Jason Hsu
Jason Hsu is one of the brightest investment minds in the world. In our interview he talks about how curiosity and emotional intelligence are key to the success of great investors and great teams.
One of his firms, Research Affiliates, was focusing too much on growing fast, and as a result were ripping themselves apart, causing much unhappiness. That’s when someone suggested they talk with Jim and bring in conscious leadership. Jason shares, “ We thought we were just going to bring someone who was a management consultant, get a diagnostic on who's wrong, who's right and be done with that. It's been certainly far, far, far from that. It's been a fantastic journey.”
Jason credits CLG with creating an environment where fear and blame play a much smaller role in day to day interactions. People are much more willing to take responsibility for results—rather than playing the blame game—and focusing on how they can do things differently to create a better outcomes.
Appreciation for CLG's Impact
The 15 Commitments in Action
Company Orientation During its first weeks as a “start up,” Rayliant held an orientation and alignment event at both its U.S. and Asia offices. During this event Jason emphasized the 15 commitments which are incorporated into the firm’s core values and culture.
E-Mail Protocol to Encourage Candor We copy in e-mails any person who is addressed in that e-mail. For example, if Alan sends an e-mail to Beth that talks about Charles, but neglects to copy Charles; Beth will copy Charles in her reply to Alan. By forcing private conversations into the public, our team has become more conscious of what they say and how they say it. This practice has had the ancillary benefits of outing stories and undermining negative alliances.
Daily Appreciation Opportunity E-Mail In its early days, each Rayliant employee was responsible for sending to the entire firm a daily “Appreciation Opportunity” e-mail. The e-mail recognized and appreciated the contributions that day of someone on the team and identified a way for someone on the team to help them better.
15 Commitments in Employee Handbook Many of the 15 Commitments can be found as core principles, which guide our daily operations, within the employee handbook. This handbook is given to all existing employees and new hires.
