Being Unapologetic About Hard Work Creates Its Own Pull

In a personal newsletter post, the author says he is stumbling into a new value. He calls it unapologetic, and he sums it up this way: “Being unapologetically yourself has a certain social and professional gravity to it.”

By that, he says he means polishing less, holding back less, setting a higher bar, and working harder. He says he now obsesses over the details of his job the same way he used to obsess over baseball when he was growing up.

The evidence he offers is what happened when he described that approach in public. He says the more he posted his calendar, his approach to work, and the expectations he has for others, the more clarity he and those around him had. He says clarifying the culture he wants to foster pushed some people away, but, in his words, “pulled others, the right ones, closer too.” He calls that pull gravity, and he says he expects it to compound, with talent attracting talent, better access to deals through the network, stronger execution from the team, and clearer expectations for founders.

He puts that in a broader argument about obsessive workers. He says no one shames Steve Jobs, whom he cites for obsessing over product, and no one shamed Brian Chesky, whom he cites for working 18-hour days during COVID. He notes that Chesky’s hospitality business, built on staying in other people’s homes, came out of the pandemic shutdown in better shape than it went in. His view is that such figures are unapologetic in pursuing their own potential, and that when the work is big enough, focusing on “the system, the business and its impact,” can be the more compassionate choice, rather than focusing on how one individual is viewed.

He admits he may have offended a few people with the post. He says “average is a function of numbers, not a slight at anyone,” describing it as a matter of economic competition. He closes by saying no one is required to be great, and, in his words, “hang up the cleats, and let the rest of us take the wheel,” calling the essay an encouragement to be yourself even if that means quitting.