Running a large company, you will not be surprised to learn, is a richly rewarding experience. Success itself is nice, of course, but being a CEO delivers its fair share of privileges that go beyond the bottom line, from managing a skilled and ambitious staff to growing a community of satisfied and grateful customers.
But being a CEO is not without its perils. Occupying rarified spaces in corner offices of large steel-and-glass towers, it’s easy for accomplished executives to grow disconnected and aloof. Which is why I’m so fortunate to have the absolute best mentors a CEO could ask for: college students.
Our company, Scion, owns and operates apartments for students at 82 colleges and universities in 35 states, totaling nearly 95,000 students. This means I’ve had plenty of opportunities to closely observe students, their priorities, and their sensibilities. And these observations have delivered some of the best insights into running a business one could ever receive. Five in particular stand out:
1. Shut up and listen
To hear some of our pundits tell it, Generation Z is all about trends, perks, and glam, eager to deliver some Instagram-ready flash to their FOMO-addled friends and desiring of nothing more than infinity pools, fancy gyms, and other luxury perks. The truth, actually, couldn’t be more different. Decades of data suggests that, when it comes to anything from choosing a university program to selecting a place to live, young Americans are practical, responsible, and price-conscious. Companies making any decisions based on unchecked preconceived notions would likely find themselves in trouble, while those taking the time to observe what clients truly want will thrive.
2. Easy does it
Running a business is a complicated affair, with many variables to consider and challenges to meet and overcome. But college students see none of that. They see a narrow sliver of the transaction, in which they want the interaction to be as seamless and simple as possible. This is why we spent a lot of time setting up a system that lets students fill out applications quickly and effortlessly on their phones, and why every company should make sure its engagement with clients and employees offers easy ways of meeting basic needs that take the users’ sensibilities into account.
3. Keep it fast and furious
Imagine the following scenario: it’s 5 a.m., you’re back from a very early morning jog, you step into the shower, and discover that there’s no hot water. You’re jittery and unhappy, and so you reach out to your landlord. What happens next? Thankfully, very few people would expect a real, live human being to materialize immediately in the wee hours of the morning and fix the problem within minutes. But as our student residents repeatedly remind us, what they do expect is recognition, some indication that their complaint was received and will be dealt with shortly. The lesson here couldn’t be clearer: Speed is key. Your clients and your employees need to see their concerns acknowledged instantaneously, even if addressing and resolving them might take much longer.
4. Build community
It’s easy, when listening to college students talk about community, to dismiss them as wide-eyed idealists. The real world, after all, is unremitting, transactional, and uncaring about anything but bottom lines, right? Not so fast. Again and again, our college-aged clients remind us of a far more profound universal truth. Namely, it’s that if you give people a bang for their buck, they would be pleased, but if you let them feel like they’re part of something bigger, they would be elated. And here’s the good news: Building community doesn’t necessarily mean spending a fortune on activities that are tangential to your core business. It means making sure that people feel heard and respected, that their particular life circumstances are taken into consideration, that they matter as human beings and not merely as clients or employees. Address these needs, and you’ll guarantee a more profound and sustainable long-term loyalty.
5. Remain human
We live in an increasingly digitized environment, with AI rapidly rising to fill newer and bolder functions. That’s a terrific opportunity to make processes that used to take hours or days cheaper, faster, and more efficient. It’s also a reminder, however, that no business could ever truly do away with real, live human beings. Our students are happy to fill out forms and applications and interact with machines if that means getting something done seamlessly. But when they have a problem, they expect to talk to a person who is intimately familiar with their environment and their needs. As we invest in incorporating better and more groundbreaking artificial intelligence into our businesses, then, we should invest just as much, if not more, in highly trained, capable, and empathic human beings who could meet our clients’ and employees’ needs when it matters most.
Rob Bronstein is CEO of The Scion Group.