“An Investment That Pays Off” - Marc Benioff on Training and Meditation
The head of Salesforce, Marc Benioff, constantly keeps his finger on the pulse and is in touch even on weekends. Here are some methods entrepreneurs use to keep their productivity high.
Salesforce co-founder and CEO Marc Benioff has been ranked as the Greatest Executive by multiple publications including Harvard Business Review and Fortune. He runs a $150 billion market cap company with over 73,000 employees.
When an entrepreneur is asked what helps him cope with stress at work, he answers briefly: “Mindfulness.” “I do mindfulness practice. I sit quietly in silence and try to let go of the stress that builds up during the week while I’m doing business,” he says.
Benioff is sure that the corporate culture in the company depends on the mental well-being of its leader. “If you can’t control your emotions and don’t take care of your mental health, then it will spread throughout your organization,” he notes. To support worker peace of mind, each floor of the Salesforce office has a “mindfulness zone” where employees can put their phones aside and retreat into silence. According to the entrepreneur, this contributes to clear thinking and increased efficiency.
Meditation and more meditation
Benioff himself has been meditating for 30-60 minutes in the morning for over 25 years. He is confident that this practice helps him succeed in his career. “Meditation makes me a better leader,” says the entrepreneur. Benioff began practicing meditation at a young age while working at Oracle. According to him, having mastered this practice, he was able to “stop the inner critic.”
Meditation for the head of Salesforce is not just a way to “keep a clear head” and relieve stress. This practice helps him out if something goes wrong. “When the going gets tough—due to the death of my father, the health problems of family members, stressful moments in business, or instability in the world—I can always find refuge and strength in meditation and prayer practice. This is an investment that pays off time and time again,” he said.
Benioff says that through meditation, he learned to listen carefully to himself before making any decisions. “I try to let go and stay in the reality of the moment. That’s where I want to be. I want to be in the present, in the mind of a beginner,” he adds. Benioff explains that the mind of a beginner is the ability to look at the world with a fresh, unclouded eye and avoid distorted or homogeneous thinking, which creates blind spots and missed opportunities.
Benioff also practices yoga and introduces the team to it. “Along with meditation, I started doing yoga,” he says. “Twice a week Salesforce has yoga classes for employees.”
Technology First
The entrepreneur takes a conscious approach to caring for the body. “I took control of my diet and switched to a low-sugar diet — what The Tim Ferriss Show podcast host Tim Ferris calls the slow carb diet,” says Benioff. He adds that he tries not to eat at all one day a week and sees the positive effect of this decision. The entrepreneur says he decided not to eat one day a week when his friend, magician David Blaine, was on a 44-day fast while suspended in a clear plastic box over the River Thames.
Every morning, Benioff works out on the simulator. “I love my Peloton bike. I am glad that I have the opportunity to pedal on it for 45 minutes and communicate with people from all over the world. I try to be in the top 10% of the group when I train hard,” he says. The Peloton makes good, high-intensity interval training, he says. “I have a better understanding of how my body works, and in addition, stress levels are reduced during classes,” adds the entrepreneur.
The head of Salesforce actively uses technologies that help take care of health. He does not leave the house without a Fitbit fitness tracker and even bought a 5% stake in the company. Once Benioff did an analysis on the content of bacteria in the intestines. Then he went through about two dozen research papers and began bombarding his friend David Agus, an oncologist at the University of Southern California, with questions.
When Benioff is not exercising, he does not let go of the phone to always be in touch. The entrepreneur spends a lot of time answering e-mails: he does it in the morning, before the start of the working day. At the same time, he tries to disconnect from communication by mail in the evenings. “I try not to write after 6pm,” Benioff says. But this is more a dream than a reality, because letters from him come to colleagues at 21 o’clock and on weekends.
Sources: Forbes, CNBC, Marc Benioff social media, World Economic Forum website, Insider (formerly Business Insider), Meaning Ring.