#AskGaryVee Episode 59: Motivating Employees & Marketing Automation

– Kristin, great question. I can. The #AskGaryVee Show. – [Voiceover] Chris asks,
“Gary, would you support

– [Voiceover] Chris asks,
“Gary, would you support “Vayner employees writing their own books “and curating their own content streams “and personal brands?” – Chris, this is a great question. As a matter of fact, first of all. India, first let’s talk
about Chris bribing you, and, like, attacking you. Let’s go over here to India. India, tell the VaynerNation,
oh, the VaynerNation, the story of, actually,
while you tell everybody Chris’ attack and bribing, I actually am gonna bring a prop for this. – [DRock] You can
mute your microphone. – That’s fine, I’ll be right back. Trouty! All right, I’ll give you the
microphone for India’s story. – All right, Chris was
extremely persistent over the holidays. A time where not a lot of our people were Tweeting questions. And he got his friends to
tweet after his question, and tag me. And then he said that he
might start bribing me. So, it definitely worked; here’s
your question on the show. – It didn’t work because
you didn’t execute the actual bribe gift. Right, you went noble. But now, Chris, I want you to know, and we’ve known each other a long, long long, long, long time. And it’s good to have you on the show. That you will need to send India a gift; it will need to be substantial. (people giggling) And we tell the
VaynerNation what you got her in an upcoming episode. And, so, this is really your
chance to either be a good guy, or a terrible guy. Trouty, can you do me a favor? Can you find me Jason Donnelly? – [Trouty] Yeah.
– He was going through– – He’s floatin’ around.
– [Gary] He’s floating around. He was going through orientation. Cool, we will, we’re
looking for Jason Donnelly. And we will answer Chris’ question with Jason Donnelly as a
human-prop to your question. Let’s go to the next question. I’ll interrupt that question
when Jason Donnelly shows up. That’s how we’re doin’ it, DRock. Don’t fight me, DRock! Let’s move on. All right, here we are to
finish off this answer. This is, actually, tremendous timing because the question came at the same exact time that Jason
rejoined VaynerMedia. Jason, you made the
vital, devastating mistake to leave VaynerMedia,
and go somewhere else; but then you rejoined Vayner today. Why don’t you tell VaynerNation first, just ’cause I wanna hear it
and feel good about myself, about why you did that. But just one sentence ’cause I wanna actually answer the question. – This is home; that’s it. (chuckling) – All right, I figured you
could answer this question better than I did, so, why
don’t you tell the VaynerNation how I did support somebody who
was writing their own book? – Not only did he support
me by just lovin’ the book, he bought copies and gave it to people throughout the office. He’s been nothin’ but helpful,
and the best boss ever. – So, yes, the answer
to the, thanks go work! You gotta make up lost time. The bottom-line is, of
course, I think that you can’t get away with saying you’re gonna take care of people, and you wanna build around them. Too many people wanna act like they’re gonna take care of everybody but then suppress people who
they think can trump them. See, there’s something
amazing that happens when you think you’re
greatest of all time. You don’t think that
anybody is necessarily gonna be able to surpass you. Thus, you don’t need to
suppress, and I mean that. I mean, it may sound like
a douchebag-thing to say, but, like, I believe so much in myself that there is no value in me
tryin’ to hold down people that I think are more talented than me. And that happens every day of the year in organizations all the time. And, so, for me, show them, show them. For me, if they’re better than me, or if they need to fly the nest; well, then that’s what needs to happen. If that means writing their own book and building their brand,
I’m more than happy to do that and support it. I just believe in fair, and in capitalism. And, so, not only do I
believe in supporting it I do support it actively when it happens.

