process, I got very good at making them.
It was a humbling experience where my manager would take a red sharpie to point out all of my mistakes. He wouldn't even read the content until the formatting hit a certain quality level. Then he'd challenge me to become more concise. Ultimately, my 20-page deck became only 4-pages at the end. I learned how to communicate complex ideas in a simple way - embracing "less is more."
This skill carried with me. At my next company, the CEO and CFO treated me as their “secret weapon” for slides. I was 24 years old and got outsized exposure and 1:1s with the founder of a $500m company and a CFO who sold three companies by his mid-thirties.
I loved it. Anytime they needed slides to be made, I'd jump at the opportunity. I got to be in the room with them as they jammed on complex business situations - working hand in hand as they went through the process to convey their messages.
Some colleagues felt bad for me or would belittle my work. "Nate's just the slides guy," inferring I was doing intern work. At one time, I had the nickname "Natern."
When I went to Uber, I joined in a strategy role that supported the Regional General Manager. The RGM was a mini-CEO of a geographical region. A significant component of my work was… you guessed it… slides! Again, people felt sorry for me, and the "slides guy" references resurfaced.
As they commented, though, I'd be in the room with my manager presenting to Travis Kalanick. Again, I got to see world-class thinkers, operators, and builders work through problems and share their business perspectives. It was the best learning opportunity I could've asked for.
Over time, I got tapped for leadership opportunities, where I moved into country GM roles and ultimately the RGM for Uber Eats in EMEA (my first official seat at "The Table"). The point, though, is I had many years of being at "The Table" beforehand. Slides were my ticket in. And I made the most of having this specific skill set.
I continue to see colleagues belittle this type of work, refusing to build deep knowledge in one of the many tools available today (e.g., slides, excel, SQL, Python, etc.). These are the same colleagues that complain they don't have a seat at "The Table."
Over the years, I've identified my "secret weapons" who have strong knowledge in one or more of these tools. I'm sure some people will bicker about their exposure - maybe even make funny nicknames for them as well. They don't realize, though, that these colleagues are getting more learning opportunities and will get tapped sooner for future growth.
Let me leave you with a quote and a question.
"One can only connect the dots looking backwards."
-Steve Jobs
What tools can you master that will make you a secret weapon at work?
Enjoy the dance,
Nate