YUME: NEW YORK TIMES PROFILE by Adam Bryant

Michael Mathieu:

“I think my worst bosses were hyper-controlling. I’ve learned that leaders actually do the opposite, which is to give their best people complete freedom to do the job. The worst managers come in and believe, ‘O.K., I’m going to control this.’ They’re very structured. And what I’ve learned is that actually stifles high performers.

People who are really good at what they do want freedom. They want to be able to be innovative. So I try to hire the best people and give them the freedom and flexibility to do the job they were hired to do. But they have to sign up for things to get that freedom. . . .

You’ve got to make people feel like they can come in and talk about anything with absolutely no fear of, ‘O.K., this could be stupid.’ They need to feel like their voice is heard, and feel completely fearless to have those conversations with me. . . .

They have to be clear on what our goals and vision are. This is the mountain we’re trying to go after, and let’s be clear on what we have to do. And if you do sign up for that, you’re going to be accountable. If you give good people clear goals, you can let them be accountable and go after it in their own way. And then reward and recognize.”