– [Voiceover] Clayton wants
to know, “How do you push “your team beyond their best?” – Clayton, great question. Way to start off 2015, good questions. Oh, actually, I picked this one, right? (people laughing) Hit ’em with some Barry Harowitz’. But that was so subconscious, too. It was a great question.
I thought we should do it. I really, really, really
think that the best way to push somebody above their own means is to guilt them into it. And I know that’s a weird kind of answer. But it is my honest belief
that the thing that drive, first of all, everybody is
driven by different things. So, the real answer to your question is to use your hear, right? DRock, zoom in to my ear. Right, you know, the ear
is the key in this scenario because the truth is,
the way to push somebody above their limit is to
actually have individual conversations with them about what is their Holy Grail. What do they wanna accomplish? Like India and I, I have a
good feel of some of India’s long-term career ambitions. That gives me, first of all, her knowing that we’ve even had that
conversation, in and of itself, gives her a little bit more
confidence to work harder. Because she’s tryin’ to get
what she wants out of it, professionally, and
knowing that I’m the person that can most likely make that happen, at least in the context of this world, that just even having the conversation puts her in better spot. But some people are literally
rawly driven by straight cash. Like, truly, you wanna push somebody? You carrot, like, “Hey,
I know you love cash! “I’ll give you 10,000 more if you, like,” You know, and so, you’ve gotta find out what makes people tick. I’m so not motivated by cash, that so many people try
to get me to do things, JV with me, invest in things, do things, speak at things. And they think cash is the way to do it. And, listen, I love the cash, but it’s not my biggest driver. And I make a lot of
decisions based on legacy, long-term impact, on myself by the way. Not like long-term global impact. You know, that’s not how I think. I mean, I think there’s
a byproduct of that but that’s not the
number one thing for me. But, to answer the
question in a general-form, I truly do believe the best
way to get that is to guilt. And what I mean by guilt,
it’s a variation of listening. Which is not only listening,
but delivering in a world where so few people even begin to listen, let alone delivering on that listening. And once you start doing
that, people start realizing, let me tell you what’s
happening at Vayner; it’s not super confusing. I know exactly what’s
goin’ on in this company. It’s starting to get old enough that there’s enough things
happening for enough people that it’s really easy to
point to Phil Toronto, or to somebody else and
be like, “Wait a minute.” Or Steve Unwin, like, you
can start pointing to, “Oh, crap, that person wanted that, “that person’s getting that, “that person’s happy as crap!” I want that, and so, it’s listening and then delivering, which
then creates a scenario where people want to over-deliver because, the only way somebody
will over-deliver for you, ’cause you asked a very selfish question. “How can I get my team
to over-deliver for me?” “For my thing.” It’s very simple. The best way to get them
to over-deliver, John? – [Trouty] I’m Jack,
if that’s a substitute. – No, Jack is not a substitute. I know what you’re thinking. No, that is not a substitute. – Okay, we’re on the hunt. – The only way to get
somebody to over-deliver is to attack their own
selfishness, their’s. You’re selfish ’cause you want more out of your team to help you. Well, the best way to get that to happen is to over-deliver
against their selfishness. I do believe that guilt is a huge driver because, and there’s something that I, I believe in human beings. I mean, some people don’t
have self-awareness, or empathy, or these emotional feelings. So many people, like, it’s amazing to me now living 20 years professionally, like, how many people are not
confused eventually. They may be emotional at
the time you fire them, or not reward them, but
boy, every time I run into somebody four, seven,
nine years down the line; I’ve had a very good
track-record of them saying, “Yeah, I know why you did that.” I mean, like crazy stuff like, “I had a drug problem!” There was, like, you know, stuff! Life, right? So, I would answer your question like I have before on this show. And you haven’t heard me
say it, I’ll say it again. The single best way to win is to give 51% of the relationship. If there was a jury of 500 people, that they would all
agree that you’ve given 51% to the relationship. And you have to be good enough to know what to do with the other 49. So, I would attack their own selfishness. I would make it so good for them, that you’ve guilted them in delivering. And be very prepared in your stomach by making it awesome. And then them under-delivering, still being entitled to
think they did deliver. And then you being disappointed. “You listened to the Gary Vee Show, “and he told you, and he so great.” Yeah, at least you think
so thank you very much. “And you did it.” And then all four of
these people who you gave $10,000 raises to yesterday, a month later are doing
the same crap they did, and it didn’t motivate them at all. Or you gave them four weeks
off instead of one week off, and they’re still just as crappy. Or you, like, got them a
babysitter, and you pay for it, and they still aren’t. Gratitude and all these
wonderful human characteristics are not guaranteed. But the best way for you to have it happen is to consistently keep trying
to do it for that person. And then, look, I just had a meeting with all these characters, right? But the rest of the team, and I was like, “Look, you may not win on this team.” Like, 2015, I wanna take
it up another notch. And the consolation
prize is you get to work for one of the best
companies in the world. But, like, you just might not
be able to be on this team. You’ve gotta be upfront,
you’ve gotta be fair. You gotta know when you’re
setting up people for victory; and when not, you gotta do that. And then you get to
judge, not before hand. Way too many of you are
making a mistake yourself. You didn’t train, you didn’t
put the person in a position to succeed, you’re not
communicating properly on what you expect. You’re not shooting it straight, you’re scared to hurt feelings. You’re too much of a dick. It could be a million different reasons why it’s not happening, but
it is always going to be the greatest form meritocracy
that you can create. And that starts with your ear and it finishes, in my
opinion, on a second-step move of you actually delivering on that. Call people’s bluffs. I live life on calling people’s bluffs. “Oh, you’ll really crush it
if you have another person?” “Here.” Now, you have to be good enough, back to that 49%, to afford
to give somebody that person. You may not have that situation. But you might have to make a decision. One of the quickest
ways I grew Wine Library was by making 30,000 dollars a
year for five years in a row. Because it took all those monies. And I called people’s bluffs. And when they let me down, do
you think it hurt my feelings that I wasn’t making 45 instead of 30? It sure did, but did I have
my eye on the big prize? Sure did! Now I get paid double that
salary to speak for one hour because I bet long-term,
because I was 23 years old! Right, you gotta know where you’re at. If you’re 83 and you’re watching the show, first of all, big ups, ol’ dog. And second of all, second of all, you know, maybe you don’t
need to play the long-game and invest as much. Maybe it’s time to cash out. I have these weird feelings that in my 80s I’m gonna be rogue as crap, and just take! Because I just gave for so long. I don’t know, you’ve heard
me say that’s my concern. But I can tell you this. (sighing) Most of the reasons, let me phrase. If they work for you, all of the reasons that they’re not over-delivering
against their best, all of those reasons are your fault. – [Voiceover] Harold asks,
“Will you force your children

