Your Job Is Not Your Job - LinkedIn Speaker Series - 1/3

Summary

In the captivating LinkedIn Speaker Series, Fred Kofman discusses the profound impact of redefining one's job in terms of goals rather than activities. He relays how a simple question about his job altered his perspective, illustrating that one's job should align with overarching goals rather than merely daily tasks. By drawing parallels to a soccer team, he emphasizes that every person's primary role is to contribute to the collective victory, encouraging individuals to perceive their jobs as part of a larger mission, like LinkedIn's aim to create economic opportunities worldwide.

Highlights

• Fred Kofman challenges the common definition of a job, urging a shift from tasks to goals. 🔄
• Just like soccer players aim to help their team win, employees should strive to help their companies succeed. 🏆
• At LinkedIn, the mission to foster global economic opportunities becomes every employee’s central purpose. 🌐

Key Takeaways

• Transform your perception: Your job is not what you do, but the goals you pursue. 🎯
• Focus on the collective win: Just like in soccer, your role is to help the team - or company - win. ⚽️
• Link your tasks to broader missions: Align everyday actions with the larger company objectives to create global impact. 🌍

Overview

Fred Kofman starts by reflecting on a transformative question he encountered early in his teaching career - 'What's your job?' This question stayed with him for decades, leading him to rethink how people should define their occupations. He uses personal anecdotes and analogies to illustrate that a job is less about the tasks at hand and more about the overarching goals one aims to achieve.

Throughout the talk, Kofman employs a soccer metaphor to explain his philosophy. Just like each player on a soccer team must prioritize the team’s victory over individual accolades, employees should align their personal roles towards the collective achievement of their company's objectives. This shift in mindset not only broadens one's perspective but also unveils new possibilities within their career trajectory.

By the end of the segment, Kofman emphasizes LinkedIn's mission of creating economic opportunity as an example of aligning personal job roles with larger, organizational goals. He fosters a sense of pride and purpose in contributing to this overarching mission, encouraging attendees to reflect on how their daily tasks contribute to such meaningful outcomes.

Chapters

• 00:00 - 02:30: Introduction and Initial Thoughts on Job Definition The chapter begins with a question that had a significant impact on the narrator's life. The narrator recounts getting their first job as a teacher at MIT and starting travels across the country to learn about management. During the interview at MIT, despite having a degree in theoretical economics, they were asked by the dean to teach accounting.
• 02:30 - 07:30: Redefining Job: Goals vs Activities The chapter explores the distinction between job goals and activities through an anecdote about an individual who was offered a position teaching accounting despite having no prior knowledge of the subject. The offer was financially appealing, paying twice as much as a professor of Economics, suggesting that accounting was considered difficult or 'hazardous to health.' The individual agreed to take the role with the condition of being taught accounting, embarking on a mini MBA program, and traveling to gain the necessary knowledge. This story exemplifies how job goals may not always align with specific activities or prior expertise, emphasizing adaptability and the potential for substantial learning and growth while redefining one's role.
• 07:30 - 15:00: Soccer Analogy: Team Goals vs Individual Roles The chapter begins with an introduction to the author's feelings of gratitude towards their education, describing it as a 'luxury education' for which they are thankful. The setting switches to a plane ride from Boston, where the author has a conversation with a fellow passenger. The passenger asks a typical ice-breaking question about the author’s job. This simple question inspires deep reflection in the author, comparing the growth of this thought to shrubs emerging from rocks on a mountain. This analogy relates to the theme of the chapter, which seems to focus on understanding one's role within a larger context, possibly hinting at the balance between individual ambition and collective goals within a team.
• 15:00 - 20:00: Applying the Analogy to Business The chapter discusses the powerful analogy of roots breaking rocks, emphasizing the strength and persistence required in business. The speaker reflects on how this question has profoundly impacted their life over 30 years and hopes to impart the same lasting impact on others, albeit humorously suggesting they might 'blame' them for such life-altering insights.
• 20:00 - 22:30: Conclusion and Call to Action The chapter explores the importance of articulating one's job role succinctly, using the metaphor of a plane conversation with a stranger to emphasize clarity and brevity. It encourages readers to practice summarizing their profession in one sentence to ensure they can communicate their role effectively and to initiate meaningful conversations about their work.

