Wes Kao · 7 min read · Productivity
What to do if you're not "detail oriented"
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The piece argues that being detail-oriented is essential for trust and career growth. It uses a story about a report who shipped sloppy work to illustrate how tools and a personal reputation mindset can improve output. It insists that if you can’t be detail-oriented, you should hire someone who can, and that leadership has a responsibility to teach subordinates to raise their quality.
Key Takeaways
- Use available tools (like the clear text feature) to clean up formatting and reduce cognitive load for readers.
- Treat your work as if your reputation is on the line and aim for generally error-free output to earn more responsibility.
- If you can’t be detail-oriented, hire someone who can, since details matter for your organization’s brand and trust.
- Sloppiness reflects poorly on you and your company; always perform a final check before shipping.
Excerpt
👋 Hey, it’s Wes. Welcome to my bi-weekly newsletter on managing up, leading teams, and standing out as a high performer. To level up faster, check out my intensive course on Executive Communication & Influence . You’ll learn alongside mid-career operators from orgs like Netflix, Stripe, OpenAI, Meta, Anthropic, etc. → Save your spot ⛑️ If you’re looking to dramatically improve your communication and leadership, learn more about my coaching approach . Read time : 4 minutes Subscribe and be the first to read future posts: I once had a direct report, we’ll call him Matt, who kept submitting work…