Abstract
Silicon Valley is associated with great people who exhibit talent, enthusiasm, confidence, and desire to succeed. Many great minds and entrepreneurs come from this part of the country. One of these people is Brian Chesky. This discussion gives a detailed analysis of Chesky’s leadership traits and future recommendations that can make him successful.
Leadership Traits
As the chief executive officer (CEO) and co-founder of Airbnb Company, Brian Chesky has proved to the world that he is a great leader who exhibits wonderful traits. To begin with, Chesky is a decisive leader. This kind of trait was observed in June 2011 when a host’s home in San Francisco was ransacked and burglarized by renters (Gallagher, 2015). Instead of discussing with different stakeholders at the company, Chesky came up with a desirable decision to deal with the issue. The second trait that defines his leadership is the power to inspire others (Feloni, 2015). Chesky refers to the concept as “up-leveling”. This inspirational ability pushes his followers to think bigger and take up challenging roles (Feloni, 2015). The CEO uses these traits appropriately to deal with crises and create the best vision for every stakeholder.
Challenge
As mentioned earlier, the main challenge faced by Chesky emerged when a given home in San Francisco was ransacked by a group of renters in the year 2011. The leader was not sure how the issue could have been addressed. The need to take responsibility, according to the company, would result in new complaints. Without a viable solution to the problem, the top management chose to engage in consensus and eventually come up with a strategy to deal with it. It was at this point when the CEO intervened in order to protect the company from any form of damage. He wrote a letter to the owner and promised that the firm would implement a 50,000 USD guarantee (Gallagher, 2015). Although this challenge threatened the company, it eventually elevated Chesky to a prominent leader.
Leader’s Behaviors and Characteristics
Brian Chesky’s leadership behaviors and characteristics have made him one of the recognized American CEOs. Some of his behaviors include justice, forward-looking, and honesty. These attributes empower and guide his followers to focus on targeted goals. He inspires vision, offers useful guidelines, and provides resources that can promote the level of performance. He is always resolute whenever things appear to get out of hand. Some characteristics such as the ability to inspire, competence, and persistence have made it easier for the firm to focus on the targeted goals. These attributes make it easier for the CEO to analyze and meet the emerging needs of different stakeholders such as employees, customers, and business partners (Gallagher, 2015). Chesky handles situations diligently in order to deliver positive outcomes. The success of Airbnb can therefore attributable to these behaviors.
Future Course of Action
Analysts have indicated that Chesky is someone who inspires and guides people to do the things he believes are desirable or right. This kind of practice is what dictates or informs his leadership philosophy. This is the reason he addressed the 2011 challenge without focusing on the decisions of different stakeholders. It would therefore be appropriate for Brian Chesky to work on this issue (Gallagher, 2015). By so doing, he will ensure his followers are guided and empowered to pursue their dreams. That being the case, he will have embraced some of the traits associated with great leaders such as Steve Jobs and Mark Zuckerberg (Feloni, 2015). This course of action will make him one of the most successful CEOs in the United States.
References
Feloni, R. (2015). How an Airbnb renter’s horror story taught the company’s CEO his greatest leadership lesson. Business Insider. Web.
Gallagher, L. (2015). The education of Airbnb’s Brian Chesky. Fortune. Web.