Is it now Chief Empathy Officer instead of Chief Executive Officer? Insights from Susan Vojcicki’s life on the role of CEOs and leaders today:
“I’ll never forget her kindness to me 20 years ago.” said Sundar Pichai, recalling his personal memory with Google’s first Marketing Manager and former YouTube CEO Susan Vojcicki.
He added, “During my Google interview, she took me out for an ice cream and a walk around campus. I was sold on Google and Susan.”
3 of Susan’s many ‘empathy-first’ steps as a leader:
🔹 As the first Google employee to take maternity leave, she understood the emotional and physical toll of balancing work and family life. In 2007, she led the initiative to extend paid maternity leave from 12 to 18 weeks at Google.
🔹 When team members faced family crises, Vojcicki arranged for flexible work hours and additional resources to help them manage their situation. She believed in supporting employees as holistic individuals with lives outside of their jobs.
🔹 For the underrepresented groups facing barriers in tech careers, like women and minorities, she initiated mentorship programs that dismantled these obstacles.
When I look at the transformative impact Susan’s steps have had on Google and YouTube’s growth, I can’t help but notice the evolved role of CEOs and leaders today.
Traditionally, the CEO’s role meant carrying the vision of the organization and making it percolate to all levels of the organization as actionable steps.
It was mainly about empowering the employees with the vision and necessary resources.
But in today’s scenario where
⏩ business information is easily accessible,
⏩ tech and AI are doing the routine tasks,
⏩ and employees know their rights and duties well,
employees are empowered with those things already.
What they don’t have is feelings of safety and connection and not having that can damage the employees’ psyche and sabotage the projects that they are capable of building.
That’s why, it has become the primary role of CEOs and leaders across the globe to make their employees feel safe and connected.
To fulfil this burning need, they must do more of what Susan did they must take more ‘empathy-first’ steps.