Mark Zuckerberg CEO of Face Book
Some of the leadership skills to be learnt from Mark Zeckerberg are:
Qualities Of Mark Zuckerberg
Focus - When Mark Zuckerberg founded Facebook , a part of him know where he wanted his
website to go and what he wanted his company to become .
Approachable - Current Facebook employees laud him for giving them a clear picture of
where the company is and where it's going .
Belive In His Product - Mark Zuckerberg didn't sell his company as he believed in his product
and he also belived in his vision .
• He's Transparent About The Company's Direction - Mark Zuckerberg's logic is simple ,
when you have a great team , sharing your vision is the first thing you need to do .
• He Has His Eye On The Clock - The fact that he didn't sell Facebook has made him one of
the most powerful and wealthiest individuals on earth and of course his ability to buy
instagram for half its asking price is proof enough that he knows when to wait and knows
when to move .
How He Is Innovative & Independent ?
• This interview from January 8, 2010 at Tech Crunch with Mark Zuckerberg tells a little
about Facebook's future direction , but more importantly , it illustrates a key belief and a
strategic thinking behaviour of any leader that wishes to remain relevant and sustainable .
Zuckerberg explains , " We view our role in the system to be constantly innovating and
updating what our system is in order to reflect what the current social norms are . A lot of
companies would be trapped by the conventions and the legacies of the companies that
they have built . We believe it's important to always keep a begginer's mind and think what
would be would do if we were starting the company now . "
• The two key things are observing and accepting changed social norms . Leaders who wish
their organization to be relevant and in sync must learn to perceive and understand the
world as it is , not as they wish it to be .
• Zuckerberg explains the ability of those leading Facebook to what we would do today if we
were starting Facebook . This is leading backwards from a vision instead of refining and
iterating from the status quo . Those that hope to reach a modern and relevant vision by
improving in small increments the status quo will miss completely because small iterations
are not radical enough to capture current social norms .
Qualities That Make Mark Zuckerberg An Ace CEO
He has a vision.
He goes beyond his comfort zone.
He is willing to make mistakes.
He is willing to face criticism.
He adapts to situations quickly.
He doesn't need to control everything.
He builds the right relationships
Vision
His vision was that of a more open and connected world. And
throughout the growth of Facebook, he has stuck to his vision of a
product that offers value while connecting people and building a world
with more empathy.
Right from the beginning, the frugal-living Zuckerberg was never in it for
the money. He had a larger vision and not only thought ahead of where
he wanted to take Facebook, but pushed himself and his team to put all
their creativity into their work.
He goes beyond his comfort zone
To be a good leader, to go places, you must be willing to go further than
others have and do things others won’t. He worked his ass off, did things
he was uncomfortable with (like travelling across continents to speak to
audiences about his vision) and did what had to be done to build his
company.
He is willing to make mistakes
From the privacy fiasco to the newsfeed, Zuckerberg was willing to take
risks, and often had to backtrack on changes that did not work. But that
did not dampen his appetite for innovation and part of Facebook’s
philosophy is to innovate, so we can safely assume that he will continue
to do things that don’t always go down well with some of its users.
He is willing to face criticism
While many young people would have withered in the face of the very
public criticism, including having a rather unflattering movie made about
him (The Social Network), he took it like a champ, even taking the staff
for a screening of the movie.
He adapts to situations quickly
When he faced growing criticism over privacy allegations, Zuckerberg
caved in to public opinion, giving users more control over their privacy.
He learned quickly how much user experience mattered and adapted his
decisions to be more inclusive of them.
He doesn’t need to control everything
A lot of innovation at Facebook happens with the interaction of the
users, as in the translation application, which happened without
Zuckerberg’s direct influence. He knows when to guide policy and when
to give up control. That is what has made Facebook a network created in
part with the help of user interaction.
He builds the right relationships
From someone who had few friends (as portrayed in The Social
Network), to hobnobbing with the likes of Peter Thiel (Paypal) and Sean
Parker (Napster), Zuckerberg has, from the start, built connections and
relationships with the bigwigs of Silicon Valley. If you believe that you
are the sum of the people you are closest to, then Mark Zuckerberg is
certainly in very good company.
Risk - Taker & Creative
"The biggest risk is not taking any risk ..... in a world that is changing
really quickly , the only strategy is that's guaranteed to fail is not taking
risks . "
Conclusion On His Leadership Style
• A successful leader always makes use of all leadership styles .
• Employees see him every day , he is busy but always accessible . There are weekly
meetings where co-workers and employees present different ideas and questions to
him .
• He doesn't position himself above his employees .
