On a recent episode of Revenue Mavericks, I sat down with Akira Mamizuka, VP of Global Sales Operations at LinkedIn. What stood out wasn't just his nearly 12 years scaling one of tech's most iconic companies, it was what tied it all together: choosing difficulty over comfort, impact over prestige, and people over frameworks.
Akira was in high school when he made a decision most teenagers would never consider.
While his friends enjoyed weekends and coasted through private school in Brazil, Akira chose something else entirely: a brutal public technical program that demanded Saturday classes, advanced physics, and a workload that left him exhausted.
"I compared my life with my other friends who stayed in normal high school or private high school. And my life was just miserable compared to their lives. I had classes on Saturday the whole day. So it was very intense."
He was jealous of his friends. He wanted their easier path. But here's what he didn't see at the time:
"In that moment, it didn't feel like success, but looking back, that was absolutely a formative moment for me, and I would not be here if not for those years."
That choice didn't just build technical skills, it set a standard. It taught him what real work ethic looks like. And it gave him an early advantage in quantitative thinking that would compound throughout his career.
After eight years in consulting, rising to engagement manager at McKinsey, Akira had everything mapped out. Partnership was within reach. The financial rewards were significant. Everything was working.
But something wasn't sitting right.
"I realized that I wanted to see the impact of my work, not only in terms of delivering a recommendation to clients, but seeing what happens next, both good and bad."
He was tired of handing off recommendations and never knowing the outcome. He wanted to see cause and effect - the wins and the losses - because that's where real learning happens.
So he took a risk many people questioned: he left McKinsey to join LinkedIn when it was still a startup in Latin America.
Before making the leap, Akira evaluated what mattered most. Three things stood out:
The mission: A company doing good for the world--helping people get jobs, helping companies grow.
The culture: People who work well together, help each other, and bring lightness to their work.
The talent: Colleagues he could continue learning from, not just teaching.
And there was one more factor: "I had my first son at the time. He was one, one and a half years old. I realized that I was not being a present father to him and I was not showing up as the dad that I wanted to be."
A reminder for all of us: Career-defining moments often require walking away from what's working to pursue what matters more.
When I asked Akira about his secret sauce, his answer caught me off guard with its simplicity.
It came from his mentor Brian Frank:
"Hiring is the most important thing you do as a leader."
That's it. Not a complex methodology. Not a multi-step process. Just a brutally honest truth.
"Because if you hire great people, if you hire the right people, you can mess up with your job, they're going to make it up for you."
Think about that. You can make mistakes. You can miss things. But if you've surrounded yourself with exceptional people, they'll carry the impact forward anyway.
On the flip side? Hire the wrong people and no framework will save you.
Akira's been at LinkedIn for nearly 12 years, moving from regional roles to global leadership. When I asked what enabled that trajectory, his answer was immediate:
"The reason that I've been successful at LinkedIn was because I had a tremendous team and I hired and developed a tremendous group of people who delivered exceptional impact."
Hiring decisions are rarely easy. There are trade-offs. Sometimes you're tempted to hire someone you know well, or someone who's been waiting the longest. But making the best hiring decision - not the easiest one - has a disproportionate impact on everything that follows.
Akira embodies what separates good revenue leaders from great ones:
The best revenue organizations aren't built on perfect frameworks. They're built on people who elevate each other, multiply impact, and figure things out together.
Listen to the Revenue Mavericks Podcast on Spotify.