Key Takeaways Evan Spiegel is the CEO of Snap, a social media company with a most recent market value of $13 billion.
In a recent interview, Spiegel said that he views stress positively, as a “gift” and a “learning opportunity.”
Other tech leaders, like Nvidia’s Jensen Huang, experience the stress of the CEO job more negatively.
Snap CEO Evan Spiegel manages the pressure of running a $13 billion social media company by reframing the way he thinks about stress and building habits that help him cope with it.
In a recent episode of the Grit podcast, Spiegel said that he views stress positively, calling it a “gift” and a “learning opportunity.” A key part of Spiegel’s approach to stress is to act as a buffer rather than a transmitter of stress. He believes that it is his responsibility to absorb pressure for his team and family rather than unloading it on them. He doesn’t want colleagues or loved ones to feel the weight of his role.
To make that possible, Spiegel relies on practical routines, including regular exercise, sauna sessions and meditation, to manage stress privately. Those habits allow him to keep leading while maintaining emotional stability at home and at work.
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“I’ve tried to find my own ways,” he said on the podcast. “I want to absorb that stress, right? I don’t want to unload that onto people that I care about.”
Spiegel argued that what matters most is how a person frames stress in their own mind. Seeing stress as a positive growth opportunity can have a “huge impact on your ability to manage it,” he said.
Evan Spiegel. Photo by Kayla Bartkowski/Getty Images
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