"One morning I came in very early to the office [at] like 4:30 [a.m.], and I went into the bathroom, and there was my CEO. And he's washing coffee cups. And I was like, 'Barry, are you washing my coffee cups?' And he said, 'Yes.' And I said, 'Have you been doing that all year?'"
"He said 'Yes.' And I'm like, 'Why?' he continued. 'And he said, 'Well, you do so much for us and this is the one thing I can do for you.'"
"That routine, unspoken gesture from Hasting's former boss has stuck with the self-made billionaire throughout the rest of his near four-decade career, founding billion-dollar companies like Pure Software and Netflix."
"In that early programming job, he said that Plotkin's leadership style convinced employees to 'follow him anywhere,' even if it meant the company was heading towards bankruptcy."
Reed Hastings, cofounder of Netflix, shared a story from his first job where his CEO, Barry Plotkin, secretly washed his dirty coffee cups. Hastings, a programmer at a startup, was surprised to discover that Plotkin had been doing this for a year. Plotkin explained that it was a small gesture to show appreciation for Hastings' hard work. This experience left a lasting impression on Hastings, shaping his leadership philosophy and emphasizing the importance of caring for employees in a corporate environment.
Read at Fortune
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