CNBC.COMWhat sets an amazing employee apart from a bad one? For Ruth Porat, the answer lies in a few key traits.
Porat, the president and chief investment officer of Google parent company Alphabet, shared what she looks for in a star employee, as well as her pet peeve in staffers, during a recent interview with The Wall Street Journal.
"A star is someone who is in my face, because I want them to challenge me in different ways," she said.
Other business figures, like serial entrepreneur Marcus Lemonis and former Xerox CEO Ursula Burns, have said pushing back on an idea at work can help you in your career. Tactfully challenging your manager's idea can show you aren't afraid to break from the crowd and speak up for what you believe is in the organization's best interests.
On the flip side, Porat was asked what employee habit "drives you nuts."
"I don't want people who process. I want people who think," she said, and encouraged people to contribute in ways that meaningfully move a conversation forward. "Step back and put yourself in my shoes; if I'm having a conversation with a head of state somewhere, think, 'Is this material rich, deep, insightful — does it take the conversation to another level?'"
Experts say putting yourself in your boss' shoes and anticipating their needs is a key part of managing up.
Using the 'quark test'
Porat also reflected on other lessons from her career. She shared a process she calls the "quark test" that she's used over the years to sniff out B.S.
Porat said her father, who was a physicist, used to say that if someone in his field couldn't define a quark, which is a type of elementary particle, in under 30 seconds, then "they don't know what they're talking about."
She uses a version of the "quark test" in her own work at Alphabet and at Morgan Stanley, where she started her career and climbed the ranks to eventually become chief financial officer there.
"If you think something adds value," she said, "and you can't tell me why in a compelling way in less than 30 seconds, then you don't know what you're talking about," she said.
Porat also talked about the importance of getting "tactile and granular" as a team leader.
"Sometimes I feel like a Morgan Stanley trainee," she said. "And I often find that the best way to bring up a team is actually to get in the trenches with them. So I do think this notion of being a player-coach is a really important part of it."
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