Mark Zuckerberg’s leadership is setting Meta on a path to failure, a Harvard management expert says — but it’s not a lost cause. All Zuckerberg needs to do is take a long break.
That’s the suggestion for Zuckerberg from Bill George, a senior fellow at Harvard Business School and former CEO of medical technology company Medtronic. Gjergji’s most important advice to the Meta co-founder: Take some time off work and rest your brain.
“You have to step back, take a break to ground yourself in your purpose and your values,” he tells CNBC Make It. “This can help you and the company get back on track.”
George has spent the last two decades studying leadership failures, summarizing his findings in a new book called True North: Leading Authentically in Today’s Workplace, Emerging Leader Edition. He cites Zuckerberg as just one example of a boss who has lost sight of their beliefs, values and deep purpose as a leader. Instead, Zuckerberg has become a leader who prioritizes profits, rejects advice and blames others, according to George.
George has argued that these leadership failures certainly haven’t helped Meta right the ship at a time when the company has lost more than 60% of its market value since last year. Various factors have contributed to Meta’s struggles, including increased competition from rivals like TikTok and an Apple iOS privacy update that has made it harder for Meta to target ads to its users, as well as heavy investment Zuckerberg’s take on the growing metaverse space that he admits could lose “significant” amounts of money over the next few years.
George says he still has “a lot of empathy” for Zuckerberg, admitting the “brilliant” CEO has been under a lot of pressure since he co-founded Facebook in 2004.
Zuckerberg has worked steadily to grow his company into a tech giant that now boasts a market cap of $381.86 billion, as of Thursday morning. He helped build the modern social media industry that reaches billions of people every day—and now he’s made a big bet on the metaverse in hopes that he can replicate his past success by building a new online economy.
Of course, Zuckerberg’s past success is exactly why he still has many believers, despite his recent struggles. In February, CNBC’s Jim Cramer said he has “full confidence in Mark Zuckerberg” when it comes to Meta’s bet on the metaverse.
George says Zuckerberg’s previous success likely came with its fair share of stress, which is why it’s a “good, healthy idea” for the CEO to take time off now through a sabbatical.
He recommends that Zuckerberg spend several months away from the company entirely, which means not checking email, managing team members remotely or doing any other work-related tasks. Zuckerberg should spend that time reflecting deeply on his company’s purpose and future, and what values he needs to ground himself in to improve as a leader, George adds.
Why a break might be impossible for Zuckerberg
But the likelihood that Zuckerberg will actually follow George’s advice may be unlikely. A long absence could potentially further reduce Meta’s share price in the short term: it could create uncertainty about who would run the company in his absence, and a temporary change in leadership at the company could alarm analysts and investors.
Take what happened to Jack Dorsey, the co-founder and former CEO of Twitter, after he announced plans to relocate to Africa for six months in 2019. Before his plans fell through, Dorsey faced harsh criticism from some analysts who said the move would be “reckless” because “proximity matters” to a company’s leadership.
The closest to a vacation Zuckerberg can get is paternity leave: On Wednesday, he and his wife Priscilla Chan announced they are expecting their third child. Zuckerberg took paternity leave in 2017 after his second child was born in the summer, splitting it into two one-month blocks: right after the birth and again in December.
Zuckerberg and Meta did not immediately respond to CNBC Make It’s request for comment.
Realistic or not, other experts say George’s advice is spot on. DJ DiDonna, who studies sabbaticals and is the founder of the research and advocacy non-profit The Sabbatical Project, even recommends that Zuckerberg travel somewhere away from Menlo Park in Meta, California for a vacation because the “geographic separation” can help him completely disconnect. from work. DiDonna adds that engaging in physical or creative activities during that time, whether it’s playing a sport or taking up painting, can help Zuckerberg rekindle a real sense of passion and energy that he can then apply to his leadership in Meta.
DiDonna points to his research, including interviews with dozens of people taking vacations over several years, that shows vacations are a “transformative experience” that can help with personal development. In some cases, people can discover a more authentic version of themselves and see other benefits: A renewed sense of enthusiasm for work, more confidence in their voice, and a better work-life balance.
“[Zuckerberg’s] has literally been thinking about his company since college. He probably has no idea who he is or what his personality has become after all these years,” DiDonna tells CNBC Make It. “Sabbaticals are a way for people like him to break away from their routine lives, to healed and restored himself.”
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