Masters of Scale: What Does Arianna Huffington Say Great Founders Should Do at Night?

TL;DR

Great founders should recharge instead of treating sleepless, relentless work as essential to success. On Masters of Scale, Reid Hoffman and Arianna Huffington explain how exhaustion creates diminishing returns; Huffington’s own wake-up call came two years into building HuffPost, when she collapsed, hit her desk, and broke her cheekbone. Read on for lessons about sleep, burnout, leadership, and sustainable entrepreneurship.

Transcript

(radio static) ♪ MOS FM ♪ - You're tuned in to the MOS FM Red Eye Radio Hour. (upbeat music) The only radio show dedicated to all you hardworking entrepreneurs who routinely burn the midnight oil. The time is 3:30 AM and we'll be here with you until dawn or until you pass out from nervous exhaustion. (bell chiming) Now it's time to vote for your nu... Read More

Key Insights

• Entrepreneurs often believe that relentless work is essential, but this can lead to burnout.
• Arianna Huffington collapsed from exhaustion, prompting her to prioritize wellness.
• Thrive Global was founded to promote balance and wellness in the workplace.
• Sleep and rejuvenation are critical for cognitive performance and decision-making.
• Hiring mistakes often occur when leaders are tired, impairing judgment.
• Cultural shifts in organizations can support individual wellness and productivity.
• Technology can both hinder and help in maintaining work-life balance.
• Small, science-based microsteps can have a significant impact on personal and organizational wellness.

Questions & Answers

Q: What should great founders do at night?

Great founders should recharge rather than routinely sacrifice sleep to work longer. Reid Hoffman argues that a founder’s business and life depend on learning how to restore personal energy through balance and wellness.

Q: How can founders balance work and wellness?

Founders can begin by rejecting the belief that inhumanly long hours, missed meals, neglected relationships, and lost sleep are mandatory parts of entrepreneurship. They need to recognize diminishing returns and make recharging part of surviving the entrepreneurial journey.

Q: What was Arianna Huffington’s wake-up call about burnout?

Two years into building HuffPost, Huffington stood up from her desk to get a sweater, collapsed, struck her head on the desk, and broke her cheekbone. The incident led her to investigate why it happened and conclude that she needed to change her life.

Q: Why do founders fall into relentless work habits?

Founders may believe that constant pressure and self-sacrifice are necessary for company success. Hoffman says entrepreneurs can also convince themselves that fatigue has not seriously harmed their performance and that diminishing returns apply to everyone except them.

Q: What is the myth of the infallible founder?

It is the belief that founders can and must work inhumanly long hours while enduring enormous stress and sacrificing sleep, meals, relationships, and other pleasures. The episode describes that belief as dangerous because it can consume founders and lead toward burnout.

Q: How did Arianna Huffington approach her experience with exhaustion?

After her collapse, Huffington underwent a battery of medical examinations while doctors considered possible causes. Drawing on her journalistic and research-driven instincts, she read, studied, and spoke with scientists to understand what had happened.

Q: What is Thrive Global’s role in Arianna Huffington’s work?

Thrive Global is Huffington’s venture and a platform created to promote well-being. At the time of the episode, she was two years into building it after previously leading the Huffington Post’s dramatic growth.

Q: What does Masters of Scale teach about surviving entrepreneurship?

Host Reid Hoffman says the way founders respond to entrepreneurship’s trials helps determine their success. His central lesson is that long hours and intense focus may help build a company, but founders must recharge so that the work does not consume them.

Summary & Key Takeaways

• Arianna Huffington emphasizes the necessity of balancing work with personal wellness to prevent burnout. After experiencing her own health crisis, she founded Thrive Global to promote this balance in organizations. Her insights highlight the importance of sleep and rejuvenation for effective decision-making and leadership.

• Entrepreneurs often fall into the trap of believing that nonstop work is essential for success. However, Huffington argues that this mindset can lead to diminishing returns and burnout. Thrive Global offers strategies to integrate wellness into corporate culture, enhancing both employee satisfaction and productivity.

• The episode explores the paradox of technology in wellness, where it can distract but also aid in creating healthier work habits. Huffington shares practical steps and cultural practices that support a sustainable work-life balance, underscoring the role of leaders in modeling these behaviors.