Your Job Is Not Your Job - LinkedIn Speaker Series - 1/3 Transcription

• 00:00 - 00:30 some questions can change your life and uh here's a question that changed my life I just got my first job I was a teacher at MIT and I started uh traveling around the country to learn about management when I interviewed with MIT I had a degree in theoretical economics so the dean asked me would you come and teach accounting and I said
• 00:30 - 01:00 said that I don't know any accounting I said well you don't have to know it you just have to teach it so I said I asked him well how much do you pay and he told me it was twice as much as the professors of Economics so I think accounting is hazardous to your health so they they pay you they pay you extra to teach that so I said uh okay but I I need to learn so he said okay we'll teach you we we'll we'll let you we'll let you study accounting we'll give you a year study do like a mini MBA go around the country talk to people in
• 01:00 - 01:30 companies it was a luxury education I'm thankful for the rest of my life so I took one of these planes out of Boston and this guy sits next to me and he asked me so what's your job you know typical thing people ask when they sit on a plane and this question like one of these seeds stayed in my mind until today and it has grown and as it grows I don't know if you ever seen a mountain that you have these rocks and then there are these little little shrubs that come
• 01:30 - 02:00 off the Rock and they break the Rocks the this the the roots are so powerful that they just crack the Rocks around it and this question over 30 years has lodged here in my mind and it has lately just broken my life it really has has just shocked me to no end so I I I want to I want to share this question with you and hopefully in 20 years you'll still be blaming me for ruining your lives too with it but but I like to
• 02:00 - 02:30 imagine you just sat on a plane today now and you know the person next to you you don't know them and they just turn to you and they say what what's your job what would you say in one sentence what's your job so please tell the person next to you if you're remote and you're alone just think about it but if you're here one really literally this is like you just sat on a plane the person next to you ask you what's your job what do you tell them go ahead 5 Seconds go tell them what's your job
• 02:30 - 03:00 okay okay please pay attention I have some security announcements this is how you click your seat belt and all you know for those of you who don't know how to do it
• 03:00 - 03:30 okay so now comes the interesting part I told the person I'm a teacher what do you tell the person next to you I'm going to bet you $100 that in three minutes you change your mind how about that how many people would take that bet in three minutes you will change some this is not for people that have heard me say this before but
• 03:30 - 04:00 I can see I can recognize some faces they raise their hand I know the answer no come on I mean do you know what your job is how how sure are you that you know what your job is I'm not going to tell you that you're wrong you're going to tell yourself you're wrong how about that $100 would you bet yes most people say okay very good so in the next 60 Minutes that we together I hope to prove to you that the way you define your job what your job is
• 04:00 - 04:30 is not what you think it is now you'll think about it differently not only once I'll do this twice I'll bet you I'll give you an answer you say yeah okay now I understand and then I'll bet you again and you'll be surprised again then I'll tell you why this is almost impossible for people to comprehend and why is so amazing that we are together here and I consider myself as Jeff said one of you because we have an opportunity to imprint this question in the collective Consciousness and I I think is one of those questions that will
• 04:30 - 05:00 change the world and then how how to get that done because it's incredibly difficult so that's that's my goal to share with you some ideas but essentially what I say is not going to be relevant what you learn is what matters so let's start with a what and I love this quote from Alice would you tell me please which way I got to go from here and the cat says well that depends a good deal on where you want to go well I don't much care where so the cat says then it doesn't ma much matter which way you go
• 05:00 - 05:30 why is this relevant because my job is not being a teacher my job is to help people learn see what's the goal most people Define their jobs by what they do I don't know if you did this but your job is not what you do your job is the goal you pursue if you ask me what am I doing now I could say I'm teaching so this is a verb about what I do now for us argen Ians that's a very pleasant thing to do
• 05:30 - 06:00 everybody knows argentinians are the smartest and the humblest people in the world so you know it feels feels really natural to say why are all these people there because of me I'm teaching so it's me it's it's now I've noticed that a lot of North Americans are becoming argentinians in spirit too and and it's kind of me me me me me so my job is what I do but really your job is not about yourself and your company is not about you as employees
• 06:00 - 06:30 it's what what is the goal you pursue what is the goal I pursue so notice how different it is to say my job is to teach than to say my job is to help my students learn so let me just get a quick show of hands how many people Define their jobs now this is not to embarrass anybody is for us for us to see what what's the case how many people Define their jobs essentially as what you do okay do you agree that it's a more
