When he was stepping down after eleven years in the company, staff off the online luxury retailer gave him a most memorable send-off: When he arrived for work in the morning, he was greeted by hundreds of his employees all dancing to Aloe Blacc's hit song "The Man” and holding photos of their beloved boss. While Sebba walked through the office, staff from offices around the world joined into the celebration via video conference as well as gospel singers, professional dancers and a Mariachi band.
It is evident that Sebba has obviously done something very right in his past eleven years and has managed to develop a personal relationship with his employees regardless of position, country or department. So what makes such a memorable, loved and successful CEO?
Marketing expert David Sable has once examined these traits in his blog on networking site LinkedIn. Amongst them is the ability to think both large and small: “Being both large and small are important, I believe even inextricably bound. You can’t be a leader without having a vision that’s rooted in something big and motivational but bordered by detail and hard work,” he wrote.
Another important trade according to Sable is to be a great talker and an even better listener. A strong leader, however, he states, likes to hear voices other than his own. He listens, whether he walks the halls or wanders the internet and he listens to seasoned veterans but also to people just starting in the business. Great leaders would answer every email and find the time to communicate face-to-face, Sable said.
Other positives for a CEO are what Sable called “love and tough love” meaning that a leader sometimes has to make tough decisions even whilst caring for his people. He cited a case where a CEO had to fire a college roommate, despite him and the employee having been long-lasting friends – “a move that greatly pained him but was the right thing to do,” Sable said. “A great CEO lives by example, creating a culture that is at once innovative and results-driven, entrepreneurial and collaborative.”
Another positive trait for a CEO is courage to allow and initiate change but also to stay true to a company’s core according to Sable and a final recipe for success is the ability to get and give. “Great leaders don’t just take from the world, they give back,” Sable said. It is “important to give back to the community” that we live and work in.
Sources:http://abc7news.com/237878/
http://abc7news.com/237878/
https://www.linkedin.com/today/post/article/20140114225916-234814-what-makes-a-great-ceo