No one is born to be CEO. The job is a learning curve with its own set of hurdles. And even if you think someone may seem to have it all on the outside, you need to look closer at the person within the role and realise they could be battling personal shortcomings.
Take Snap CEO Evan Spiegel for example. He’s got a billion-dollar company, a supermodel wife and has grown up with every advantage. Yet, he says that he still feels shy and uncomfortable in his role as a leader to thousands.
Overcoming shyness and embracing approachability is not an overnight process, but these tips could help you become a better, more open CEO to your army of employees.
Smile please This is one of the areas where you sometimes need to fake it, till you make it. If you feel reserved around people who report to you, tackle the problem with a smile and open body language. It will put the other person at ease, which in turn can reduce the stress and formality, making it easier for you to establish interpersonal relationships. You don’t have to constantly grin from ear to ear, but a pleasant hello and keeping your arms to the side can go a long way in making you more comfortable and approachable.
Door open Does everyone go quiet when you walk into the workplace? Do things seem to get chattier outside as soon as you’ve closed your corner office door? If you’ve established a mysterious boss vibe at the workplace, you need to get rid of it. And the first step is with an open door… quite literally. A boss should not only be heard (via emails or memos) but also seen. It helps people get used to you and vice versa and makes you more accessible.
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Talk shop When it comes to running a company, you need to keep morale up by shouting your achievements from the rooftops. But to become a CEO that people can approach, you need to talk about your failures too. We’re not suggesting that you have a pity party, but speak about trying times too. Showing your vulnerability lets people see you as a human instead of a superman who can do no wrong. And this will make them less hesitant coming to you with their own shortcomings. Something that will help them grow as employees and overall, have a positive outcome for the organisation as a whole.
Recognise your team When you get feedback, suggestions or ideas from colleagues, you need to make sure you recognise their inputs. A simple statement such as ‘Thank you, I appreciate it,’ or ‘That’s a good point,’ will make people more confident in approaching you. If you don’t give employees a token of acknowledgment, they will feel that their suggestions and opinions are not welcome, and she/he may not even bother providing them.
Have fun
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The best way to become more approachable is by having a different manner to work on occasion and trying to have a bit of fun. Going on an office retreat, or even just after work for a team building dinner is a great way to loosen up and let your employees see a different side to you.
Ask questions about their hobbies or interests and avoid talking shop.
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Investing some time in fun, will be a long-term investment in your team.
You're Not Alone: Top Bosses From Google, Honda Have Also Burnt The Midnight Oil
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Each one of us have had to burn the midnight oil ever so often.
A Bombay High Court judge recently sat for over 10 hours to prevent backlog, finishing at 3.30 am.
Big business names share tales of when they lost track of time.
Each one of us have had to burn the midnight oil ever so often.
A Bombay High Court judge recently sat for over 10 hours to prevent backlog, finishing at 3.30 am.
Big business names share tales of..
Read More
Cofounder, MD, Scootsy
“We were a month into the launch of Scootsy and not many people had heard of us. So we had a promotion on Friendship Day where for every order, we would give away an order free. Within hours it went viral. Understaffed and overwhelmed, we all took on the task at hand and started answering calls. We also had to figure a way to increase our delivery capacity — fast. It was a mad shuffle as we cut deals with temporary staffing agencies, and, at some point, we had to stop taking orders. The next few hours went in responding to irate customers. We finally wrapped up all deliveries by 1 am and managed to deliver on our promise for most of them, but barely hung on by a thread. The night didn’t stop there, we spent hours figuring out how to automate what we had done. By morning, our tech teams had detailed product documents and they got to work on building most of what we have today.”
Cofounder, MD, Scootsy
“We were a month into the launch of Scootsy and not many people had heard of us. So we had a promotion on Friendship Day where for every order, we would give away an order fre..
Read More
Cofounder, MobiKwik
“I clearly remember the longest day(s) in my life. It was the time when we were planning to launch our own payment gateway in 2010. We started working by late 2010 and by New Year’s, we were very close to the launch. However, due to some urgent work, the key person who was working on the payment gateway’s code had to leave. And, in the rush, we couldn’t get our hands on the code. So my [now husband] co-founder Bipin and I decided to personally work on the whole code again, along with a couple of others. In fact, we missed the build-up to our wedding because we were engrossed deeply in getting this up and running. On the day of my sangeet, our payment gateway work got over in the afternoon and then I was in a meeting till 4:30 pm. My mother was furious because the function was supposed to start at 6 pm and my wedding was the next morning.
After putting many days of long hours of effort into the launch, we thankfully made it happen.”
Cofounder, MobiKwik
“I clearly remember the longest day(s) in my life. It was the time when we were planning to launch our own payment gateway in 2010. We started working by late 2010 and by New Ye..
Read More
Founder, Matrimony.com
“I worked non-stop for 36 hours when I was working for Polaris. We were working on a project launch for an MNC bank. We launched the product but had to go back to the older version; it wasn’t a successful launch. We had to rework it. But today, when I look at people working for twothree days non-stop and our engineers working for some of our launches for 48 hours, I feel my situation was better.”
Founder, Matrimony.com
“I worked non-stop for 36 hours when I was working for Polaris. We were working on a project launch for an MNC bank. We launched the product but had to go back to the older v..
Read More
CEO, Honda Cars India
“It was during a recent thunderstorm. We were sitting in a Gurugram hotel meeting room till 11 pm, having a discussion and listening to all the sounds outside. The meeting was on long-term strategy for India. We started at 9 am on Sunday, with key guys from the factory, purchasing, marketing, etc, as all their schedules would not match easily. The meeting room had glass windows and a balcony outside. That was my first experience of the Indian rain and it was amazing.”
CEO, Honda Cars India
“It was during a recent thunderstorm. We were sitting in a Gurugram hotel meeting room till 11 pm, having a discussion and listening to all the sounds outside. The meeting was..
Read More
Group product manager, Google
“The field research days [while testing a product] are the longest. For our new product recently, we started at 6 am at a park to talk to people. This was followed by visiting about 10 living rooms, a quick dinner and then again on the field. The day ended at midnight. But I loved it, even though it was physically taxing.”
Group product manager, Google
“The field research days [while testing a product] are the longest. For our new product recently, we started at 6 am at a park to talk to people. This was followed by ..
Read More
India country manager, EYAP
“I was in Turkey and came back to India at about 7 am. I went directly to the office as there was work to be completed before a prestigious event in the evening. We had invited top architects and interior decorators from across the country. The food was specially curated with Turkish dishes. The evening ended at 10:30 pm, but it was so enjoyable and exciting that I didn’t notice the time go by.”
India country manager, EYAP
“I was in Turkey and came back to India at about 7 am. I went directly to the office as there was work to be completed before a prestigious event in the evening. We had ..
