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GaryVee: Businesses can’t afford ‘to look at people as disposable’ anymore

Businesses need to care more about their employees if they want to build trust, move faster and retain talent; NFTs are more than just ‘arts and collectibles’

Gary Vee, Businesses

In an economy slowly emerging from a global pandemic, “the gig is up for businesses to look at people as disposable and interchangeable,” as businesses caring for their employees becomes more important than ever for millennial talent retention and company growth, said Belarusian-American entrepreneur and Internet personality Gary Vaynerchuk, aka Gary Vee.

In an exclusive interview with Arabian Business, Vee talked about how “soft skills are actually the alpha skills,” touching upon the value of kind candour to a more productive workplace.

As one of the early adopters of NFTs, Vee recommends that people “do their homework” on this new technology which would likely then lead them to realise that it is going to cause a big shift in consumer behaviour.

With the pandemic-fuelled Great Resignation, it seems everyone is tempted to quit their jobs and start their own venture. As someone who has launched several successful businesses, what advice can you give? Especially to those who feel they are too old to start all over?

I think it’s great that people are trying to achieve greater levels of happiness and trying to find options. My biggest advice is, just remember, if you fail, you can always get another job.

It’s really helped some of my older friends to take the leap which is why that was so easy for me to answer for you.

How can corporates attract and retain the new generation of talent, meaning the millennials and GenZs, given today’s focus on purpose and the global competition for skilled employees?  

I think that companies are going have to care more for their employees. There’s a very specific reason that I think, [his new book] Twelve and a Half is going to resonate well.

Much of the unique success I’ve had is predicated on retention. I have had people around me for a long period of time, which means we trust each other. It also means we go fast; business is a competitive sport and the ability to be fast matters.

I think I think the gig is up for businesses to look at people as disposable or interchangeable, which excites me. I feel a huge sense of responsibility, as a popular business voice, to start being more aggressive about what’s worked for me and that is being a good person to my employees to the best of my ability, which is why I also took on the vulnerable accountability of calling my book Twelve and a Half.

Twelve and a Half, Businesses

When I look back at my 25 years, when I realise the only people that have worked for me that are not happy with me, are the people that I was unable to be candourous with, when I couldn’t have the strength to tell them they were not good at their jobs. That lack of candour led to resentment on both sides.

And so in a world where I’m going to take a big stand on being kind, I needed to also be transparent about my shortcoming of lack of candour. It was only when I put the word kind in front of the word candour that I was able to finally start being more candourous, and that has led to a dramatically better work environment in my companies.

You’re such a big presence on social media. How important is it for businesses to have this social presence and how can they grow it in an authentic way?

I don’t think it’s a requirement for the CEO or leader of a company to be on social but I think it’s a missed opportunity [if they are not].

To your point, the reason that so many companies content is cheesy is because it’s completely watered down corporate jargon; it’s press releases, it’s the least authentic, least actually human pieces of content. So the leaders come across as robotic and out of touch.

Gary Vee, businesses, unity, employees
Belarusian-American entrepreneur and Internet personality Gary Vaynerchuk, aka Gary Vee.

I always tell leaders that if they’re not able to be authentic and honest in their content, they’re better off not making it because they’re going to come across so awkward that they’re doing more damage by making content.

You’re one of the early embracers of NFTs so what do you say to people who believe it is just a temporary fad?

I’m empathetic. It’s a new technology. Everybody told me the internet, social media, Tiktok, YouTube etc. was a fad because it was new and most people when they see new technology, say no.

My message to the world is when you see a new technology, do the homework. Anybody who’s done significant homework on the consumer blockchain is seeing what I’m seeing, which is this is going to be a very big consumer behaviour shift.

NFT, businesses
Vee recommends that people “do their homework” on NFTs which would likely then lead them to realise that it is going to cause a big shift in consumer behaviour.

Now, I’ve also put out unlimited content that says 90 percent of NFT projects are going to go to zero. There’s an enormous amount of greed and of short term behaviour. So I believe in the macro trend, but much like Internet stock valuations in 1999, I think there’s too much short term financial behaviour that’s going to lead to a correction. But I also think that most people are misunderstanding the NFT market as just collectibles and art, when it’s so much greater than that.

Tell me more about Twelve and a Half

I think the time is here that we actually realise that the soft skills are actually the Alpha skills, that compassion, patience, kindness, self-awareness and accountability are how you build the biggest building in town. I think that we have overvalued IQ for too long in business and have compromised our values by letting the people who have a lot of IQ interact ineffectively with their EQ. And I wanted to put that on paper.

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Abdul Rawuf

Abdul Rawuf