How Everyone Can be a C.E.O

Mark Pincus has been showing up in the media everywhere as of late. As the current CEO of Zynga, Mark has taken the company from a niche player in the explosive social gaming market to generating a rumored run rate of about $600 million (business insider) back in May — not to mention whispers of an exciting company exit strategy . Mark has been successful at implementing a strategy of “take ownership of something and run with it” motto, not only with his past and current management teams, but with each of his employees.

Giving employees at all levels the opportunity to become empowered and responsible, allows for ideas and results that may not have been recognized otherwise.

Mark talks about how every employee has to take ownership of something, big or small — make a commitment to that and produce results based on that “something”.

“…if you give people really big jobs to the point that they’re scared, they have way more fun and they improve their game much faster.”

There are a few anecdotes mixed in with the article, written in the NY Times, that shed some more light on the topic. As CEOs themselves try to find the best way to scale their business, part of their business growth strategies should revolve around letting everyone be a C.E.O…of something.

For more information on how the CEO can improve and how people surrounding the CEO can help, check out OpenView Venture Partner’s Managing Director, Scott Maxwell’s blog series on “The Lonely CEO“.