Welcome to “Show Your Value with Lee Benson.” In this episode, Lee chats with Erik Allebest, co-founder of chess.com. Erik shares his journey from learning chess as a child to building one of the most successful online chess platforms in the world, scaling to over $100M.
What We Cover:
Culture and Retention: A positive work environment is key to retaining employees. Treat people like humans, not resources.
Empathy and Validation: Understand and acknowledge your team’s feelings and perspectives to build strong, motivated relationships.
Holistic Value Creation: Success is not just monetary. Balance material, emotional, and spiritual values for sustainable growth.
Strategic Thinking: Plan ahead and be adaptable. Think several moves in advance, just like in a game of chess.
Join us as Erik discusses the importance of mission alignment, building a community, and the challenges of remote work. Don’t miss this insightful conversation!
Guest Bio: Erik Allebest is the co-founder and CEO of Chess.com, the world’s largest online chess platform. With a background in business and a passion for chess, Erik has successfully built a community that fosters both learning and playing the game. Under his leadership, Chess.com has grown to serve millions of users worldwide, offering a robust platform for both casual players and serious competitors. Erik is dedicated to creating a positive workplace culture and has a keen interest in the intersection of technology, education, and strategic thinking.
In This Episode, You Will Learn:
How Chess.com maintains an incredibly low turnover rate through a strong company culture.
The importance of empathy and validation in leadership.
Strategies for holistic value creation in business.
How to think strategically and adaptively in business, drawing parallels from chess.
The benefits and challenges of remote work.
Erik’s personal journey with chess and how it influenced his business decisions.
Quotes from Erik
“At the end of the day, how people feel when they wake up and work with you is the biggest determination of what gets done.”
“One of the best successes I’ve had at Chess.com is our turnover rate. Almost nobody ever leaves our company, and that’s a testament to the culture we made and the positive energy we’ve created inside our organization.”
“If your company can’t survive remote work, you probably have a culture problem. If you have to babysit people for them to do their job, something’s fundamentally wrong.”
Mentioned in This Episode:
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