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Travis Kalanick, CEO of Uber, left, and Brian Chesky CEO of Airbnb.
What should a leader like Uber’s Travis Kalanick do in the midst of a corporate culture crisis?
“Take a step back and have some humility,” Airbnb Chief Executive Brian Chesky said at a luncheon hosted by the Economic Club of New York on Monday. At least that’s Chesky’s advice for any CEO put in a tough leadership position.
Regarding Uber’s latest challenges, Airbnb’s Chesky said Kalanick is “doing everything he should do at this point” and has “owned up” to the problems.
His best words of wisdom moving forward would be to not be defensive so easily, Chesky said. And that can be hard to do.
“People accuse me of things, and I want to be defensive,” he said. The Airbnb co-founder says he has to “cool down,” take a step back and ask, “Is that true?”
Uber’s CEO recently said he had ordered an investigation within the company after a former employee published an account alleging sexual harassment and gender bias during her time there.
