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Esther Wojcicki knows what it takes to raise successful children.
Her daughter, Susan, is the CEO of YouTube. Janet is professor of Pediatrics at the UC San Francisco Medical School (and A Fulbright scholar). And Anne is co-founder & CEO of DNA testing company 23andMe.
If any of us were to guess how Esther influenced all three of her daughters to become so high-achieving, the logical leap would be to assume she had to have been the ultimate “tiger mom:” perfectionistic, unrelenting and intensely focused on having her kids win at all costs.
But, of course, Esther wouldn’t be a guest on this podcast were any of those assumptions to be true.
What is true is that Esther trusted her own uncommon instincts on what lessons would produce successful adults; and she intentionally imbued her children with a deep appreciation for five key values:
Trust,” “Respect,” “Independence,” “Collaboration” and “Kindness.”
Based upon “soft” values like these, Esther might rightfully be regarded as more of a “panda mom” in her approach to child-rearing. Virtues like aren’t widely believed to be the ones that lead to success moreover super-stardom. But it wasn’t just her three daughters who soared under Esther’s curriculum. For 36 years, she influenced countless students to excel in their lives as a journalism teacher at Palo Alto high school – where she recently was named California’s “Teacher of the Year.”
The big question we have for Esther on this podcast is “Could these very same values have a similar impact when it comes to managing people in the workplace?” “Is it possible that these same five values hold their charge into adult-life too – and that leaders who adopt them will experience great performance from their employees in return?” 
Tapping into everything she wrote in her new best-selling book,“How To Raise Successful People: Simple Lessons For Radical Results,” Esther brilliantly shares a philosophy that transcends teaching. It’s a mindset that has profound implications for management, and one that intentionally emphasizes heart.
