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Learn leadership from Elon Musk
The antagonistic billionaire is the pinnacle of terrible leadership. Become a better leader by doing the opposite of Elon Musk.
On May 19, 1994, an iconic Seinfeld episode aired entitled “The Opposite.” In it, the show’s indisputably best character, George Costanza, has a revelation: every instinct he’s ever had has led him to failure. So, he decides to try something radical — he does the opposite. As the episode unfolds, this counterintuitive strategy works like magic: George gets the girl, lands his dream job, and moves into his dream apartment.
Fast forward to 2008. Elon Musk, already a board member of Tesla, ascends to the CEO role, cementing his place in history as the leader of a company that would revolutionize the auto industry. Over the years, his list of leadership titles has grown to include CEO of SpaceX, Neuralink, and X (formerly Twitter), Chairman of SolarCity (now absorbed into Tesla), head of The Boring Company, and even self-appointed problem-solver-in-chief for the world’s biggest challenges through “The Department of Government Efficiency.”
Musk is a busy man. And there’s no denying Musk is three things: a remarkable business success, a prolific executive, and — let’s be honest — a terrible leader.