When I speak about leadership, I am often asked who my favorite leaders are. The smart people would skirt the question, but I don’t. The reality is, I have several favorite leaders for different reasons. Currently, I’m leadership-crushing on Raj Singh, because he truly is one of the most authentic people I know. So it was no surprise that when I posed the question in a blog post–“Raj Singh! What’s your ONE Must Have?”–he quickly replied to the post (how cool was that!?). That was several years ago, and as I’ve gotten to know Raj, I am continually moved by his authenticity. I’m excited to see the impact he’ll make in his new role as CEO of Accolade.
And if you’re still wondering what the one behavior or trait Raj thinks every leader must-have in order to be great, it was authenticity. “Everything is built off of that. I think it’s the foundational element of leadership: Being comfortable enough in your own skin to be yourself — and to tell the truth.”
Late last year, Rajeev Singh announced he would join the on-demand health care concierge service company Accolade and open a headquarters office for the Philadelphia company in Seattle. If Singh’s name sounds familiar, it’s because he was a co-founder and chief operating officer at Concur. Read more about my interview with Singh on the Puget Sound Business Journal.
Watch my CEO Forum coverage on 2016 Employee Engagement Trends with advice from David Niu, CEO of TINYpulse, Henry Albrecht, CEO of Limeade and Mike Metzger, CEO of PayScale. Thank you to our sponsor, Ryan Swanson Law.