What comes first for you, your career or your friend? If you had to choose between your friend and your career, who would you pick?
According to a Wall Street Journal article by Mylene Mangalindan (entitled “Making a bid for eBay’s CEO Job” and dated Jan. 24, 2008), eBay Inc. Chief Executive Meg Whitman invited John Donahoe for an interview in eBay’s California office in 2005.
Donahoe was then a Bain & Co. consultant. He had originally thought it would be a discussion about a business project with the company. It turns out that it was an invitation to join eBay, with the possibility of becoming Whitman’s successor.
Most people would jump at such an offer, but for Mr. Donahoe it was a difficult decision to make. A friend of his, Jeff Jordan, was then President of Paypal, which is eBay’s online payment center. Jordan was widely considered to be in the running to become Whitman’s successor as CEO of eBay.
Now here’s the interesting thing: John Donahoe, instead of immediately saying yes to the great opportunity presented to him, chose to talk to his friend first before making any decisions.
To quote Mr. Jordan in the Wall Street Journal article: “The fact that he put a discussion with one of the most powerful people in business on hold for a while, so he could chase down a friend, is what I considered to be one of the most significant acts of friendship.”
In the end, John Donahoe joined eBay, but only after talking to his friend Jeff Jordan and making sure he was ok with it.
John Donahoe is now considered the leading candidate (and heir apparent) to replace Ms. Whitman at the helm of eBay. Yet he had been willing to throw it away for the sake of his friend.
I can only hope that my friends would pick friendship before their career, and do the same thing for me.
Would your friends do the same?
Choose friendship.