– [Voiceover] Harold asks,
“Will you force your children “to partake in the business like your dad? “Will you be disappointed
if they don’t want to?” – My dad never forced me. You know, you hear a story of my dad, I’ve said it, “My dad forced
me into the business!” He forced me into the business
as a 14 year old child. Child labor, Dad. AJ never worked at Wine Library. I think one summer, if
you’re listening or watching, AJ, I know you worked there one summer. (people laughing) But, you know, he never
worked in the business. I think that, you know, for my parents, look I was a crap-student, and I was a great salesman as a kid. There was such a natural
segue to the impact that my mom fully believed in, and she was closest to the situation. I have no, I’m weird with this issue, man. First of all, I’m a dark dude. Can we go black-and-white on this? Can we go black-and-white,
and darker on the black? Really?
– [DRock] Yeah. – Cool. I’m a dark dude. You know how they tell you not to compete with your children? That’s, like, a top-five flaw in society. That will not be something
I’m successful in. Kids, Misha, Xander, I’m sorry. I’m overdue. Xander is two-and-a-half years old, he has a basketball set
up in the living room; and I’ve blocked every
one of his shots, so far. To the point where he picks up a ball, if I’m in the room, he starts crying, he goes, “No block!” “No!” like this is what Xander does. Even if I’m, like, 10 minutes away because he knows what’s coming, which is he’s not scoring
until he can score. I am fine. I love my kids unconditional. If they’re schlemiels and
can’t sell water in desert well, then that’s just
the way it ended up being. Right, like, Lizzie and I
had sex at the wrong moment if that’s somethin’ I cared about. That’s what it is. So, I just want them to
focus on their strengths. I wanna put them in a position to succeed. I think financially and connections-wise, there’s a very good chance
that that’s gonna happen. You know, you do the best you can. Very much the way I’m gonna parent has a lot to do with the
way that I run companies. And I think that the people
who have worked for me and close to me, probably
feel really happy and feel good about my
kids’ opportunities. Because I care and I
have no disappointment if they don’t wanna work for, at the point, The New York Jets. And, so, that’s it. No, I have no hesitation. I mean, if my kids go
completely the other way, and are not commerce driven, and are anti-business, and wanna live in who-knows-where feeding who-knows-what, doing whatever. If they wanna save the
one-legged butterfly in some god-knows-place in
the corner of the world I’m gonna hope that they’re the best at saving the one-legged butterfly. I’m gonna try to help them
save the one-legged butterfly. Should would register
one-legged butterfly dot com? We should. I just will support them unconditionally as long as they’re good human beings. And treat people with respect, and treat people with the 51, 49% thing, and be the bigger man, woman. I don’t care what they do as long as they do it in a
way that 5,000 arbitrators would say, “That’s a good person!” – Hey, Bridget Willard here

with You Too Can Be A Guru. You asked for more questions, here’s one. You’re going on vacation. So, you’ll be gone for, let’s
say just for this scenario, more than three days. And the question is, do
you schedule your Tweets and respond when you
get back from vacation? Do you schedule your Tweets and then respond as you’re on vacation? Or do you just not Tweet at all? Remember, ♫ You too can be a guru ♫ Thanks, Gary. – You’re welcome, Bridget. I think it’s number four. You Tweet, and you respond. ‘Cause that’s what I did. I was just on vacation for two weeks. First of all, you never schedule. I’ma say it again. Never in your life schedule a Tweet. Here’s why. You’re on vacation for three days, you schedule a Tweet of like, “Hey, what’s your favorite book?” And at that exact moment, we have the next national-tragedy
happen at that second. I had multiple friends schedule Tweets during the Boston Massacre. So, here’s the Boston Massacre; it’s a terrorist event on US soil. The whole world shuts down, right? And my friends are Tweeting like, “You should buy my new book.” It was disgusting at best. And it was just devastating. And that’s the extreme. What about, like, a lightweight version? Like, you schedule a Tweet, and right at the moment, on Twitter, The Cowboys score an important touchdown and the governor of New
Jersey is bouncing around and hugging Jerry Jones and that’s all that anybody
wants to talk about. And you’re a Cowboys
fan, or from New Jersey, and you’re Tweeting about like, “What’s your favorite book?” And it makes you seem out of touch. There is no value in scheduling a Tweet. I’ve never done it, I don’t believe in it. I will never believe in it, period. Now, you’re more than welcome, like I have on half my vacations,
to check out completely; and I highly recommend that. I was so excited about doing that. I told you that’s what I would do. But unfortunately, or fortunately, I caught the Wine Library-bug, and I enjoyed myself talking about wine constantly on my vacation when Xander and Misha were in the kids’ club and doing their thing there. Or, you know, while Lizzie was
getting ready for the dinner. Or, finding my pockets going my way. So, I think that it’s a personal thing. But, boy, do I hate, ♫ Do I hate scheduling a tweet ♫ Like, don’t do it. Please, don’t do it. Question of the day.