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The Moment LinkedIn CEO Jeff Weiner Vowed to Be a More Compassionate Leader

Season 7 Episode 705
Aired on 09/18/2016 | CC tv-14
As CEO of LinkedIn, the world's largest professional networking website, with 433 million registered users, Jeff Weiner believes in managing with compassion, even in difficult times. His unique leadership style has played a role in making him one of the country's highest-rated CEOs, with a 100 percent approval rating from his employees.

During his interview on Super Soul Sunday, Jeff tells Oprah about a series of events from early in his career that helped inform his management style ever since. As Jeff tells it, there was a manager who was frustrated with the performance of one of his employees, and he would make passive-aggressive jokes at the team member's expense, undermining him in front of his colleagues during meetings. Jeff felt that the manager's approach was a mistake and would hurt morale, so he decided to address the issue.

"I said, 'The next time you feel like making a joke at this person's expense or you get frustrated and let them know in front of all of us,'" Jeff says, "'you should go find a mirror and express that frustration to yourself. Because you're the reason they're in the role, and if you don't like the way they're doing their job, take the time to coach them.'"

Here, Jeff reveals how that experience made him to take a closer look at himself as a leader.

Don't miss the new episode of Super Soul Sunday on Sunday, September 18, at 11 a.m. and 7 p.m. ET/PT.