Recently, the head of Take-Two participated in David Senra's podcast. Strauss Zelnick spoke about the company's rules of operation and his approach to doing business.
When asked how he deals with "unpleasant but talented geniuses," Zelnick explained that he treats everyone with respect and demands the same from others:
I love them, seriously. To be an effective leader, you have to genuinely care about other people. I genuinely care about my colleagues. Of course, I don't like all of their traits, I don't like some conversations with them. However, they don't like all of my traits either – I recently underwent a 360-degree assessment and confirmed this, although it wasn't a surprise. But we care about each other. I want the best for them and for the company. I treat everyone with respect and demand the same from others. In our company, you can't shout, you can't behave badly. If you behave inappropriately – you'll have to leave.
The idea is that Take-Two provides resources to developers and does not interfere with the creative process: "We want you to create the best video games on Earth."
Zelnick mentioned that one competitor at one point had about 500 complaints about inappropriate workplace behavior. He admitted that Take-Two "had isolated incidents," but nothing like what happened with that competitor.
The manager also noted that their company is a business; he doesn't tell employees anything about "family," as some executives do:
I've had many difficult conversations – very difficult ones. And here's what I've learned: I still take it personally, even though it's not personal. We are a business. I never say the phrase that top managers love: "We're one big family here." We are not a "family," my family is at home, and we are a company. [...] And we still treat each other with respect. And if someone behaves inappropriately and incorrectly with me, I don't consider myself so important as to forbid them from behaving that way. I don't need to constantly teach everyone something.
The Take-Two boss also recalled how he learned from his own experience that "the Delete button exists for a reason." For a while, he received "wild and unpleasant letters" from a creative employee who had already been fired:
I once told someone, like a board member: "This is very difficult, because the lack of basic norms of behavior is so off the charts that at some point he will say or do something that will force me to fire him." And then I realized: "Wait. I always have a choice." And that choice is "delete." I thought: "How can this letter affect me if I don't read it?" I just deleted it. In the end, he still left because things got really bad. But I tolerated it for a long time.
The video is available at the following link.