Hi Everyone,

Happy Friday! Thanks for spending part of it reading The Lake Street Journal.

This week we’re talking about Joe Liemandt’s slogans, Alpha School, and General McChrystal. Let's get into it.

Three Lines, Three Words

Three lines, three words each. You need to distill your strategy down to that. Twenty page strategy documents are useless. Craft your message. Make it simple and clear.

That's the advice Joe Liemandt got from his head of HR when he was running Trilogy, the multi-billion dollar software company he founded in the early 90s.

Joe ignored him.

So the head of HR, Jim Abolt, spent months interviewing every single person in the company. Then he pulled Joe into his office, pointed to the white board, and said, "This is what people think your strategy is."

"Wow," Joe replied. "That's like the exact opposite of our strategy."

"Yes!" said Jim. "That's because in a 20-page strategy document, there's always one line that someone can attach to and say, 'See I'm aligned.' You need to go create a strategy where there's no escape, where your message is so simple [people can't misunderstand it]."

As we've discussed before, great leaders are great storytellers. Along those same lines, they're also great sloganeers.

It's really hard to distill a big idea down to a few words—a simple, unmistakable, crystal clear slogan. If you don't believe me, try to explain your job in one sentence. It's a challenging but crucial skill to master as a leader of people.

It's crucial for many reasons, but I'll pick two. First, because it communicates your mission in unambiguous terms. And the best way to accomplish a mission is to make sure everyone is working toward the same goal.

Second, as Liemandt explained, a good slogan acts as a magnet. It attracts the right people and repels the wrong ones—employees and customers alike.

It's only a good slogan if someone will say the opposite.

So great slogans are multi-purpose tools. They ensure your team is comprised of the right people. And they ensure your team is working on the right task—making the right decisions to accomplish the main goal.

Three lines, three words each. Maybe yours doesn't fall exactly within those guidelines, but it should be close.

Short, crisp, compelling, clear, and a little bit controversial.

The best leaders are great sloganeers. What's your slogan?

An Education Revolution

Last week I raved about the Colossus profile on Joe Liemandt. I still think it's awesome and recommend you read it, but this week I listened to the 2.5 hour podcast convo between Patrick O'Shaughnessy and Joe Liemandt, and it's equally worthy of your attention.

If you prefer audio to text, this is your ticket. If you enjoyed the profile, this is a worthy complement.

It goes deeper into the details of Alpha School, a school where kids spend two hours per day learning through AI tutors, test in the top 1% in the country, and spend their afternoons learning life skills and working on passion projects.

I've never really believed that private school was much of an advantage—especially considering the cost. But after learning a bit about Alpha School, I'm convinced it's an enormous advantage for anyone who can afford it. That said, the price tag is steep. It's $40k annually in Austin, and the new location in NYC has a $65k annual price tag.

I'm excited to continue following this company and the technology, and I'm hopeful costs will begin to come down and alternatives will begin to pop up.

I haven't found anything about AI to be particularly exciting up until this point. But it sounds like AI is going to truly revolutionize education, and I'm really excited to see how that will benefit my kids and millions of others.

General Stanley McChrystal on the Daily Stoic

This was a delightful conversation between General McChrystal and Ryan Holiday.

I've been a fan of McChrystal since I first heard him on Tim Ferriss' podcast back in 2015. He always comes across as thoughtful, measured, and wise, and I believe everyone can benefit from consuming his thoughts.

They talked at length about leadership and character. One story in particular stood out to me.

McChrystal talked about when he was commanding a battalion of Rangers, and they were expecting a visit from the chief of staff of the Army. They spent the week preparing for a big demonstration, but at the last minute, the Chief cancelled his visit when his schedule got too busy.

McChrystal had to deliver the news to his men after they had spent a lot of time and effort preparing. Naturally, they were disappointed.

As McChrystal explained, when leaders get big and important, they grow a big tail like a dinosaur. Every time they turn, that big old tail knocks something over and makes a mess.

Basically, his point was that, as a leader, even the decisions that feel small to you have potentially big consequences for others. If your big tail knocks too many things over, it can start to take a toll on morale. So ask probing questions about those little decisions, figure out where the damage is, and do the work required to repair it.

I'm not a big important leader, but some of you might be. Just a friendly reminder.

Workout of the Week

I've been doing this workout for like eight years. It's a tried and true running burner.

Treadmill Hill Workout

• 7 mph, 7 incline - 1 min on/30 seconds off x 3

• 8 mph, 8 incline - 1 min on/30 seconds off x 3

• 9 mph, 9 incline - 45 seconds on/45 seconds off x 3

• 10 mph, 10 incline - 30 seconds on/30 seconds off x 3

That last round is always brutal. Try to hang on.

I need your advice. I'm planning to buy a treadmill for my home gym this year. Send me your recommendations.

Quote of the Week

“If I told you that you weren’t going home until we win—what would you do differently?” - General Stanley McChrystal

Have a question or a comment? Respond to this email.

Talk soon,

Joe