1 big thing: The power of pure luck 

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✨ Your dumb luck

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Axios Finish Line

1 big thing: New words for your repertoire

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💬 What are your favorite words?

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1 big thing: How to fire with dignity

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1 big thing: Future of retreats

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1 big thing: Blunt advice from badass women

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This week, the 500 employees of Axios will get together in person — for our first company-wide retreat since the pandemic hit. 

Why it matters: A staggering 75% of our colleagues joined after March 2020. So most of them will be experiencing Axios in person for the first time. They've never set foot on a piece of Axios real estate, and they've never met most of their coworkers in real life.

This is the reality for companies all over the world.

Zoom out: In our work-from-anywhere world, the company retreat is more essential than ever.

Remote work has a slew of benefits — from flexibility for workers, to a limitless talent pool for employers

But it strips away the togetherness and serendipity that makes companies stronger and bolder.

Zoom in: Very early in the pandemic, the leaders of Axios decided we'd be remote first, forever. That was based on two hunches, both of which have proved correct: 

Offering remote work to all hires gives you an edge in the battle for talent — the whole game for a growing company. 

Whatever return-to-work plans an organization made, they'd have to change them. So why not just start with an employee-first approach?

Our thought bubble: Our staff, like most, has proved incredibly productive and resilient in shutdown. But we started warning early that employers were taking a false signal from the success they were having with work-from-home.

Yes, there were advantages, including the time saved from not commuting. But there was a real price in culture and creativity — the intangibles that come from spending unstructured time together, without the transactional, agenda-driven structure of a Zoom.

In a new study, researchers found that people are less creative in virtual meetings than live ones.

What's next: Schedule innovation. Bring teams together at retreats to germinate the next set of great ideas.

This doesn’t have to be in person. Bosses won’t get anything out of forcing people to show up when they’re concerned about child care or health. The standard video meeting may stifle brainstorms, but you can retreat in the virtual world. 

The new world of work has spurred a whole industry around remote creativity — including virtual golf outings via VR headsets.

Most will do what we are doing: a mix of team, regional and all-staff gatherings to spark human connections — and fresh ideas.

The bottom line: Pre-pandemic, 8% of U.S. office workers were fully remote. Now, 32% either are remote or want to be, per Gallup polling. And most others want hybrid work.

That's a third of your workforce that relies on well-organized, fun retreats to soak up company values and forge friendships.

The future of retreats

A staggering 75% of our colleagues joined after March 2020.

Remote work

Jobs

This week, the 500 employees of Axios will get together in person — for our first company-wide retreat since the pandemic hit. Why it matters: A staggering 75% of our colleagues joined after March 2020. So most of them will be experiencing Axios in person for the first time. They&#x27;ve never set foot on a piece of Axios real estate, and they&#x27;ve never met most of their coworkers in real life.

After a record economic expansion, the coronavirus pandemic sent the U.S. economy into a recession as unemployment soared to staggering heights. The country now faces urgent questions about how much stimulus is needed for reeling consumers and businesses, and what a recovery might look like.

Economy & Business

The first time I fired someone, it was a debacle.

Why it matters: I was as subtle as a sledgehammer. My lack of finesse — and dignity in delivery — got me an F.  

The backstory: It was early 2007. John Harris, one of our Politico co-founders, and I decided we had to let one of our early employees go.

We called the guy in and I recited all the things he was bad at — and told him he was canned. The poor guy never saw it coming.

Afterward, Harris turned to me: "Um, I will handle the firing thing from now on."

The takeaway: We weren't wrong about the guy's performance. But we were wrong about how we handled it. With time, I radically reshaped how I thought about letting people go. 

First, the obvious: No one wants to fire or be fired. It sucks. 

But here's a cold, hard truth about running a business: You sometimes hire the wrong person for the wrong job at the wrong time. 

You need to act the moment you realize it can't be corrected. Otherwise, your company or team will suffer and stagnate. 

One of the biggest mistakes managers make is rationalizing not making the hard, right move. 

There are ways to do this with grace and class:

No surprises: By the time someone comes into a meeting to be fired, it should be clear to all what's about to happen and why. This is where candor matters most: If you're giving or getting unvarnished feedback — and clear instructions on what needs to improve and on what timeline — the end should be obvious to all. 

Don’t wait: So many people duck hard, uncomfortable discussions. It's a terrible way to treat people. Anyone who isn't living up to expectations should know with total precision why — and what they must do to improve.

Be gracious: Most people don't get fired for stealing or scandal. It's usually not the right fit, or right season of life for the company or individual. Be clear and direct, but don't over-explain or get dragged into a point-by-point debate. The departing employee should take the awful moment to listen, learn and self-correct. 

