Lucy laughed. “What did you say then?”
“Well, I had to admit that I was a recovering workaholic, so I just needed some time to let go of my addiction and actually start getting a life. But I also said that my lack of a life outside of work shouldn’t stop them from living theirs.”
Lucy threw her head back and laughed. “I bet that gave them a good laugh!”
“Yes, but they’re right, you know. I can’t say one thing and do something else. It takes away the credibility and makes people feel insecure about whether I really mean what I say.”
Lucy leaned forward and looked at me. “The fact that the employees openly challenge you is a demonstration of how much they trust you and feel safe around you. That is quite an accomplishment, you know.”
“I suppose that’s true,” I said and nodded slowly. “And I want them to. I don’t have all the answers and I still have a lot to learn. Like the other day, when I made a stupid CEO decision without consulting the people who knew the situation and the customer best; the sales guys quickly let me know. Without sugarcoating it, may I add.” I laughed. “And that saved us from making a bad—and probably costly—decision.” I smiled and finished what was left of my wine. I could definitely get used to this wine-for-lunch habit. I made a mental note to block the afternoon after next month’s lunch-buddy meeting as well.
“So this is what I’m thinking, Maya,” Lucy said as she picked up our plates and carried them to the sink. “If most CEOs did only half of the things you already do, the corporate world would be a much better place.”
She put the kettle on and started preparing coffee, while she continued talking: “Imagine if leaders realized that their job was to make the people in their organizations flourish, thrive, and make good decisions, instead of trying to control and pester them into just doing what they’re told. Which often isn’t what is best for the company—or the customers—anyway.”
Lucy brought over some coffee mugs and a bowl filled with heart-shaped dark chocolates and sat down again.
“You also said it has been inspiring?” she asked and smiled.
I nodded eagerly. “It’s been amazing to see the effect of the changes we have made. It’s this new energy in the office and a new light in people’s eyes that I have never seen before,” I said and took a bite of the chocolate.
“And the business results are following as a consequence,” I continued. Lucy nodded knowingly. She was obviously very aware of the positive growth TechnoGuard had experienced in the past year.
Lucy stood up again and walked over to the stove and slowly poured the hot water into a French coffee press. The aroma filled the room.
“And what did you mean about your first year as CEO being nothing like you expected?” she asked as she sat down again, placing the coffee press on the table between us.
I was silent for a moment before I spoke. “I honestly didn’t know what to expect. But somehow, earlier, I was thinking of CEOs as these superior people who are smarter or better than anyone else.”
Lucy smiled and waited for me to continue.
“But now I’ve realized that being a CEO is just a job, like anyone else’s, only with a different—and bigger—responsibility.”
Lucy nodded and slowly pushed down the plunger of the French Press. After she had poured the brew into our mugs, I picked mine up, breathed in the heavenly scent, and took a sip. It tasted as good as it smelled.
We sat silently, just savoring the coffee moment for a while before I spoke again. “I have to say that I feel humble and in awe of all the people who give so much of themselves for our company. And I can’t even begin to explain how honored I am to be their leader. But I also have to admit that I’m terrified of letting them down, of making bad decisions that will jeopardize the company and the employees’ livelihoods, or simply just sucking at my job!”
Lucy laughed out loud.
“That’s called healthy paranoia, Maya, and in my book, that’s a really good thing. Complacency is the enemy of progress.”
She paused for a moment before she continued. “The way I see it, the problem is that very few CEOs share your sentiment, and instead consider themselves to be untouchable godlike figures that can do whatever they please. Who look after themselves before they look after anyone else, including their employees and the company they are there to lead.”
I nodded. We didn’t need to look far to find an example of a CEO who had done exactly that.
“I’ve come to realize something,” I reflected out loud. “There actually aren’t that many examples or role models out there who demonstrate a different way of leading. I am so grateful for you showing me that there is an alternative to copy-pasting those bad old CEO behaviors.”
“Including dressing like them,” Lucy said, and we both laughed and clinked our coffee mugs in a “cheers.”
As Lucy went out in the garden for a quick phone call, I thought about how she had even become an inspiration to my wardrobe. Even though I’d kept some of my classic corporate outfits, I’d acquired quite a few new items, and as “the new Maya,” I was definitely more relaxed and colorful in the way I dressed at work. “Happy colors, happy people,” the sweet old lady in the souvenir shop in Kaua’i had said. She definitely had a point. I still had no hanky-panky to show for it, though. I chuckled silently at the memory.
When Lucy had finished her phone call, she asked if I wanted to join her in the garden. I was surprised to see her fish a cigarette and a lighter from the pocket of her apron. “Max one per day, and only in good company.” She winked at me and lit up.
“I’d like to hear more about what has surprised you this first year,” she said and took a deep inhale.
“Do you know what my biggest revelation this last year has been?” I asked, not waiting for an answer. “That my title, the corner office, and the prestige of the job ultimately meant nothing to me. However, I have discovered how much I enjoy being able to influence and change things to make a difference with what I do. And I have noticed that being in this position has made that a whole lot easier.”
