Every day, there are cool new business ideas sprouting. From the ability to heat up food without fire to smart trash bins that sort rubbish automatically, inventive ideas are a dime a dozen. What really keeps the flame of a new idea going are the people behind it.
Each of the following CEOs or founders had an idea or forged a new path to success for a business. But once you’ve already seen some success, how do you continue to grow? Company leaders are always looking for different ways to explore opportunity. Here are some of the notable habits that have helped CEOs continue to grow their businesses:
Talk To Your Customers Yourself
When you’re just starting a new business, talking to your customers is inevitable. With just a few people on your staff, you’re the face of the business. But as businesses scale, founders and CEOs are pulled further and further from their core consumer. While there are plenty of reliable staff members and surveys to garner data on customers and better understand what they want out of a product or service, these “customer service” duties are typically delegated away from the head honcho.
But for some of the most successful CEOs, this isn’t the case. Infor’s Charles Phillips and Steve Jobs have been compared to one another, thanks largely to their unyielding dedication to design and customer service. Phillips, who left Oracle in 2010 to take the helms at Infor, answers all of his own emails and insists his employees (there are more than 13,000 of them) instant message him when needed. One of the most extreme examples of this customer-CEO communication funnel is when Phillips sent out over 250,000 emails to customers, listing out contact information for executives. Any customer, regardless of their stature in a company, could reach the CEO at Infor directly.
Amazon founder Jeff Bezos is another great example of this. Amazon has one of the highest-rated customer service centers in the world, and there’s a reason for this. According to Bezos, “Everyone has to be able to work in a call center.” This includes managers and Bezos himself. Every year, every member of staff is scheduled to get on a call with a customer and learn to sort their problems.
Play Games
While most people wouldn’t think of games as a stop on the path to innovation, for some CEOs, it’s just that. Dan Hogan, CEO of healthcare tech company Medalogix, decks his office out in games to help induce creativity. He said in an interview, “There are footballs, golf balls, softballs, chessboards, Legos–everything a curious kid could dream of–covering our office space. Whenever I’m stuck on an idea, I play a quick game of catch or build a Lego house to give my brain a breather..”
Today, businesses are incorating some form of “gaming” in their offices, from ping-pong tables to board games to mini-golf. Not only is it contributing to office culture, but provides employees with room to think outside the desk.
Start Doing Yoga & Meditation
Several studies have demonstrated the benefits of doing yoga and practicing meditation. But some CEOs are taking this a step further by implementing it into their daily office habits. John Swanciger, CEO of Manta, believes yoga helps employees unplug and re-center themsevles, even after a long, hard day or week in the office. “Early in my career, I would have rolled my eyes reading some executive profess how being on a yoga mat makes them good at business,” he said. “But I have found a regular practice makes me a better leader, more patient parent, and keeps me sharp mentally and physically.”
One company called Office Yoga specializes in sending a team of yogi professionals to spearhead yoga classes in the office. Similar companies, like Yoga Means Business, focuses on making employees comfortable enough to get loose with poses without being self-aware of how they look to their coworkers.
For many companies, health in the workplace isn’t just restricted to just yoga. Businesses like Unilever, Google, Microsoft, and Nike all have “Wellness” or “Health” centers dedicated to their staffs. And in companies like Japan, there’s an entire culture surrounding workplace exercise based on the philosophy of kaizen, or “continual improvement.” Here, healthy movement is just as much a part of the day as office meetings.
Read Fiction Books Regularly
One look at the business section of your local bookstore will overwhelm you with titles. There’s plenty to be said about leadership, strategy, financing, marketing, and a half dozen other business topics. But for some CEOs, the key to staying grounded lies in absorbing content that gives you a reprieve from the real world.
Alicia Navarro, CEO of content monetization platform Skimlinks believes that it’s necessary to free your mind from reality to open up your mind for creativity. She says, “It emboldens your imagination, gives your mind respite, and arms you with tactics on creating motivating, inspiring messaging. ”
Tim Ferris, author of “The Four-Hour Workweek,” also suggests reading fiction books to boggle the mind. Fiction books have allowed him to “turn off” the stress of day-to-day business, and because of this, he’s seen breakthroughs in creativity and experience a higher quality of life.