During a recent appearance on the SBJ I Factor podcast, Stephanie McMahon commented on learning from Vince and Linda McMahon, Vince once telling her that she failed him due to her micromanaging, and more. You can check out some highlights from the podcast below:
On learning business styles from Vince and Linda McMahon: “Once I graduated college, I first started in a really unique internship opportunity with my mom who was then the CEO. I would get to sit in for about three months, I’d get to sit in on any meeting she had Unless, of course, it was confidential in nature. I would write questions down on a legal pad and after each meeting, if she had the time, she would sit with me she would go through each question, she would answer that, in my spare time I read through contracts, I would read all relevant media news stories that were flagged and coming to her office, just trying to learn as much as I possibly could. Then, I spent six months on the road with my father, Vince McMahon, Chairman and CEO, and he was always the creative force of our company and that’s where I really found where my passion lay, which is in storytelling because I believe that everything is storytelling, whether it’s sports, whether it’s content, programming, any type of media, marketing products, it’s all storytelling.”
On how Vince and Linda were different in their approach to teaching her business: “Very different. Yeah, even in terms of teaching, so my mom would sit with me and answer those questions on the legal pad. My dad didn’t have the time for that. Plus, that wasn’t his style. He’s very much an ‘in the moment’ teacher. So when things happen, that’s when he’s going to follow up with you about the lesson. [He’d say], ‘Here’s why I said this. Here’s why I did that. Did you see how this person handled that situation?’ So very different styles. But both, you know, equally as effective.”
On Vince telling her she had “failed him” and learning from her mistakes with micromanaging: “I think sometimes when you make mistakes, that’s when you grow. Not all the time. You can certainly grow without making mistakes. But I think that there’s a lot of positivity when you make a mistake. Because if you own it, first and foremost, you assess it, you study it, you learn why you made the mistake and how to correct it, and you make sure you don’t make that mistake again. But I think it could be very painful. One key lesson that my father taught me — I was micromanaging. I was doing what I thought was right, I mean, all the best of intentions, but I really was absolutely micromanaging this particular team. My dad told me that I had failed him and it was a very, very hard, painful lesson, especially because he’s my father, not just my boss, right? To think that I had failed him was something I took on so emotionally and it was painful for me and I think for a lot of people, making mistakes and doing things that you wish you didn’t do are painful. But you grow from them if you’re able to, and it is worth it. It’s why I don’t have regrets in life. I’ve made mistakes, don’t get me wrong. I’ve definitely made mistakes. But I think I wouldn’t be who I am today if I hadn’t made those mistakes and had the opportunity to learn from them. I think that’s just so important.”
(h/t – Fightful)
