Every other week or so, I get to have coffee with employees. “CEO Coffee” may not be a new concept but I especially enjoy them.

Those sessions take me away from my view of the business to the different perspectives of the employees. Sometimes after just a few sips, I humbly realize how contradictory my messaging can be to the overall team. Other times, I’m so ecstatic when someone shares the same passion and excitement about our overall vision.

With only a few words, I can get a gauge of what kind of working environment is being created after having been acquired a couple times in a short period of time. For a few moments, I get a glimpse of what it is like working from the ground level.

Much of the conversations are not even about work but about getting to know each other. Who are these people who signed up to join our journey to roll out smart social intelligence? That really intrigues me.

Regardless of how much benefit I may bring to them, I gain so much by leaving my office and sharing a cup of coffee (usually at Fremont Coffee), happily sitting on an old, uncomfortable wooden chair getting to know members of the team.