Mila on how to be an effective leader in turbulent times?

Chris Viatte, CEO of our portfolio company MILA, was interviewed by Authority Magazine’s Charlie Katz on how to be an effective leader during these uncommon times.

As part of the magazine’s series Chris shares his insight on leading a business in pandemic times and casts a very interesting light on his entrepreneurial journey at MILA, the European leader of on-demand technical support operating in five EU countries and the UK.

For Chris there is not a big difference between how he works or how he acts during good times or during turbulent times, “but you should always be prepared for turbulent times by having a plan…”

For an all-weather plan, the five most important things Chris outlines are:

1. Never forget your purpose, the “why,” the reason you started your company, what problem you wanted to solve by creating it and what impact it would have on the world. You must have a clear vision and be able to state clearly, ‘this is what we do and this is why we do it.’
2. Love what you do. This should be the main reason for everything you do even if there are no guarantees. If I wanted a guarantee I would have stayed at Swisscom but I loved Mila and know what its place is in the world, it’s the reason behind everything that I do.
3. Dream big and make it happen. To do this you have to establish your principles and know what motivates you. If you don’t have this as a guiding force you won’t be able to motivate others and you won’t be able to share your dream.
4. Learn to trust yourself and trust those who trust you. You can’t trust everyone and you can’t worry about the people who don’t believe in you. Focus on the ones who trust you and believe in you, focus on them and everything else will fall into place.
5. Keep your energy levels high. Stop drinking coffee. I had to stop drinking coffee as part of a dietary change and though I would have never believed this until I quit — without coffee I get more things done. My energy levels are more powerful without it. Try it.

Read full interview…