Across those experiences, he’s noticed one habit that consistently sets high performers apart, yet seems to be fading with younger professionals: reading books.
“Reading is probably the single most important thing you can do,” McNeill told Fortune. “Over time, I noticed that many of the most successful people in the world read constantly.”
“I feel like this exercise of reading every day really refreshes my brain every morning, and it keeps me engaged in a way that I wasn’t before,” McNeill added.
For McNeill, the benefits of reading go beyond academics. Reading, he said, makes you ask better questions—and that habit can be a powerful career advantage.
“I’ve never really thought about building a network,” he said. “I just really like people.”
He described himself as an introvert growing up in a small farming community in rural Nebraska. But he learned early on that asking questions could open doors.
“People like to talk about themselves. So if you’ll ask them questions about themselves, [you’ll] get a conversation going,” he added.
“I said, ‘What’s the biggest problem that is keeping you up at night right now?,’” which sparked a two-hour conversation that put McNeill down a path to being a Tesla executive from 2015 to 2018.
“I don’t think about making a name for myself or building a network,” McNeill said. “I just really enjoy people, and at the end of day, I enjoy solving problems, too, and often those two things go hand in hand to make you pretty useful to people.”
And for young professionals finding it more difficult than ever to break into today’s AI-driven job market, McNeill’s advice is simple: stay grounded in habits that build long-term value.
“Don’t freak out,” McNeill said. “Just ride this for a little while because you’re gonna be fine. You’re absolutely gonna be fine.”