Be classy: One trick for easing the pain — and stain — of getting fired is giving the person time to leave on their own and find another job from a position of strength.

The bottom line: Now that we practice this approach, we've had people later thank us for letting them go, and how it was handled. 

🏁 Editor's note: This article appeared in Axios Finish Line, a new newsletter in the Axios Daily Essentials package. Sign up here for free.

How to fire with dignity

Leadership

The first time I fired someone, it was a debacle.Why it matters: I was as subtle as a sledgehammer. My lack of finesse — and dignity in delivery — got me an F.

At Axios, women rule. Nearly 60% of Axions — yes, that's what we call each other — are women. 

Oh, we also have a group of women leaders who meet monthly called "Women Who Kick Axios."

Why it matters: We're witnessing a surge of women's leadership in business. They're starting businesses and running boardrooms. And the same is true at Axios.

So I asked four women leaders at Axios to share a few thoughts on leadership: Editor-in-chief Sara Kehaulani Goo, Chief People Officer Dominique Taylor, Executive Editor Aja Whitaker-Moore and Chief Technology Officer Mel Colton.

Sara says: Surround yourself with people who share your values.

When I consider working at a new company, I always think about what kind of integrity the place has, what they stand for and what they tell the world they’re about. 

Then I try to get to know the people who work there and see, do they know where they need to improve and what they’re doing well — are they self-aware?

I want to work with people who share my values of honesty, integrity, curiosity and humility. 

Plus, quiet leadership: My Uncle Take (his Japanese name is pronounced Tah-kay) just died at age 96, and he was very influential in my life. He dedicated much of his life to the quiet service of others, or as locals would put it, he lived "aloha."  

When he died, I was helping to go through his things and found all kinds of awards — from the mayor, the county, the governor of Hawaii — that he had received over the years for his community service. 

It reminded me of how leadership can take so many different forms. His leadership was his quiet, selfless everyday work for his community and his culture. Now that’s an inspiration.

Dominique says: Approach your job as if you’re always interviewing.

You never know when you’ll cross paths with people you’ve worked with or for again. 

You also never know who can open up new opportunities because they think of you fondly — and the opposite holds true too. 

Embrace your career as a roller coaster and not a through-line that goes up and to the right. Everyone experiences highs and lows and feels upside down at some point. Sometimes you even get off the ride for a bit and then get on a faster roller coaster (I did).

Aja says: Never do anything just for the money. 

This includes career decisions (leaving or taking a job), hiring decisions (bringing someone on because they are the cheapest option or not hiring them because they are too expensive), and project decisions (don't start something just because someone will pay you a lot of money to do it).

Delegate. People have jokingly called me a delegator-in-chief. I take that as a compliment. Knowing what you shouldn't be doing — and what other people should — frees you up to focus on your goals and achieve them.

One surprising thing: I don't drink coffee. I haven't had a drop of caffeine in over a decade. I believe in listening to your mind and body. If you are tired, rest. If you can't focus, take a break. Removing the artificial crutch helps with all that. 

Be clear. Actively look for what feels murky and provide clarity. When folks don't know what's expected, who has ownership or how to get something across the finish line, they can't perform optimally. 

Be human. Let others see you being human. It builds trust.

Be direct. Assumptions should be stated ahead of difficult or strategic conversations. You may align on the topic or the work, but it's the unsaid assumptions that can cause confusion and tension.

Blunt advice from badass Axios women

We're witnessing a surge of women's leadership in business.

Clockwise, from top left: Aja, Sara, Dominique, Mel

At Axios, women rule. Nearly 60% of Axions — yes, that&#x27;s what we call each other — are women. <ul><li>Oh, we also have a group of women leaders who meet monthly called &quot;Women Who Kick Axios.&quot;</li></ul>Why it matters: We&#x27;re witnessing a surge of women&#x27;s leadership in business. They&#x27;re <a class="gtmContentClick" data-vars-link-text="starting businesses" data-vars-click-url="https://www.forbes.com/sites/lizelting/2021/07/23/more-and-more-women-are-starting-businesses-why-is-that-so-surprising/?sh=69cc48b83c34" data-vars-content-id="8f8d6908-eac4-4666-a61c-fe6d9752b554" data-vars-headline="Blunt advice from badass Axios women" data-vars-event-category="story" data-vars-sub-category="story" data-vars-item="in_content_link" href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/lizelting/2021/07/23/more-and-more-women-are-starting-businesses-why-is-that-so-surprising/?sh=69cc48b83c34" target="_blank">starting businesses</a> and <a class="gtmContentClick" data-vars-link-text="running boardrooms" data-vars-click-url="https://www.axios.com/2022/05/04/women-fortune-500-boards-record" data-vars-content-id="8f8d6908-eac4-4666-a61c-fe6d9752b554" data-vars-headline="Blunt advice from badass Axios women" data-vars-event-category="story" data-vars-sub-category="story" data-vars-item="in_content_link" href="https://www.axios.com/2022/05/04/women-fortune-500-boards-record" target="_self">running boardrooms</a>. And the same is true at Axios.

