Elon Musk, the world’s richest man, is set to complete his $44 billion purchase of Twitter. The landmark event brings a happy ending to one of the biggest stories of the last few weeks.
Over the last few years, Elon Musk has proven himself as the bravest and most self-confident CEO on the planet. His move to buy Twitter further reinforces his unconventional style of handling his business.
Many criticize this approach, but we believe there are a few key lessons CEOs across the world can learn from Elon Musk and his latest purchase. Let’s get straight into it!
Aggressively Pursue Your Ambitions
Lesson 1 to CEOs, pursue your ambition and vision, and aggressively too. It has become almost cliche to advise people to chase their dreams and visions. But it remains one of the most vital lessons a CEO can learn, and Elon Musk fully understands this.
According to Erik Wright from New Horizon Homebuyers – Unlike Elon, many CEOs today have taken a passive approach to pursue their goals. They either wait for the opportunity to come to them or timidly run after it – quite frankly, neither will cut it. Being patient is one thing; being toothless in your pursuit is another thing entirely.
This is one of the areas Elon Musk strongly excels in, and it, therefore, comes as little surprise that he has been the most successful billionaire over the last decade. It’s funny to think of how confident Elon Musk is in pursuing his vision and ambitions, considering how unorthodox they are.
One of Elon’s top companies is SpaceX, a private company throwing rockets into space, seriously! That’s an oversimplification, we know, but you get it. Why? You may ask – because Elon wants humans to go and live on Mars. Many people think this is impossible, let alone willing to invest in it, but not Elon.
Over the last few years, he has funneled billions into the company and eventually made a breakthrough on the front of sending a rocket into space.
His second major company is Tesla, which makes electric, self-driving cars. We know driving has come a long way, but if you had told Ford back in the days that in some years, cars would drive humans and not the other way around, he’d have called you crazy. Yet, with Elon Musk at the forefront of this push, here we are.
As per Ansh Gupta from Sale Booster – Many of his ambitions are unconventional, but his ever-aggressive pursuit is a lesson for other CEOs. No one will change anything if they only wait for opportunities to fall kindly into their hands; sometimes, you need to go after it – aggressively.
Embrace Your Character
Elon Musk is the most authentic and original CEO today. Original, in this sense, means embracing your true character and not masking or suppressing it for the media thanks Michael Dadashi from Infinite Recovery.
For context, the man was in a beef with Bill Gates, and he posted a picture of gates alongside an emoji of a pregnant man. Don’t even get us started on the many memes he doles out to us daily. It’s amazing to see.
You may have a lot against Elon Musk, but him being original and embracing his character cannot be one. You can always trust him to say his mind, even when it isn’t pretty or professional says Jessica Wright from Dream Team Fundraising.
However, this has not always been a good thing, as it has gotten him in plenty of legal and moral court trouble. Not too long ago, Elon was under fire from his own company for something he tweeted out. Not to mention him using the “pedo” slur to describe a rescue diver. The list is a long one, so we’ll stop here.
Adam Garcia from The Stock Dork says – Hate him or love him; you will agree we need more CEOs coming out and speaking their minds rather than forcing a fake image on the world. No one is asking these CEOs to go as wild as Elon – certainly not us – but enough with the false impressions.
So, let’s properly phrase lesson 2 – be original and authentic, but up to a reasonable point. Now, we can have more relatable CEOs who are not afraid to say things as they see them.
There’s Always another Perspective; Look at It!
You’ll find another perspective if you look hard enough. Elon Musk has always been a man who considers all possibilities before making decisions. Those decisions may come off as a little too hasty, but you can be sure he always thinks of the other perspective.
Yeelen Knegtering from Klippa stated that an essential principle in the engineering world is known as “first-principles thinking.” Basically, this involves looking at a problem as completely alien. Forget what you think or already know; look at the problem with a fresh set of eyes.
When you do this, you open the door to several perspectives, not just one societal opinion you’ve been forced into. Consider this illustration.
You are an engineer trying to solve the problem of a car emitting too much dangerous gas into the atmosphere, which is affecting the climate. You will likely start by examining how the engine can be more efficient. Doing this will reduce the fuel the car uses and ultimately reduce the emission of dangerous gases. Most of society would support this, too, because that’s just how it has been.
However, with the first-principles approach, you can start asking questions like, “what if the car can run on something that doesn’t directly affect the climate – like electricity?!” Welcome to the mind of Elon Musk. And who knows, that’s probably how he birthed Tesla.
There’s more. If you had to solve the problem of the earth being unsuitable for living, you would probably focus on measures that reduce pollution, global warming, and the like. Elon is looking at another perspective, like moving out and going to Mars feels Mark Mcshane of Birmingham First Aid Courses.
Often, some of the other perspectives may not seem even possible, but the point is for CEOs not to close that door. Make it a habit to consider different views of things, and who knows what revolutionary discovery you may run into.
Take Risks
Edward Wright from Cereal Secrets suggests that while the convention today is to always “play it safe,” CEOs need to learn the art of risk-taking. Look, Twitter is not exactly the most profitable of ventures. In fact, the company has made little gains in its closing price compared to eight years ago.
Reports showed that the company only reported its first full-year profit almost 18 years after it started business. Yet, they continued to secure billions in funding.
For all we know, Elon Musk’s Twitter takeover may be the worst deal in the history of takeovers. But, it may also turn out to be one of the best and one that will be heralded for ages to come. Either way, it boils down to a CEO willing to pay 44 billion United States dollars for a social media app.
However, before taking a risk, ensure you have your mind and idea sorted out. Don’t take stupid risks. Elon Musk is not buying Twitter just to add to his long list of possessions; far from it. He actually has a belief and plans to take the app to another level.
As per Brenton Thomas of Twibi Agency – Elon has long advocated for free speech, and he does not think Twitter allows “complete” free speech. He can affect the changes he feels the world deserves by buying Twitter. It may work, and it may be a grand failure – only time will tell, but him taking that risk is applause-worthy.
Some signature approaches of Elon Musk show his risk-taking character. He is willing to push to the very brink to get what he wants, even blurring the line of what is acceptable. It has led him into several legal disputes, but it is also why his companies are at the apex of their industries.
We need more risk-takers in our world, and CEOs can take a lesson from Elon Musk.
Conclusion
While Elon Musk’s aggressive Twitter takeover defies conventional approaches, this is not uncharacteristic for him. Ramon Ray, a business consultant stated that “This takeover is typical Elon. He likes skin in the game, whether it’s financial, intellectual, time, he is all in.”
This article has examined some key lessons other CEOs can learn from this move.
- Aggressively pursuing your ambition and visions.
- Being original and embracing your character
- Look at other perspectives of things, and be willing to take risks.
- Don’t be afraid to take risks.
These four lessons are essential to CEOs in shaping a better world for themselves and the public.
Thank you, Elon, we guess?