Lucy nodded and blew smoke rings out in the air.
“There is a saying, that power corrupts,” she said. “That when people get to powerful positions they change into these bad, mean, greedy people.”
I nodded. I knew of plenty of those.
“But I’ve learned that it’s not necessarily the case,” Lucy said. “Instead, power reveals; it shows people who you really are. If you’re bad, you’ll get worse. If you’re good, you’ll get even better. You’re in the latter category, Maya.” She smiled. Then she put out her cigarette in an ashtray she had hidden under a bush. “Bad habit, but it gives me so much joy.” She winked at me as we walked back into the house. “Don’t tell Annabelle, though.”
It was time for me to leave and I thanked Lucy for the lovely lunch and inspiring chat and picked up my phone to order a car.
“I heard you declined the offer to have a personal driver on the company’s dime,” Lucy smiled.
“Yes,” I replied. “Honestly, I found it a bit ridiculous. What do I need a private driver for? The yearly cost of a driver was enough to pay for a big company party, so I decided to allocate that money there instead.”
Lucy laughed. “Way to go, girl!”
Two minutes later my cab driver arrived, and we hugged goodbye.
In the back of the car I reflected on some of the things Lucy and I had talked about over lunch.
I hadn’t mentioned my biggest surprise with being a CEO: my salary. When I first got my new contract, I had to look at it twice. Was it one zero too many? When I realized it was correct, I was shocked. How could it be that a CEO earned so much more than an average paid employee? Or even a VP. It was insane.
When I told Lisa, she almost got angry with me. “Most male CEOs would never even have thought that thought!” she said. “Much less said it out loud! Take the money and be happy. Tell yourself you’ve earned it, and that they’ll get the
ir money’s worth. And if the money is more than you need, just go ahead and use it for something good.” She grinned. “I wouldn’t mind a pair of new yoga pants.”
That gave me an idea. In fact, a couple of them.
A few months later, when Lisa and I met at Tony’s, I brought her a new pair of yoga pants, a key, and a rental agreement for the yoga studio I knew she had been dreaming about for many years. It was a three-year lease, already paid for, only awaiting her signature.
First, she didn’t believe her eyes, then she refused to accept it, then she cried tears of gratitude, and then she danced her happy dance. Antonio and I were watching and smiling through all her emotional stages. We had already discussed and anticipated her exact reactions, and she didn’t disappoint. Clearly, we both knew her well and loved her dearly.
Lani was on the phone the same day I made the first donation to the Rainbow Children Foundation. The donation included a note that it was from an anonymous giver, who would deposit the same amount every single month for the next three years.
“I know it’s you! Don’t you even try denying it!” She laughed. I pretended I had no idea what she was talking about. “On behalf of the children and their families, thank you so much! I promise I will spend the money wisely, and you’ll receive monthly reports so you can see what a difference this money will make in people’s lives.” She paused, waiting for me to say something; but I was quietly smiling on the other end of the phone.
“And, just so you know, the first thing I will do is get Noah and his mother a better place to live. The place they’re staying in now is a dump.” My hand went to my heart, just thinking of that sweet boy and his mother. I was so grateful to be able to help them.
“And secondly,” Lani continued, “with the size of these donations, I will be able to help some of the children and families at my old school in Harlem as well.” I heard her smile. “But, since you have nothing to do with any of this, I’m really just calling to ask whether you have a couch I can crash on now and then.”
“You know that nothing would make me happier, Lani,” I said, and we started making plans for when she could come.
…
Eighteen months into my role as TechnoGuard’s CEO, things were going better than ever, and I was starting to relax and feel confident that I was handling this whole CEO role pretty well. That was, until I learned that not everyone agreed …
I was attending a customer meeting on the thirty-seventh floor when Ruth came in and whispered that she needed a quick word with me. I knew she would never interrupt if it wasn’t very important, so I excused myself and followed her.
“It’s Mr. Hatchett,” she whispered. “He is trying to get a hold of you. He needs you to attend a board meeting this afternoon. Apparently, there have been some complaints.”
I was a little taken aback. “Complaints? Oh, OK. Please let him know I’ll be there. I’ll try to finish up this meeting quickly, and then I’ll head over.”
Two hours later, I entered the main entrance of an office building in Battery Park in Lower Manhattan. The friendly receptionist told me to take the elevator to the forty-ninth floor. When I arrived there, I felt a bit dizzy and sat down in a deep chair, facing the windows overlooking the Statue of Liberty. I was feeling nervous. Whatever kind of complaint it was, it had to be pretty serious to make it all the way to the board.
When I entered the conference room twenty minutes later, I was surprised to see three members of my executive team at the end of the table. I shook hands with the seven members of the board, including Mr. Hatchett and Lucy, and nodded at John Cooper, Gary Arlington, and Brad Miller, who all refused to look at, much less acknowledge, me.
After I took my seat, Mr. Hatchett began the meeting.
“Welcome, everyone. The reason for this meeting is that we have received a letter of complaint from three members of the executive team at TechnoGuard, and we consider it to be a serious matter.”
