Elon Musk is known for his intense, relentless work ethic, and the billionaire demands the same from his employees.

According to Walter Isaacson, author of Elon Musk’s autobiography, this working style helped Elon Musk “move faster, take more risks, break the rules, and set high demands on employees.”

Elon Musk has also achieved impressive results thanks to this fierce working and management style. However, Elon Musk’s management style makes many employees feel pressured, even calling Elon Musk’s management style “devil mode”.

Elon Musk’s management style is called “devil mode” by many employees (Illustration: Getty).

Kiko Dontchev, an employee at SpaceX, an aerospace technology company founded by Elon Musk, told Walter Isaacson one of his unforgettable experiences working with Musk.

Accordingly, Dontchev had to work 3 consecutive days at the company, but when he just returned home with his wife and children and had just had a little wine for dinner, he received an order to immediately return to the company.

“I’m definitely worried about being arrested by the police for drunk driving. However, it’s better to drive drunk than ignore Elon Musk’s orders. Obviously, drunk driving has less risk,” Kiko Dontchev shared.

The invisible pressure from Elon Musk that not everyone can bear

In many cases, some employees could not stand the pressure of work created by Elon Musk and chose to quit. Lucas Hughes is one of them.

Lucas Hughes started working as a financial analyst at SpaceX in August 2021. Hughes was once called into a meeting by Elon Musk, not long after he experienced the loss of his first child.

When Hughes failed to come prepared with component cost figures for a new rocket engine, Elon Musk coldly said, “Next time, you better have this information in the palm of your hand. If you don’t improve, your resignation will be accepted immediately.”

Elon Musk creates “invisible pressure” that not all employees can withstand (Photo: Pinterest).

By the end of the day, Hughes had provided Musk with a roadmap to cut the cost of rocket engines from $2 million to $200,000 in 12 months. However, Hughes ultimately decided to leave SpaceX in May 2022 because he could not stand Elon Musk’s work style.

“You definitely see yourself as a tool used to achieve a greater purpose. But sometimes, tools wear out and Musk feels like he can easily replace those tools,” Lucas Hughes shared.

Never Say No to Elon Musk

In fact, not only ordinary employees but also senior leaders who have been with Elon Musk for a long time have to get used to Musk’s management style and know that “never say no” to this billionaire.

Tom Muller is one of them. Tom Muller was one of the first employees, attached to SpaceX from the early days of its establishment, helping Elon Musk develop the company for 20 years, before leaving and starting his own company.

Tom Muller is the one who laid the foundation to help Elon Musk’s SpaceX achieve what it is today (Photo: CNBC).

As a close confidant of Elon Musk, Tom Muller said he also had a hard time getting used to Musk’s working style.

“I learned never to say no to Elon Musk,” said Tom Mueller, former head of SpaceX’s rocket division. “If you think something can’t be done, you’re not going to get invited to the next meeting. He only wants people who can make things happen.”

Tom Mueller admits that Elon Musk sometimes makes demands that are beyond his employees’ capabilities, which causes them to lose morale.

“Sometimes Elon gives engineers tasks with tight deadlines that they can’t complete. That doesn’t mean the engineers are stupid, it just makes them feel demotivated. That’s a big weakness of Elon,” Mueller added.

Walter Isaacson later asked Elon Musk if he felt too harsh on employees, to which the billionaire replied: “I give people straight feedback, mostly accurate comments. I try not to attack people personally when I give feedback. I criticize actions, not people.”

“Physics doesn’t care about hurt feelings. It only cares about whether you can build a rocket that works correctly,” Elon Musk added.

Information in Elon Musk’s autobiography shows that this billionaire has a harsh management style and requires high work morale from his employees. Elon Musk expects a lot from his employees and is not afraid to give frank feedback, even if it makes employees feel upset.

However, Musk is also very supportive of new and innovative ideas. This is what has helped the companies he runs achieve the results they have today.