Working for Elon Musk: Ex-Employees Reveal His Management Strategy | WSJ

“He has never said this, but I’ve watched it. You have 30 seconds to make your point.”

What Elon Musk has been doing at Twitter since he took over the company isn’t new – he’s used the same management strategies when he took over Tesla and when he founded SpaceX.

The Wall Street Journal spoke with three former employees to better understand Musk’s management playbook.

Illustration: Ryan Trefes

0:00 Elon Musk is known to be intense among employees
0:48 Elon Musk’s history of rallying staff behind a compelling mission
2:19 How Elon Musk uses his idea of ‘hardcore’
4:56 Musk’s ‘special forces’ hiring mentality
5:56 Musk ups financial stakes to motivate workers

#ElonMusk #Twitter #WSJ

[STROBdotNET]

80 to 100 hours a week is exactly what I did for years when working for my own business. There is no way I would do the same as an employee and asking that to employees is nonsense unless they have their fair share of the pie.

[JessieLimJQ]

I had a CEO who literally idolises Elon and works like him too. It was extremely intense when I was there. I don’t mind working extra hours but it simply means that i can’t really have a life outside of work. I was struggling with some family issues with lots of family commitments at the time, there’s no way I could balance both.
I saw how the loyal employees in the company typically has no family and spend festive seasons in the office together. in one of the sharing sessions by the CEO, he himself said that he didn’t really live a successful life considered how his marriage and relationships fell into shambles because of how much he worked, yet he expects us to put in the same amount of hours as him.
I soon came to realise that the company wasn’t suitable for me - I have a family to take care of, to spend time with and I don’t want to look back and be filled with regrets.

[Mikeey]

I worked at spacex, the number one conversation we had among ourselves was which company are we going to next

[unfixablegop]

The kindest way to look at an 80 hour work week is that it's a 50% pay cut.

[SCL]

"Do your job. DON'T LET HIM KNOW YOUR NAME". That in itself is saying something.

[TransConBrilliance]

I have talked to enough developers at tesla to know I was right to decline their job offer. He expects everyone who are not hourly employees to work 70-80 hours per week as a norm. If any of you have done that as your regular work week for several months you will know how it destroys your body and mind. Not everyone can or should work like that. Under musk you are not a person. You are a resource and will be used until you can't go any further and then another resource will simply replace you.

[randomCADstuff]

Re: Intensity and long hours - I worked at a small company for a short time. Everyone was supposed to fill out their schedules. One member of upper management had a brutal schedule. They worked for an hour before going for a swim at 6:00 am. Min. 12 hour days. I was super impressed. As I stayed at the company longer, I realized their secret: They weren't doing real work. It was all meetings, travelling to and from meetings, and walking around the office critiquing the work of others. They didn't do much actual work. These "80 hour weeks" often include rubbing shoulders with other similar-minded people (and winning them over in order to engage in various business deals - necessary but hardly "demanding work" if you don't mind it). Sometimes these "high performers" are actually disappearing to take naps throughout the day.
Many of these "high performing" management types exaggerate their 'intensity' in order to guilt their employees into working harder. It's actually insanely demanding to do boring, menial, or physically/mentally demanding work for more than 60 hours per week; it takes it's toll and often doesn't equate to success.

[waynewintermute]

I worked like this before and sacrificed the young years of being with my daughter. You only get one chance for that and no job is worth losing those bonding years and joy of watching and being a part of your kids lives! Oh and not to mention the physical illness that I suffered that almost killed me on top of the anxiety disorder (severe panic attacks) that I had to take medication for. Not worth it I can tell you from experience.

[file]

There are 168 hours in a week.

If you work 100 hours that leaves 68 hours over 7 days. That’s 9.71 hours a day to commute, shower and sleep.

Note: No weekends. No dates. No laughing with friends. No mountain biking or concerts. No reading books. No life outside of work.

You would have to pay me 10x my normal salary to make that worth my time on this Earth.

[beyondfossil]

Getting everyone to switch to work levels of "hardcore" and "ultra hardcore" is fine but it needs to come with the same "hardcore" and "ultra hardcore" pay. Salaried workers don't get overtime.

[Vladkazenski]

Unless someone has decent equity in a company, there is absolutely no reason why someone should ruin his/her health and ruin its family for the sake of someones vision

[greta]

I worked for lawyer that was just as “intense” (had unrealistic expectations) as Elon and let me tell you it was NOT a good time. I hated my life and I was so unhappy. Every Sunday I was riddled with anxiety knowing I had to go in to work the following day. Work life balance is important!

[aplanu]

Why would anyone in their right mind work 80-100 hours for a company, sacrificing family, health, and personal time to make the CEO and investors rich? You know they are going to just sell the company for billions, and not even cut you a check for all the EXTRA hard work you put in to make the company great!

[euroschmau]

Working 80 to 100 hours per week for your boss isn't visionary nor devotion, it's a slave mindset.

[skyarpenter]

When you are truly 'the best of the best', you work for no one but yourself.

[pmstff]

It’s the same at every hospital in America! See a patient every 30 min while your documenting because you have to maintain 80-90% productivity! Clock out you are asked “ did you get your break?”. Better not hit “no” on that time clock cause you won’t have a job!

[daviddang]

These people loved Elon’s working style so much, they left.

[ptys.]

Once people realise they don't need socials like twitter to lead healthy, happy lives, we'll all be better off.

[crtmojo]

My longest shift was 36 hours straight. I’ve worked 80 hours a week before. I’ve worked 7 days a week for a full year. I work 6 days a week now. None of it at Tesla and most of it for minimum wage.

[koenigkorczak]

Yeah, Elon is so hardcore and he works all the time, that's why he posts about two dozent Tweets every day. Such hard work.