Leading with Authenticity - Nick Mehta - Not Another CEO Podcast - Episode #1

Jul 23, 2024

Nick Mehta, CEO of Gainsight, is a SaaS expert committed to customer success and building strong company cultures. He discusses the vital role of authentic leadership and the importance of defining core company values. Mehta emphasizes community-building as a cornerstone for genuine customer relationships. He shares insights on hiring effective executive assistants, illustrating their impact on productivity. Moreover, he reveals how childhood experiences shaped his tech career and the journey toward embracing authenticity in leadership.

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Intro

00:00 • 2min

Authentic Leadership and Community Building

01:53 • 31min

The Vital Role of Executive Assistants

32:30 • 10min

Childhood Influences and Early Tech Experiences

42:46 • 2min

Journey to Becoming a CEO: Unexpected Breaks and Mentorship

45:07 • 3min

Understanding Personal Drives Through Reflection and Personality Tools

47:54 • 3min

Authenticity in Leadership

50:50 • 8min

Joining the show on its debut week is a SaaS veteran and leader in the Customer Success industry. A person who believes in developing strong company values and the importance of building a community around your business. This leader is none other than the CEO of Gainsight, Nick Mehta.

Nick joins host David Politis to discuss the importance of company values. Nick reflects on how vital it was to establish values early, as well as the most important executive roles a company should hire. Discover his insights on the importance of building community, qualities that make an effective leader, and the benefits of investing in a good Executive Assistant.

Takeaways:

Building a community can be vital to establishing a strong and reciprocal relationship with customers. Communities and community events allow for direct customer interaction and a space to get honest feedback on the business.
The ability to manage up, down, across, and out are vital for strong management, as it ensures a manager is able to work with and be a positive influence on coworkers, stakeholders, customers, and direct reports.
Executive Assistants are not something to be thrifty or cheap about. An effective EA can make a world of difference for CEOs and should be well-supported to ensure retention. Sometimes they are more on top of things than the CEOs themselves.
Being CEO means you have to be yourself. Candor and authenticity are essential qualities for successful leadership, even if it means making tough decisions or telling employees that something is wrong.
Backchannel references are a great tool for ensuring you have a holistic view of a potential candidate. Asking a reference “what did others think of this person” instead of “what did you think of this person” is a strong strategy for getting an honest answer from them.
Actively reinforcing company values is an important step in getting your staff to truly live up to them in their day to day. Have your values be the focus of employee onboarding, discuss them in all-hands meetings, send out consistent emails reaffirming them, etc.
As a CEO, it’s impossible to be aware of everything as you scale. Anonymous surveys can provide valuable insights on leadership and day to day operations that a top down perspective might miss out on.

Quote of the Show:

“What I tell CEOs is the only way to have a good culture is make it something you truly care about.” - Nick Mehta

Links:

Twitter: https://x.com/nrmehta
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/nickmehta/
Website: https://www.gainsight.com

Ways to Tune In:

Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/1NQ9oAB2XKlgWeL8iEQXg0
Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/not-another-ceo-podcast/id1751581707
Amazon Music: https://music.amazon.com/podcasts/7c6328f0-9b42-41db-8fe2-d263b4fbb261
Transistor: https://podcast.notanotherceo.com/
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@NotAnotherCEOPodcast