“Don’t focus on things you’re not good at. Focus on the things that you are good at and keep getting better at them.” Nick Mehta, CEO of Gainsight, shares tips on leading with passion, transparency, and vulnerability.
In this Voice of Value podcast episode, Nick Mehta, CEO of Gainsight, shares tips on leading with passion, transparency, and vulnerability.
[0:59] – Who Nick idolized growing up and who he still looks up to
[2:23] – How Nick brings the composite of his passions (music, science, and family) to be a better leader.
[4:28] – “Finding that intersection that lets you find your creativity is powerful.”
[5:03] – Nick’s perspective on the greater purpose of a company beyond profit and Success For All.
[7:22] – How Nick optimizes time with company stakeholders in his day-to-day operations.
[9:20] – Nick intentionally spends about 17% of his time with customers.
[9:55] – Tips on how you can keep the discipline of spending more time with customers on a weekly basis to become more customer-centric.
[10:12] – How Nick built a culture of his own team and has been working on becoming a more authentic leader by openly sharing personal aspects of his life.
[11:38] – The scary journey of vulnerability that Nick has been on and how the world around him has been responding.
[12:25] – An anecdote on vulnerability and how it grows support for one another on the team.
[13:18] – There’s an inverse relationship between expertise and creativity. How do you stop doing things that you know and start working on things that you don’t know? Shoshin –beginner’s mind.
[13:47] – “In any new field like Customer Success, there is expertise there, and there is experience, but there’s a lot more to be learned in the future than has been learned in the past.”
[14:15] – Having a beginner’s mindset is absolutely critical. You need that 80% to be standardized and that 20% to be willing to learn.
[15:06] – Just because you’re new doesn’t mean you can’t contribute value.
[15:27] – “I learn so much from a 22-year-old, first-time CEO, just as much as a long-time CEO from a big company.”
[15:55] – How do you create resiliency or adaptability in people at scale? Celebrate change.
[17:42] – Something popular in leadership today that Nick disagrees with: It’s important to find the “A” players. There’s a missed opportunity to see the genius in the person on your team and put them into the right role.
[19:13] – What Nick thinks about most.
[20:15] – A school of thought that Nick no longer buys into. In a world where the buyer has a lot of the power, having more sales reps is absolutely important but it’s not really the only thing anymore. It ends up being a lot more about your customers being successful. Just because you hire more sales reps, doesn’t mean everything else works like magic.
[21:34] – Where and how Nick found his unique voice and value. His journey of being comfortable with being extremely open and hoping everyone can feel safe being themselves in the world.
[23:18] – “Don’t focus on things you’re not good at. Focus on the things that you are good at and keep getting better at them.”