Nvidia CEO's Leadership Philosophy: "No Task is Above Me" Led to a $3 Trillion Company

Jensen Huang, CEO of Nvidia, believes that a good leader should not be afraid to get their hands dirty.

Before founding the multibillion-dollar computer chip company, Huang was a teenage busboy at Denny's. Later, he would conceive the idea for Nvidia with his partners in the same Denny's where he had previously worked as a busboy, dishwasher, and toilet cleaner.

Huang, despite having a net worth of nearly $108 billion as estimated by Forbes, claims that his humble beginnings continue to influence his leadership style in business.

Huang stated in a March interview at the Stanford Graduate School of Business that no task is too low for him because he used to be a dishwasher and clean toilets.

"He boasted to a roomful of students, "I've cleaned more toilets than all of you combined, and some of them are so disgusting, you can't unsee them.""

While there is a significant difference between being a teen restaurant employee and running a multitrillion-dollar company, Huang maintains that he still approaches his job with the same eagerness to take on any task that he believes can help his employees improve the company, regardless of whether it can be delegated to someone else.

Huang stated that if he receives something from you and requires your input, and he can assist you in your review, he will have made a contribution to you.

Huang is a well-known boss who is known for being hands-on and demanding. Some employees have referred to him as a perfectionist. Huang requires employees to send him an email every week with the top five projects they are working on. Additionally, he often visits employees' desks to check on their progress and offer suggestions, as detailed in a New Yorker profile.

Huang, the longtime CEO, finds it personally rewarding to share his reasoning for a suggestion or solution he offers, as it helps the company in the long run and allows him to learn new things himself.

""I empower people to reason through strategy, forecasting, and problem-solving all the time," he said."

Huang stated in a commencement speech at the California Institute of Technology last month that he tries to complete his most complex work early in the day so that if anyone needs something from him later, he can confidently say, "I have plenty of time."

Huang, CEO of Nvidia, prefers to have approximately 50 direct reports, as he believes this structure enhances the company's performance by facilitating the direct flow of information and strategy between him and Nvidia's other leaders, as he stated in an interview with CNBC in November.

"Having more direct reports as a CEO results in fewer layers in the company, enabling us to maintain smooth information flow," he stated.

Huang emphasized at Stanford that a CEO's primary responsibility is to "lead others to achieve greatness, inspire, empower, and support employees" in order to contribute to Nvidia's overall success. He stated that the management team exists to serve all the other people who work in the company.

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