As most of you know, I work remotely. I don’t sit in an office – I work from home and am not based in Mumbai. Most of the time, I forget I’m a 2winner – I guess being a Rodinhooder defines me. But when I get the occasional memo via the 2win email – it serves as a gentle reminder of the organisation I’m proud to be a part of. It reminds me that Alok is the CEO of games2win and not just my fb friend who I partnered up with!!
Whenever Alok has a speaking event I wish him – I ping him and say, “Rock the house” or “Have Fun!”. Y’day too, for the ‘Town Hall at g2w’ (read email below for details), I sent him a message saying “happy town hall – have fun!”. But at 12:19pm he replied, “THE PPT NEVER WORKED”.
I could kinda visualise what would’ve happened. It wasn’t a good feeling. And then I received an apology note from Alok via the 2win mail addressed to all 2winners. It was clear what happened and all I could see (in my mind) were the disappointed faces of 100+ 2winners. Not because of the tech issue. But because of the way their CEO reacted.
Now anyone who has met Alok knows how PASSIONATE & EXCITED he gets about everything he does. His passion is infectious. So many times, he calls out of the blue and says, “Dude, I’ve gotta tell you this….” and after I put the phone down, I can feel the extended excitement!!
So this morning, when I read this fb update and email memo I thought I must share it here; for many of you are CEOs and your teams look up to you. Does that mean you are not human? No. But it means people look up to you for guidance. They EXPECT you to FIX stuff. They expect you, as the leader, to be tolerant, to understand that things don’t always go as per plan and that, you will be gracious enough to say, “no worries, we’ll do this right the next time”.
Shit Happens. It happened at games2win y’day. And this is what the CEO had to say in an email to 2winners…
A Big Lesson Learnt
I apologize again and look forward to meeting you on Friday 🙂
I have begun introducing ‘quarterly’ town halls at g2w. In the last one in May I spoke about our focus and plans etc etc.
Yesterday, was our Town Hall for the July Q. It was from 12-1 pm. I proposed we do it the 1st Friday of the Q. Instead of speaking and doing bak bak, I thought of installing a screen that would project a PPT describing the updates. I also decided to included 2 ‘surprise’ speakers (colleagues) who would share what they had achieved for the Q gone by.
We worked HARD for the combined PPT. I put all of the slides together and animated EACH OBJECT in each slide (70 slides). It was looking AWESOME. A WEEK BEFORE I had got my IT team (5+ team) to set up the laptops, do mock runs and get a clicker. I had made sure that a CLEAN inverted crate was installed for each speaker to stand & speak on.
At 1150 I handed the final PPT in a pen drive and “ASSUMED” that all was ready. I went down at 11:57. ALMOST 110 people had ALREADY ASSEMBLED in the hall – 90% of them standing.
What followed was a DISASTER. The IT guy just could not load up the PPT/ then it was not in full mode / then it was crushed etc etc. WE WAITED and waited and waited TILL 12:13.
BUT THE BIGGEST MISTAKE WAS MADE BY ME.
I LOST IT. I grew impatient, starting mumbling and grumbling and even spoke bad words. I could NOT COME TO TERMS that MY IT team despite 2 weeks of preparation could not load up a bloody PPT. I had SO MUCH PASSION ready to explode – and I was reduced to a ‘bhooondu’ standing there…
Noticed something???
Check the number of “I”‘s used in the para above.
AS A CEO, my ego was hurt more than anything else. It was like – HOW CAN THIS HAPPEN TO ME – I have spoken over 1000 times on the world’s stages – and this happens in my Company, in front of 100+ colleagues???
I announced that we would meet at 1 pm and later shifted it to next Friday.
LESSON LEARNT:
Shit happens. It happens in the finest hour. As a CEO (AND MEDITATOR), I have to DROP MY EGO LIKE A STEEL BALL FALLING IN THE OCEAN and take control of the situation. I CANNOT BLAME. I HAVE TO HELP. I have to OVERCOME. I have to make the people feel like there is a second chance. I cannot project myself LIKE A PERSON NOT IN CONTROL.
In addition to the apology mail I sent, I once again say “Sorry” from the bottom of my heart and hope this confessions helps others who may face such situations.
******
jgd. obo. Thank you god for the realisation…
Alok Kejriwal
CEO and Co-Founder
Games2win – a global top 20 online games biz
*******
As startup CEOs, you are gonna face similar situations and I want you to bookmark this post. It will serve as a reminder that NOTHING GOES PER PLAN and that WE NEED TO ACCEPT THAT AND MOVE ON to make it right the next time! And that if we fail to do so, we should have the courage to admit our mistake!
The national anthem didn’t play at the Delhi Open House in March. So we sang it! The newsletter formatting was all screwed up y’day, no matter how much I tried to fix it. So i just admitted it honestly. I kept feeling miserable that Omkar spent so many hours crafting the newsletter and I couldn’t ensure it reached all of you perfectly 🙁 It was a silly tech glitch and after more than an hour of trying, i told myself to ACCEPT IT & ADMIT IT.
Nothing goes by plan in Startupland or in life. Websites crash right after the launch. Flights get cancelled. Rain stops traffic. Life comes to a halt. Heck my baby refused to come out in time so we had to induce her!!!
Have a great weekend people. As team leaders always always inspire your team. This email has inspired me a great deal…
Acceptance.
******
PS: I’m thinking of starting a ‘Being CEO’ learnings series. So if you have similar stories to share, pls do. It will help all of us become better team leaders.
*****
Omkar Nisal
Looking forward to the ‘Being CEO’ learnings series!
Kamal Kalra
Wow .. I have always had respect for true leaders like Alok .. and Alok has proved it time and again , that it’s the intent that matters …. Thanks for sharing this and reminding us once again …
Alok Rodinhood Kejriwal
And we had a successful townhall after all 🙂 (dated 12/7/2014)
Jitendra Gursingh
yeah shit happens! your reaction then & the one that follows are the only ways that show how you respond to (sh)it!
Its a mankind problem of being in an illusion of “we control everything & things will perform as we have planned”…rarely happens…and if you put ‘Windows’ in the picture you are doomed..
I am sure if you would have stayed calm & co-operated with the IT guy he would have fixed it .. IT does not yield to pressure, always need their time..
Nevertheless, I guess your apology to all would have helped raise your image as a humble & honest leader & I am sure you would have more employee fans than before 🙂 All d best..