Almost every great thing in life starts with serendipity, someone — or something — new entering your life by chance.

Why it matters: This should humble all of us. We often celebrate big names who invent companies or pull off remarkable feats. 

But this is true too: They caught a ton of breaks and benefited far more than they publicly admit from the unsung contributions of many others — or just luck.

My life-altering dumb luck moment hit in 1993, when I pulled a full list of Wisconsin newspapers in hopes of finding an internship, anywhere at any pay.

Zane Zander, publisher of the weekly newspaper The Brillion News was one of my first calls on the alphabetical list. He asked me to pop up to Brillion stat for a quick chat. 

Even after I explained I was new to journalism, coming off my first writing class, he asked me to run his entire newspaper for the summer — alone — with one week of training.

I reiterated he would be hiring a middling student with scant experience. But he was in a jam: His editor needed the summer off and Mr. Zander needed an immediate sub. 

🧀 He gave me an offer no Cheesehead could resist: $300 per week, a car, and his cottage on a pond loaded with bass, with a fridge loaded with cold beer.

There’s little chance I would be writing this today absent the master class Mr. Zander put me through.

All of us have stories like this. We should cherish them. And be well aware of ways to position ourselves for — and take advantage of — luck and happenstance: 

The more, the merrier: It’s not totally true we make our own luck, but we sure as hell can help. The more you take chances, talk to others and throw yourself into opportunities, the better your odds of catching an unexpected break. 

Heads up: Lots of luck gets missed because we’re not watching or listening. If you recognize that you don’t know it all, you’re more likely to latch onto a game-changing gem. 

Pounce on luck: When something seems like fate, it just might be. So seize the moment and squeeze as much wisdom and joy from your fortuitous turns. Life planning is overrated. Roll with the wild twists instead. 

Luck begets luck: If you surf one wave of luck, it often seems another comes crashing along to ride.

Be grateful: Give thanks to those who help you along the way and look for every chance to give others their big break.

The power of pure luck

Almost every great thing in life starts with serendipity.

Almost every great thing in life starts with serendipity, someone — or something — new entering your life by chance.Why it matters: This should humble all of us. We often celebrate big names who invent companies or pull off remarkable feats.

Axios AM

Bust out the Kleenex: Each of the three of us are going to share "1 big lesson" from our mothers — and we want you to do the same. 

What Erica learned: Don’t just say — do. 

It’s not typical in Nepal (where my parents emigrated from) to talk about your feelings. But my mom, Muna Joshi, always shows us how much she loves us through acts of kindness that speak volumes. 

She still puts out fresh fruit for me when I visit. And if I mention I’ve been shopping for something like a rice cooker or a raincoat, she sends me home with hers on the spot. I learned there are a million ways to constantly tell people you love and appreciate them.

My mother — Barbara Allen, who had four kids in four years, and now lives in Oregon — was thrifty. She went years without a new dress. But she’d always reach for the check when getting lunch with someone. "I'll treat," she'd say.

We never had a big discussion about either trait — yet both of them are now me to a T, as she puts it. I watched, listened and learned. Good or bad, the kids in our life are doing the same.

What Jim learned: True, unconditional love.

I can say this without exaggeration: There has never been one second in my life that my mother, Joan VandeHei, has shown anything other than absolute, unshakable love, whether I was getting tossed in jail for protesting the drinking age or ringing up miserable grades. 

This is the reason I am an entrepreneur today: Unconditional love gave me the self-confidence to take risks, knowing there’s something great to fall back on if I flop. It also made me a better dad. 

Editor's note: This story originally published on May 5.

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Axios Finish Line: What did you learn from mom?

Our moms! From left: Muna Joshi, Barbara Allen, Joan VandeHei

Motherhood

Bust out the Kleenex: Each of the three of us are going to share &quot;1 big lesson&quot; from our mothers — and we want you to do the same. Why it matters: It&#x27;s Mother&#x27;s Day!

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The power of pure luck

Blunt advice from badass Axios women

The future of retreats

How to fire with dignity

Axios Finish Line: What did you learn from mom?

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