Becoming a conscious leader: Leading without fear, finding your life’s objective function, and getting better at vision and strategy | John Mark Nickels (Uber, Waymo, DoorDash)
October 6, 2024
AI Summary
5 min readJohn Mark Nickels, a product leader at Uber, Waymo, and DoorDash, discusses conscious leadership as becoming aware of one's internal biases and taking responsibility for influence on others, whether in teams, family, or communities. He shares principles for leading without fear, handling emotions effectively, developing vision through deep domain focus, and clarifying life's priorities.
Conscious Leadership Practices
Nickels defines leadership as influence everyone holds, with the "conscious" part involving awareness of inherited beliefs and power dynamics. He evolved from dominating meetings to creating space for others, especially as a senior leader, recognizing juniors may hesitate to speak. In high-stress settings like early Uber under Travis Kalanick, he learned to allow emotions rather than resist them—"what you resist persists"—breaking negative thought-emotion loops. This shifts meetings from threat-based arguments to collaborative curiosity, turning feedback into opportunities rather than risks. He emphasizes not seeking external approval for self-worth, focusing instead on product impact over personal optics, which paradoxically improved his career progression.
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What you'll learn
- 1 *(00:56) **Guest Intro and Bio**
- 2 *(02:26) **Defining Conscious Leadership**
- 3 *(07:55) **Uber Eras and Early Stress**
- 4 *(13:28) **Managing Emotions and Stress**
- 5 *(17:21) **Prioritizing Impact Over Optics**
- 6 *(22:35) **Building Strategy and Vision Skills**
- 7 *(35:08) **Future Marketplace Complexity**
+ Full timestamped outline available in the app
Show Notes
JM Nickels is a Senior Director of Product Management at Uber. Previously, he was Head of Product for Commercialization at Waymo and led product teams at DoorDash. JM is also a coach and advisor focused on conscious leadership. In our conversation, we discuss:
• How to sharpen your vision and strategy skills
• What “conscious leadership” means and how to practice it
• Practical techniques for managing stress
• The power of soft skills and emotional intelligence in product leadership
• Lessons from working at Uber, Waymo, and DoorDash
• Keys to living a successful and fulfilling life
• Much more
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Find the transcript at: https://www.lennysnewsletter.com/p/becoming-a-conscious-leader-john-mark-nickels
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Where to find John Mark Nickels:
• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jmnickels/
• Website: https://www.rhythmofbeing.com/
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Where to find Lenny:
• Newsletter: https://www.lennysnewsletter.com
• X: https://twitter.com/lennysan
• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/lennyrachitsky/
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In this episode, we cover:
(00:00) Introduction to JM
(02:02) Conscious leadership explained
(03:41) The power of soft skills
(07:34) Navigating Uber’s evolution
(12:41) Embracing emotions and inner work
(21:46) Crafting strategy and vision
(41:16) Balancing vision and execution
(46:13) Lessons from DoorDash, Uber, and Waymo
(52:32) The future of autonomous ride-hailing
(55:18) Contrarian corner: Embracing emotions in the workplace
(59:47) Keys to a fulfilling life
(01:04:45) Taking responsibility and agency
(01:07:29) Lightning round and final thoughts
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