Matt Mullenweg is the CEO of Automattic. Automattic is a fully distributed company with 1,900 employees. Matt is known for developing the free and open-source web software, WordPress. WordPress is used by 43.4% of all websites. There are over 810 million WordPress websites. Matt is a leader I’ve been following (and cold emailing) for a decade and I’m grateful we were finally able to have this conversation.

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The Learning Leader Show

  • What is your creed?
    • I will never stop learning. I won’t just work on things that are assigned to me. I know there’s no such thing as a status quo. I will build our business sustainably through passionate and loyal customers. I will never pass up an opportunity to help out a colleague, and I’ll remember the days before I knew everything. I am more motivated by impact than money, and I know that Open Source is one of the most powerful ideas of our generation. I will communicate as much as possible because it’s the oxygen of a distributed company. I am in a marathon, not a sprint, and no matter how far away the goal is, the only way to get there is by putting one foot in front of another every day. Given time, there is no problem that’s insurmountable.
      • “People need something to believe in.” — That’s what draws talent to the company.
  • What do you look for when hiring a leader? “The four qualities that you can’t train…”
    • Work ethic
    • Taste
    • Integrity
    • Curiosity
  • Coaching — Expose your leaders to coaches.
    • Mirror
    • Ask questions
    • Reflect
  • Commonalities of leaders who sustain excellence:
    • Optimism in dark times
    • Player coaches — They can do the work AND lead others
    • Hire well — They spot talent, hire, train, develop, and retain them
  • Commencement speech — Encourage others to think bigger. Raise their ambition. From Tyler Cowen — The high-return activity of raising others’ aspirations – (PhD instead of Masters) At critical moments in time, you can raise the aspirations of other people significantly, simply by suggesting they do something better or more ambitious than what they might have in mind.  It costs you relatively little to do this, but the benefit to them, and to the broader world, may be enormous.
  • Value of Open Source: Open source fosters transparency, autonomy, and ownership. It is likened to a “bill of rights” for software, ensuring users have control and access to the best technologies without restrictions.
  • Goal Setting Philosophy: Setting ambitious life goals that may live on beyond one’s lifetime is crucial. These should be audacious, aligning with broader societal impacts, rather than narrow or purely financial objectives.
  • Role of Public Speaking: Public speaking is seen as a force multiplier, enhancing other skills. Matt encourages practice and feedback and even embraces improvisational formats like Q&A sessions to improve communication.
  • Fasting and Self-Discipline: Practices like intermittent fasting can provide mental clarity and energy. Self-discipline in various areas, including health and productivity, plays a key role in personal development.
  • Coaching and Mentorship: Engaging with coaches, even at high executive levels, offers significant benefits. Coaches provide valuable external perspectives and challenge individuals to reflect and grow.
  • Matt’s Twitter Bio — I can think. I can wait. I can fast– This comes from Hermann Hesse’s Siddhartha. Siddartha said “if you can think, wait, and fast, you can do just about anything.”
  • Don’t constrain your mentors by their availability, engage with their work! Jim Simons was a mentor for Matt. Be guided by beauty.
  • Will Durant – Health lies in action, and so it graces youth. To be busy is the secret of grace and half the secret of content. Let us ask the gods not for possessions, but for things to do; happiness is in making things rather than in consuming them.”
  • Matt’s goals — My goals in life are to democratize publishing, commerce, and messaging. I travel a lot. In 2023 I visited 63 cities, and 18 countries, and my average velocity was 41.9 miles per hour. I was born and raised in Houston, Texas. I write code, poetry, prose, and music, often in support of those three goals, but sometimes just to make the world a more beautiful place. I love taking photos and have posted over 30,000 to this site, hence my common username photomatt.
  • Apply to be in my Learning Leader Circle.
Resources:

Time Stamps

More Learning:

Episode 078: Kat Cole – From Hooters Waitress To President of Cinnabon

Episode 216: Jim Collins — How To Go From Good To Great

Episode #300: AJ & Keith Hawk – How To Instill Work Ethic & Curiosity In Your Children

Episode #303:  General Stanley McChrystal – The New Definition Of Leadership