I left Microsoft about 15 years ago after spending 16 years there. A lot has changed
since then, but one part of that experience has stayed with me: the education. We
were expected to complete roughly 40 hours of training every year. At the time, it was simply part of working there. Years later, I can see how much of it shaped the way I think, ask questions, solve problems, and lead.
That experience changed the way I think about building a company. A job should provide compensation, responsibility, and opportunity. But if that is all it provides, the company is leaving something important on the table. A strong company should also be a place where people become more capable than they were when they arrived.
Learning Is Part of the Employment Proposition
When I started building my own company, I wanted education to be part of the culture from the beginning. My basic rule is simple: within reason, I approve requests for education. Some programs are expensive, so there has to be judgment. But the default should be to find a way to say yes, not to make an employee prove why learning is worth the money.
There is a practical reason for this approach. Employees who continue to grow are more engaged. They see a future for themselves. They develop skills that make their work more interesting and valuable. That tends to create loyalty – not because the company is trying to trap anyone, but because people recognize when an employer is genuinely investing in them.
I am also comfortable with the possibility that someone may eventually take what they learned and work somewhere else. Of course I want good people to stay, but I would rather build a company known for developing strong people than one that withholds development because it is afraid of losing them.
The Return Is Usually Larger Than the Cost
Education does not have to mean a university degree. It can be directly tied to the work, the industry, or the next level of responsibility an employee is preparing to take on.
One of our newest employees, for example, will attend an industry conference primarily to learn. The company will pay for the conference, airfare and hotel. On a spreadsheet, that is an expense. In reality, the knowledge, context and relationships that person can bring back may be worth ten times the cost. They will understand the market faster, speak the language of our customers more naturally and make better decisions because they have seen the industry up close.
The same principle applies at a larger scale. If an employee wanted to pursue a master’s program that was relevant to their development, I would want to explore how the company could accommodate it. The employee earns the degree, but the company also benefits from the thinking, discipline, and expertise that come back into the organization.
Do Not Wait for Employees to Ask
A learning culture cannot be purely reactive. Managers and senior leaders should be paying attention to the capabilities people need next.
Sometimes that means recommending a specific course because we see a gap or an opportunity. It might be training in precision questioning, product design, communication, analytics, leadership or another discipline. If experienced leaders can identify a skill that would make someone more effective, they should say so – and then help provide the training to develop it.
This is where education becomes part of management rather than a benefits policy. The question is no longer, ‘Do we reimburse courses?’ The better question is, ‘What does this person need to learn to become significantly more effective over the next two or three years?’
Build the Company You Will Need Tomorrow
Founders often think about the future in terms of products, capital, markets and hiring. Employee capability deserves the same attention. The people who can run the company you have today may need new skills to run the company you are trying to become.
If you plan education early, you can develop that capability internally instead of constantly buying it from the outside. You also create a culture in which learning is normal. People become more willing to ask questions, challenge assumptions and admit what they do not know – all of which are essential in a company that expects to keep improving.
So when you are building a company, budget for education. Make time for it. Encourage it. Recommend it. Treat it as part of the job rather than something employees do after hours if they happen to be ambitious enough.
The strongest companies do not simply hire talent. They compound it.
Leadership Principle
If you want a company that keeps getting better, create employees
who keep getting better.
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