Despite leading one of the world’s largest technology companies, Mark Zuckerberg maintains an unconventional approach to the way he runs Meta. While many executives rely on rigid hierarchical structures and a routine of intense meetings, the Facebook founder adopts a direct style, with few intermediaries, almost no scheduled meetings and a small core group that makes the company’s most important decisions.
During a candid conversation with Stripe co-founder John Collison, Meta CEO, Mark Zuckerberg, detailed his management style. According to an article in Business Insider, the interview called for the executive's sincerity.
He said he dislikes managing people, avoids recurring one-on-one meetings and relies on a small core group of leaders to run the company's business.
A trusted group to lead the Meta
Mark Zuckerberg revealed that Meta's leadership structure is based on a core of 25 to 30 people. This group, which he calls “core army”, has the function of keeping the company running and making important decisions.
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Although not everyone is his direct subordinate, he says they are all involved in the most important decisions.
"Our management team isn’t just my direct reports. It’s this broader group of 25 to 30 people that I try to include in everything.”, He stated.
According to him, these people have the freedom to perform any task and receive special attention to keep them updated on what is happening within the company.
Mark Zuckerberg also highlighted that he likes to work directly with those who lead the projects that interest you most, reinforcing the non-hierarchical nature of the organization.”We are very non-hierarchical in that sense.”, He completed.
Thematic structure by product groups
The Goal is divided into approximately 15 segments.
Each of them has an executive in charge, with different leaders reporting to central figures in the company.
Teams for app-based products like Facebook and Instagram report to Chris Cox, the company's chief product officer.
As for transversal services — such as advertising, infrastructure and integrity systems — are supervised by Javier Olivan, Director of Operations.
Finally, initiatives focused on future technologies are led by Andrew Bosworth, Chief Technology Officer.
Zuckerberg explained that he sees the leaders of these groups as the ones who actually run Meta's operations, and so he doesn't want to directly oversee all of them. “I don’t want to have 15 direct reports”, He stated.
Averse to traditional management
One of the most striking points of the conversation was when Zuckerberg said, directly, that he doesn't like managing people.
He compared his approach to that of Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang, who also doesn't hold regular one-on-one meetings with his executives.
"I don't even like managing people”, he said. “Sand someone will answer directly to me, that person needs to know how to self-manage. "
This stance is also reflected in his refusal to delegate.
For the executive, the founder must be involved in important decisions, regardless of hierarchical level.
"I don't believe in delegating”, he stated. “If you're running the company and you're responsible for everything, and there's something important happening at any level of the organization, it doesn't make sense to say you're not going to get involved."
He concluded by saying that the ideal is to have the humility to recognize that you may not have all the information at that moment, but that you should still delve into the relevant subjects.”The cultural expectation is that you can dive into whatever you want, without so many barriers.. "
Few meetings, lots of direct contact
Mark Zuckerberg has also stated that he does not hold recurring one-on-one meetings. Instead, he prefers spontaneous conversations, as needed in each situation.
Currently, he only participates in two regular meetings per week. One of them is focused on open strategies, while the other focuses on the company's priorities.
"When I say I don't have one-on-one meetings, I mean I don't have regular meetings. I talk to everyone all the time, more than they'd probably like.”, he joked.
He explained that he prefers to keep his schedule open for specific conversations, both when he needs to and when an executive wants to speak with him.
This flexibility, according to Mark Zuckerberg, is essential to his well-being. He needs blocks of free time in the day to focus on important tasks, otherwise he becomes frustrated.If I go too many days in a row without it, I just explode."
Mark Zuckerberg has made it clear that maintaining free time and a direct channel with those responsible for strategic projects are key parts of his leadership model.
For him, this way of running Meta allows for greater agility and focus on the really important decisions. Meta has not officially commented on the statements. CEO.