• 06:30 - 07:00 expansive definition to start thinking of your job as the goal you pursue as trying to accomplish something and then what you do become subservient it's a means to an end but then you have a lot more possibilities so if someone says what's your job well I drive people I'm a driver I'm a taxi driver well one thing is to drive people the other the other job definition is I help people get to where they want to go that's a completely different definition as a coach that's a different kind of taxi driver but it's also a very powerful
• 07:00 - 07:30 definition I coach people versus I help people get to where they want to go it's very different so if I ask you now what is your job how would you think about it now I'm going to bet you another $100 that in three minutes I make you change your mind again how about that how many people would take that bit don't tell me it's okay so this this was the other that was the first revolution in my mind mind
• 07:30 - 08:00 when I realized my job is not what I do but it's the goal I pursue and I started asking people what's your job and I started seeing how much opportunities out there in the world by helping people think differently about their goals their life dreams their mission and then design their life based on the mission that they're pursuing as opposed to just activities but this one was even bigger this one was I I I would bet a, dollar that one in a million people thinks like this now think of your job at
• 08:00 - 08:30 LinkedIn and let me take you out and put you in a soccer game every argentinians you know we we need we need to boast our self-esteem soccer is one of the few ways in which we can feel proud of ourselves so what's the goal in soccer I mean well this is not a trick question I mean now people are afraid I'm not going to bet you anything it's okay no bets what what's the goal in
• 08:30 - 09:00 soccer to win to win to win you want to win you play a sport you want to win so you want to win you want to get the cup now what's the job this is this is the key question what's the most important job what's the primary job of every member of a soccer team what is the job of every soccer player to help the team win
• 09:00 - 09:30 let me say it again the the job of every soccer player is not their goal they have subordinate to the team in order to win let me put this again they have subordinate their individual goal to the goal of the team in order to win no individual player wins the game not in soccer the team wins or loses together it cannot be the case that we're in the same team I win and you lose we do it together so would you agree that the job
• 09:30 - 10:00 of every soccer player is to help the team win is that fair would you agree now you ask most players if I tell you oh I'm a I'm a goalie what's your job what would you say it's my job if I tell you I'm my goalie I mean the typical person what would they say stop the ball is that my primary job what's my real job help the team win if I'm a Defender what's my job help the team win if I'm
• 10:00 - 10:30 an attacker what's my job score goals this is a trick question I'm letting you know what's my job if I'm if I'm an attack I'm Maradona what what's the most important thing Maradona can do score goals no help the team win if we are winning one Zer and there's five minutes left and the coach says go back and help defend the goal because we're winning imagine a defend an attacker say no
• 10:30 - 11:00 that's not my job my job is to attack and score goals I'm not going to go back do you want a player like that in your team I wouldn't I'm as a coach I don't want to play I want everybody committed to help the team win that is the primary job of every player it's not the goal of your position it's the goal of the team that is superior to the goal of your position do you agree with this so far what's the goal of every member of a company
• 11:00 - 11:30 what's the job what's the primary job of every person in a company help the team win help the company win I this is not a trick question I gave you the answer this is the only job this is the only job that makes the difference now the way you do this job maybe attacking defending it security whatever Finance accounting Marketing sales
• 11:30 - 12:00 but those things are not your job what's your only job help the company win let me just check how many people said my job is to help my company win okay I would say I'll assume the same proportion of the people that are offsite so I I I guess you owe me about a million dollars how does LinkedIn win
• 12:00 - 12:30 and this is what you know I love of the conversation I had with Jeff five years ago and it's still resonating in my mind is by creating Economic Opportunity for every member of the global Workforce that's the only job that's the first job it's the only job everything else is to do that and to do it profitably sustainably ethically but this this is how you win this is this is if we were playing soccer this is the scoreboard are we doing this and it completely changes the way you think about your job if you start
• 12:30 - 13:00 thinking how does this action go all the way out to help create Economic Opportunity for every member of the global Workforce suddenly even programming or or or or preparing coffee or anything could be how can this help every member of the global Workforce have a better life through Economic Opportunity and it it radically Chang I I'm I'm proud to be here because I hope that the conversation we have today will help every member of the global Workforce may sound a little grandiose but but it
• 13:00 - 13:30 is it's not grandiose it's it's a small I know it's a very small contribution but that's what we're all doing every day you are doing this I feel proud to be with you doing this together it's a completely different way to think about my job