Mr. Hatchett nodded toward the three men at the end of the table, who nodded back. “Gentlemen, would you mind explaining your complaints and why you consider them a threat to the future success of TechnoGuard?”
John cleared his throat and stood up. He looked at everyone around the table, except me. “We have expressed in our letter that we are concerned about Maya Williams’ competence, skills, and ability to serve as the CEO of TechnoGuard, and we have plenty of evidence to back this up. Items one through ten,” John said as he started clicking through a PowerPoint presentation with copies of emails I had sent, transcripts of speeches I had made, and pictures of me in various situations, looking very relaxed and informal in all.
On behalf of himself, Arlington, and Miller, he expressed concern over several policy changes I’d implemented, highlighting the flexible work practices and the unlimited vacation policy, for a start.
I had wanted to see whether these policies, that had become very popular among start-up companies, might work in a more traditional corporate setting like ours.
And they did.
Employees felt trusted by being given a bigger responsibility for their own work life and appreciated the focus on results and deliverables over hours spent in the office.
With the new experience of freedom, trust, and empowerment, their sense of responsibility for the results and overall performance of the company had increased. So far, no one had misused the trust given to them. And I didn’t think anyone would.
But of course, it wasn’t in John Cooper’s, and his allies’, interests to mention this.
“The third policy change Maya Williams has introduced this last year,” John continued, “is a nine-month paid parental leave program for both moms—and dads.” He almost spat out the last word, his contempt for the whole idea that even dads should be allowed parental leave becoming obvious to all. I was extra proud of this one. I had never thought about the emotional—and practical—challenge it must be for new parents to have to go back to work and leave their infants in child care just a few months after they were born. From my meetings and chats with the employees I had learned so much, and it opened my eyes to realities I previously knew nothing about. I had even asked Adriana, our Chief Culture Officer, to look into the possibility of renting a space on the thirty-eighth floor that could work as a nursery when the new parents returned from their leave. I was glad I hadn’t told John and company about those plans yet.
John continued, saying that they found it problematic that several times, in all-hands meetings, I had encouraged people to make brave decisions (leaving out that I had added “as long as you think it is in TechnoGuard’s best interest”), and that I shockingly had told employees that sometimes it is easier to ask for forgiveness than permission.
The morning yoga classes on the thirty-seventh floor and the fact that I spent way too much time speaking with employees were other things that worried the three executives.
“All in all,” John Cooper said, “the main problem, the way we see it, is that Maya Williams doesn’t act like a real CEO at all.”
While John spoke, I started realizing how blind and naïve I had been. I, who used to be the queen of corporate politics, had totally missed what was going on right under my nose.
I knew the executive team hadn’t been thrilled with me as their CEO to begin with, but I thought things were good now. They hadn’t said anything in our monthly meetings, and they seemed fine with the changes we’d made. Now I understood why. They had been busy collecting evidence and building their case against me.
In one of the pictures that was shared with the board, I was dressed in a sarong, wearing a lei and flip-flops. It was from the opening of the refurbished thirty-seventh floor, when I had introduced the aloha spirit and launched the “aloha wall” to encourage people to recognize each other for being helpful and showing kindness, which was, of course, inspired by the Rainbow Children’s fireside chat.
“As you can see, Maya Williams behaves as if she is leading a holiday retreat instead of a serious
company,” John said as he flipped to the next slide.
While I did understand the seriousness of the situation, I couldn’t help but smile inside. Holiday retreat, now wouldn’t that be something …
I had initially been so focused on the three men betraying me on the other side of the table that I hadn’t really noticed the reaction of the members of the board as the executives were speaking. When I fixed my gaze their way, I was relieved. My mentor, Lucy, looked like she was about to burst into laughter at any moment. Next to her, Travis West, a man my age, grinned widely. In fact, the more slides the executives showed of me in different situations—whether I was wearing sarongs, jeans, or standing on a table giving a spontaneous speech to the team—which were all supposed to be incriminating and paint me as unprofessional, the more the members of the board seemed to smile and chuckle. I could tell it was not the reaction the executives had hoped for. Only one man looked a bit concerned. Mr. Brown, in his mid-seventies, did not seem particularly amused. However, I wasn’t sure whether it was a reaction to the presentation or if it was just the way he looked.
As I listened to John speaking, I was fascinated by how the excecutives had turned all the positive things we had done in the last year into negatives: Empowerment and trust were translated as anarchy. Involvement and dialogue became socialism. Informality and fun were portrayed as unprofessional.
I realized that I had totally overestimated my own leadership skills and underestimated the wrath I had unleashed within the executive team. And I knew there was something important to be learned here.
The final piece of evidence they shared was a video, filmed in a karaoke bar, at the after-party of our last company event. It was of me dancing on a stage singing ABBA’s “Mamma Mia” with Laura from HR and Bethany from sales. We all looked very happy.
This was the only part of the presentation that concerned me. Not so much the nature of it, but rather how they had obtained the so-called evidence.
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