How Does NVIDIA’s Jensen Huang Build Teams Through Struggle?

TL;DR

Jensen Huang builds teams by embracing struggle, sharing information broadly, and turning feedback into collective learning. At NVIDIA, more than 60 leaders report directly to him, helping reduce hierarchy and giving them simultaneous access to company priorities and problems. He favors demanding coaching over abandoning capable employees and reserves his time for difficult problems and new ideas. Read on to understand how these practices shape his leadership system.

Transcript

you want to build something something great uh it's not easy to do and when you're doing something that's not easy to do you're not always enjoying it I don't love every day of my job I don't think every day brings me joy nor does Joy have to be the definition of a good day and every day I'm not happy every year I'm not happy about the company um b... Read More

Key Insights

• Great achievements are difficult by definition, according to Huang, because struggle, suffering, and sustained effort make accomplishment possible and meaningful. A good job therefore does not need to produce happiness or joy every day, even when a person deeply loves the organization and its mission.
• Early work can shape a lasting standard of excellence, as Huang describes cleaning school bathrooms at nine and later working as a dishwasher, busboy, and waiter. He approached each job by trying to perform it as well as possible, regardless of its status or unpleasantness.
• NVIDIA’s leadership team includes more than 60 people who report directly to Huang. He believes this unusually broad reporting structure removes layers of hierarchy, improves information flow, and allows more leaders to hear the same challenges, priorities, successes, failures, and proposed directions at the same time.
• Privileged access to information should not determine an employee’s ability to contribute, according to Huang. He shares most important matters with his broader staff simultaneously so that everyone works from the same understanding and can participate in solving problems without relying on private messages attributed to the CEO.
• Public feedback is a collective learning mechanism in Huang’s management system. When someone creates a problem or makes a mistake, he reasons through it in front of others because the lesson can benefit the entire group, even when his own initial interpretation may not be completely correct.
• Learning from another person’s mistake is preferable to waiting for personal failure, according to Huang. He argues that private feedback deprives colleagues of useful experience, while open discussion lets people study the reasoning behind errors, disagreements, disasters, and corrective decisions without repeating every mistake themselves.
• Employee development is preferable to giving up on capable people, according to Huang. He rarely wants to fire someone because he believes many abilities can be learned through opportunity, observation, persistence, and demanding coaching, especially when a breakthrough may arrive shortly after a period of difficulty.
• A CEO’s highest-value meetings address problems, new ideas, brainstorming, and creation rather than routine reporting. Huang views CEOs as pinch hitters who should enter situations where others cannot act or where focused intervention can move the needle, while strong operators manage recurring operational work.

Questions & Answers

Q: How does NVIDIA’s Jensen Huang build effective teams through struggle?

Huang treats struggle, sustained effort, and difficult work as necessary parts of meaningful achievement. He combines that philosophy with broad information sharing, public feedback, and demanding coaching so the entire team can learn together. He believes a person can love the company without feeling happy about every day or every period.

Q: Why does Jensen Huang believe greatness requires struggle?

Huang says nothing great is easy to accomplish by definition. People must suffer, struggle, endeavor, and work through hard situations to appreciate what they eventually achieve. He therefore does not define a good job or a good day by constant happiness or joy.

Q: How did Jensen Huang’s early jobs shape his approach to work?

Huang arrived in 1973 as a nine-year-old immigrant and attended a school where his chore was cleaning bathrooms. He later worked at Denny’s as a dishwasher, busboy, and waiter. In every role, he focused on doing the job as well as he could, regardless of its status or difficulty.

Q: Why does Jensen Huang have more than 60 direct reports at NVIDIA?

Huang says NVIDIA’s leadership team has more than 60 people who report directly to him. He believes this broad structure removes layers of hierarchy and helps information move through the company. It also lets leaders hear the same challenges, priorities, successes, failures, and new endeavors together.

Q: Why does Jensen Huang avoid one-on-one meetings?

Huang does not want an employee’s contribution to depend on privileged access to information. He shares almost everything with his staff simultaneously so everyone can work from the same understanding and help solve the same problems. This also avoids relying on private messages attributed to the CEO.

Q: Why does Jensen Huang give feedback publicly?

Huang views feedback as learning that should benefit more than the person who made a mistake. By reasoning through a disagreement or problem in front of the group, he lets everyone examine the lesson, even while acknowledging that he is not always right. He believes private feedback deprives colleagues of that shared learning opportunity.

Q: Why does Jensen Huang prefer developing employees to firing them?

Huang prefers improvement because he believes people can learn when given sufficient opportunity, observation, persistence, and demanding coaching. His own progression from cleaning bathrooms to becoming a CEO reinforces that conviction. He also worries that giving up on someone may happen just before an important breakthrough.

Q: What meetings does Jensen Huang consider most valuable for a CEO?

Huang prioritizes meetings about problems, new ideas, brainstorming, and creation. He avoids routine reporting and operational meetings because capable operators can manage recurring work. He sees the CEO as a pinch hitter who should focus on difficult situations where intervention can move the needle.

Summary & Key Takeaways

• Jensen Huang argues that meaningful achievement is rarely easy or consistently enjoyable. He distinguishes loving a company from feeling happy every day, presenting pain, struggle, and sustained effort as necessary parts of greatness. His childhood chores and early service jobs taught him to approach every responsibility with care and do his best.

• NVIDIA’s leadership structure gives Huang more than 60 direct reports, reducing hierarchy and allowing information to circulate broadly. He avoids one-on-one meetings, communicates challenges and priorities to groups, and delivers feedback publicly. His goal is to let everyone learn from the reasoning, mistakes, and experiences that would otherwise remain private.

• Huang prefers improving employees to firing them because he believes people can learn when given sufficient opportunity, observation, and coaching. He works throughout the week, chooses meetings about problems, ideas, and creation, and avoids routine reporting. His preferred opportunities involve difficult, unprecedented work that can create an entirely new market.