At my tech company, Tejora, I hosted a monthly lunch.
Anyone celebrating their work anniversary that month — whether one year or ten — was invited to join me.
Titles didn’t matter.
A junior developer, a program manager, or a CXO sat at the same table.
It wasn’t fancy. Sometimes pizza. Sometimes brown-bag style.
No slides. No speeches. No formal agenda.
This simple monthly ritual helped me stay close to the ground as we grew.
It strengthened my presence without micromanaging.
And it gave me unfiltered insight into what was really happening inside the company.
It allowed me to understand the business beyond dashboards and reports.
How I prepared for the meeting
Before each lunch, I reviewed the list with HR.
I wanted to know who they were — their history with us, their aspirations, their strengths. What they were proud of. What they were struggling with. Even what was happening in their personal lives, if it was relevant.
This preparation helped me move conversations beyond small talk.
What I Learned at the Table
I usually opened with a simple icebreaker and then gave them the floor.
They shared stories. We laughed. Someone would bring up an old mistake, and we would tease each other about it. It was informal and relaxed.
Occasionally, I would ask a question.
“What are you learning right now?“
“What was a recent win?“
“What are you seeing outside the company?“
“What tools or trends are catching your attention?“
The most interesting part?
I received an enormous amount of information — and they didn’t feel like they were “reporting” anything.
Inside those stories were signals.
Where friction existed. Which managers were strong. Which processes were slowing things down. Where morale was high, and where it wasn’t.
I could also spot leadership potential in that relaxed environment.
Who is quiet but has a mind of their own.
Who speaks with clarity.
Who takes ownership naturally.
Who sees the larger picture.
Some of our future leaders first stood out to me at those lunches.
The Question That Changed The Room
The most important tool I have used was a question:
“What do you think?”
This question is the highest form of appreciation.
When the founder genuinely wants to know what you think, the dynamic changes. People feel seen. They become part of what you are building, not just executors of tasks. It inspires ownership.
As companies grow, information travels upward through layers. By the time it reaches you, it is often filtered, softened, or summarized.
These lunches gave me direct access to reality.
Sometimes the insights were operational.
Sometimes cultural.
Sometimes deeply personal.
All of them were valuable.
A small word of caution: Listening is not the same as committing. When you give people space to speak, they may assume change will follow. Be explicit about what you are promising and what not. Clarity protects trust.
Close the Loop
Follow-through mattered.
When something changed as a result of these conversations, I would reference it, “This came up in one of our anniversary lunches.”
This reinforced the value of speaking up. It showed that their input had an impact. Over time, more people contributed with substance rather than surface commentary.
If your team is remote, I believe this ritual will matter even more.
Host a small roundtable over Zoom. Cameras on. No slides. No hierarchy in the room. Do your homework the same way. The format is different, but the goal is the same: create one protected space where hierarchy dissolves and truth travels freely.
You don’t need a degree in leadership to do this well.
You need preparation.
You need discipline.
And you need the humility to ask, “What do you think?” — and be genuinely interested in the answer.
As founders, we spend a lot of time deciding, directing, and correcting.
Make time to hang out with the people who spend hours building your dream. Give them a sense of kinship.
You may discover that the clearest strategy signals are already inside your company, waiting for an invitation to speak.
See you next Thursday,
Surabhi
PS: All the organizational benefits on one side, I must mention that I personally had great fun in these lunches. I used to look forward to them, they created so many internal jokes that we would laugh about for months.
Would you try this in your organization? Reply to this mail and tell me how you would structure it.
