Former Twitter CEO Dick Costolo recently shared a piece of advice he received from Jeff Bezos, founder of Amazon and one of the richest men in the world, in hopes of nudging the social media giant’s new CEO, Parag Agrawal, in the right direction.
Agrawal took over as CEO from founder Jack Dorsey in November 2021. As the world waits to see how his leadership will shape the company’s future, his fellow leaders have been keen to weigh in. Costolo, in particular, is referring to advice he received from Bezos in his tenure at Twitter when Bezos joined as a major shareholder.
According to Bezos “a good leader trusts his gut.” A leader must do their own thing, their way, and not be skewed by the management styles of others. In Costolo’s words, “trying to read some management book or biography, then running the company that way, is going to just create misery for you and everyone around you.” In Costolo’s eyes, Agrawal will do well to not think about how the company’s former leaders operated, but to be himself in his new role.
