#245 Hubert Joly – Skyrocketing Best Buy’s Success and Unleashing Human Magic
Key Takeaways
Four Questions to Discern Your Purpose:
1. What does the world need?
2. What are you passionate about?
3. What are you good at?
4. How can you make money?
At the intersection of these four things you can discover what your individual and company purpose is.
Building human magic within an organization:
Create an environment where you can connect what drives you as an individual with the purpose of the company
Hubert’s Book – The Heart of Business:
“This book is really the philosophy behind the resurgence of Best Buy and so much of what I’ve learned over the years. This philosophy of business being about pursuing a noble purpose, putting people at the center, creating an environment where everybody can blossom, and treating profit as an outcome.”
Hubert’s Non-Negotiables:
- Daily reflection
- Evening meditation
“This is about doing the best that we can and being kind to ourselves but staying focused on our life purpose”
6:50 Purpose of Corporation
Hubert reflects on a story that taught him that profit should be treated as an outcome rather than a goal.
“In my view, the purpose of the corporation is to contribute to the common good”
7:55 Leadership
Hubert believes that one of the dangers of being a leader is being seduced by power, fame, glory, or money.
“For me the criteria now when I think about what job to take or what to do, I want to always do something that is meaningful, impactful, and joyful”
10:34 Unleashing Human Magic
As CEO of Best Buy, Hubert says he learned how to ‘unleash human magic in a large organization’ by putting noble purpose as the North Star and putting people at the center.
“Learning that the role of the leader is not to be the smartest person in the room, the role of the leader is to create an environment in which others can blossom”
“My years at Best Buy were such a source of joy because I learned so much, about of course how to turn around a business, I had done several of those, but more importantly, how to unleash human magic in a large organization”
18:00 The Ingredients of Human Magic
- Create an environment where you can connect what drives you as an individual with the purpose of the company
Hubert reflects on stories from his time at Best Buy that built true human connection between his employees and uncovered how they could all contribute to the purpose of the company.
24:49 Tools Hubert Recommends
Hubert advises all listeners to read the book Aligned: Connecting Your True Self with the Leader You’re Meant to Be and Discover Your True North.
Some reflection tools Hubert recommends
- What points in your life did you have more energy?
- What points were you more drained?
- What were your childhood dreams?
- Who are your heroes and why do you admire them?
- Write your eulogy
Four Questions to Discern Your Purpose:
What does the world need?
What are you passionate about?
What are you good at?
How can you make money?
At the intersection of these four things you can discover what your individual and company purpose is.
30:45 Hubert’s Advice for CEOs
For any current CEOs, Hubert emphasizes the importance of taking time to decompress. Hubert’s favorite way to do this is by walking, where he says he has made some of his best decisions.
34:25 Decision to Join Best Buy
When the open CEO role at Best Buy was introduced to Hubert, he was skeptical because of his lack of retail experience. But when Hubert realized that Best Buy’s problems were self-inflicted, he knew that his experience turning companies around would be valuable in the role as CEO.
Hubert spent his first week as CEO working in Best Buy stores, saying that this week taught him so much more than if he spent his first week at Best Buy’s Headquarters.
“People were telling me, Hubert you’re going to have to cut people and close down stores. We did the opposite. We thought that people were not the problem, people are the source of the solution”
42:14 Empowering Employees
Hubert says that early in his career he would recruit people according to experience and expertise but gradually he began to put more emphasis on the individual.
Key questions that Hubert asks in interviews is:
- What drives you?
- What’s your dream?
- What’s your leadership philosophy?
50:15 Genuine Human Connection
Hubert dives into the importance of being vulnerable and accepting that no one is perfect. He says that one of his mistakes from his career is not connecting his head to his heart.
“The longest journey we all have to make is the 18 inches from from our head to our heart”
51:48 Spectacular Failure
While Hubert’s career looked like back to back successes from the outside, he tells the story of a spectacular failure he had as CEO of Best Buy.
As a leader, Hubert says that credit always goes to the front liners and when things are not going well, take the blame.
57:58 Hubert’s Book: The Heart of Business
Hubert says his book is for leaders at any level who want to lead from purpose and humanity.
“This book is really the philosophy behind the resurgence of Best Buy and so much of what I’ve learned over the years. This philosophy of business being about pursuing a noble purpose, putting people at the center, creating an environment where everybody can blossom, and treating profit as an outcome.”
“I’ve written this book for the next generation to become the best version of themselves and learn how to lead from a place of purpose and humanity”
1:01:00 Hubert’s Interview Choice
If Hubert could spend an evening interviewing anyone dead or alive, just not a family or friend, he would choose Winston Churchill.
Connect with Hubert:
Book – The Heart of Business
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