Elizabeth Stone

Rapid career advancement is often fueled by active observation of peers and leaders to identify what works and what doesn't.

"I have been surrounded by amazing people in all these roles and I have a feeling that I learned a lot by osmosis and observation and then have been able to leverage that to be stronger in the roles I..."

Radical transparency in written communication, such as sharing raw leadership meeting notes, builds trust and provides necessary context to the entire org.

"I take notes in leadership meetings and I share those notes with the whole organization. And that is sometimes it includes candor around reflections on things that aren't going well or problems we nee..."

Cross-functional alignment requires a leader to act as a translator between technical capabilities and business/content strategies.

"A big part of my role is, can I explain how we're going to approach those technical problems in a way that builds competence with the content team? Can I try to understand their content strategy in a..."

Prioritize the quality of the conversation and the clarity of objectives over the visual polish of meeting materials.

"If we're clear on the objectives of something, it might be that the last 20% of polish on the document is a really bad use of time... The reason we're doing the quarterly business review is to have a..."

High-bar hiring focuses on 'culture add' and perspective-shifting rather than just checking boxes for existing skill sets.

"At Netflix we try really hard to say we're looking for the new perspective or the person who's actually going to make us stronger as a team. So thinking about additive skills, additive perspectives, p..."

A key indicator of a high-level candidate is their ability to think strategically about the interviewer's own role and priorities.

"I'm usually looking for the person who would be better in my role than I am in my role. So I often ask people what would their priorities be, what would they do differently if they had my job."

High talent density is the foundational prerequisite for all other cultural values like freedom, responsibility, and candor.

"We can't really have any of the other aspects of the culture, including candor, learning, seeking excellence in improvement, freedom and responsibility if you don't start with high talent density."

Maintaining high talent density requires overcoming natural human discomfort to provide and receive radical candor.

"In order to do that, you have to really hold yourself to a lot of stuff that doesn't feel like natural human behavior. What I mean by that is giving the feedback... being candid around your expectatio..."

A culture of freedom and responsibility replaces strict process with high-judgment individuals.

"I think the lack of process and prescriptiveness is all hinging on we've got amazing people who are smart, but even better have strong judgment."

The 'Keepers Test' is a mental framework used to identify when a difficult performance conversation or termination is necessary.

"Where if I'm asking myself the question, 'If this person on my team came to me and said, "I'm leaving today. I have a different opportunity and I would like to take it," would I do everything I could..."

Effective performance feedback requires a three-step approach: setting clear expectations, giving specific feedback on the gap, and actively helping the employee close that gap.

"When something's not meeting expectations or really showing up as excellence, I think it's a combination of both giving the feedback on that and being direct about it and being specific about what wou..."

The most powerful insights come from merging qualitative 'attitudinal' research with quantitative 'behavioral' data science.

"We talk about it as a superpower internally in combining those skill sets. So I think the Consumer Insights team at Netflix has had a lot of credibility in a certain area of expertise and we took it t..."