Elon Musk Email to Tesla Employees
2019 Top Stories: Elon Musk Sent Tesla Employees an Email at 1:20 in the Morning and It Taught a Major Lesson in Emotional Intelligence
What did we learn about emotional intelligence in 2019?
Check out a recap of this column’s most read story ever, along with four other stories that will teach you how to make emotions work for you, not against you.
Well, here we are. Page 365 of the 365-page book that was 2019.
Over the past year, I’ve used this column to put a spotlight on the real-world lessons of emotional intelligence, highlighting the good, the bad, and the ugly. But when it came to engaging readers, one story stood head and shoulders above the rest.
It had to do with a memo Tesla CEO Elon Musk sent employees about 1:20 am (California time, where Tesla is based). The timing of Musk’s message may not have stood out, except that Tesla’s famous chief executive is a notorious workaholic well known for an extreme work ethic. (Defending his philosophy, Musk once stated that “nobody ever changed the world on 40 hours a week.”)
If you follow this column, you know that I’ve often praised Musk’s ability to communicate with emotional intelligence. After all, he’s inspired employees and consumers alike, and turned Tesla into one of the most valuable auto companies in the world–without ever turning a profit over the course of a full year.
But this memo was different.
