writing / Only outcomes matter

When I joined Figma, it was small enough for me to set up a coffee date with every employee. Everyone sat in a big room above a bar and coffee shop so every day for my first two months, I’d grab someone and go to the coffee stand downstairs to get to know them.

I loved the people I met and continued working at Figma for years as the company grew. Being part of that growth was exhilarating. We kept bringing on amazing new teammates and the metrics kept going up and to the right. It was also exciting because, as an early employee, a chunk of my compensation was stock options that kept getting more valuable. My initial equity grant vested over four years and as the end date approached, I started to get concerned. My on-paper monthly compensation would suddenly drop significantly when the grant was fully vested. I was concerned enough that I decided to bring it up with my boss.

Fearing confrontation, I decided not to simply ask for a raise and this turned out to be a great decision. My boss had joined earlier than me and presumably had the same problem at an even bigger scale so I decided to ask how he thought about it while secretly hoping he would decide to give me a raise. At our next one-on-one in a glass-and-brick enclosed conference room, I went for it.

Sometimes I ask for advice but don’t have high hopes. I’ll throw out a question and get something bland or forgettable. But this one really stuck with me.

My boss said he considered his compensation differently. He had experienced a significant drop in shares vesting each month. However, his mindset was that as long as he had his job, he could influence their value. He recognized that if he did his work well, he could increase the value of the shares he already owned and that would be more valuable to him in the long run. His mindset was that he was compensated for the outcome of his work rather than the input he provided. He thought like an owner rather than an employee.

In school, we get assignments, do our best, and get a grade. As long as we work to the best of our abilities, we continue to advance. This pattern continues as a new grad engineer when advancing from L1 to L2 is a well-lit path. Leaving this mindset is one of the hardest parts of transitioning from school to career and then advancing further in your career.

As a junior employee, you're given specific tasks to complete. With more responsibility comes autonomy to identify what is important to work on and what is not. At some point, as you advance in your career, you cross over from completing tasks to measuring yourself against the results of your actions. You’ll make decisions that affect others or even multiple teams, and it's not just about doing your best to make a good choice — you need to get it right. This is the point at which you are taking responsibility as a leader and not just contributing.

All that matters is the outcome of your work.

To be successful in leadership roles, you need to have this mentality.