Nvidia’s Jensen Huang Prohibits One-on-One Meetings, and Airbnb’s Brian Chesky Avoids Email—Meet the CEOs with Unconventional Work-Life Rules

(SeaPRwire) –   White-collar professionals have become accustomed to the monotonous routine of office life: constantly checking emails, enduring a barrage of meetings, and battling mental exhaustion by the end of the week.

However, some chief executives are redefining corporate norms, steering billion and trillion-dollar companies according to their own principles.

Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang: no one-on-one meetings

Huang, the co-founder and CEO of the $4.8 trillion technology giant Nvidia, is streamlining his work routine by prioritizing efficiency over routine check-ins.

The executive believes that frequent meetings with his 55 direct reports are not the most effective use of his time, as a constant stream of meetings would overload his schedule and impede progress.

“I don’t do one-on-one’s with any of them,” Huang stated at the Stanford Institute for Economic Policy Research summit in 2024.

His overarching objective is to maintain transparency within one of the world’s largest corporations.

“They never hear me say something to them that is only for them to know,” the billionaire elaborated. “There’s not one piece of information that I somehow secretly tell the staff; I don’t tell the rest of the company.”

Huang still holds regular meetings with his executive team, and he will “drop everything for them” if an employee genuinely needs to connect with him, the CEO added. Nevertheless, limiting time-consuming meetings enables Huang and the company to advance more rapidly in the AI competition.

“In that way, our company was designed for agility,” Huang remarked. “For information to flow as quickly as possible. For people to be empowered by what they are able to do, not what they know.”

Airbnb CEO Brian Chesky: no emails or early-morning meetings

Chesky has asserted that no leader should apologize for their management style, and he is unreservedly adhering to his own advice.

For instance, the chief executive of the $86 billion short-term rental platform has eliminated email from his workflow, opting instead for texts and calls to accomplish his tasks.

“[Emailing] was the thing about my job that I hated the most before the pandemic,” Chesky shared with The Wall Street Journal last year.

Furthermore, Chesky has disregarded another common corporate practice: the Airbnb CEO, who is most productive late at night, also avoids scheduling meetings before 10 a.m. The prevalent “rise and grind” culture of Silicon Valley CEOs does not apply to this self-made billionaire.

“When you’re CEO,” Chesky stated, “you can decide when the first meeting of the day is.”

United Airlines CEO Scott Kirby: office power naps

Kirby revealed that an impromptu office nap is his strategy for maintaining sharpness throughout his extensive business career. He even used to sleep on the floor until United employees discovered his habit and arranged for a couch to facilitate his rest.

The executive believes that taking breaks helps him sustain the energy required to lead the $33 billion airline giant, and he has identified a leadership advantage. A “power nap” of 30 minutes or less enhances alertness and mood, improves cognitive clarity, and combats fatigue, according to a 2024 study from Harvard Medical School.

“A thing I do that people have thought is weird is that, throughout my whole career, when I’m in the office, I’ll close the door and take a 20-minute nap,” Kirby recently shared in an interview with McKinsey and Company.

“If I take a 20-minute nap, I’ve accomplished more than anything else I would have accomplished in that time,” the CEO explained. “When you’re tired, your brain is not 100%. If you’re not 100%, you shouldn’t be making decisions.”

Southwest Airlines CEO Bob Jordan: no meetings during afternoons

Jordan has implemented a new policy for 2026: his calendar will be entirely free on Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday afternoons. No meetings are permitted during these hours, as the CEO aims to create dedicated time to “think about what’s important right now,” setting aside traditional duties that can be significant time drains.

“When you first start, it’s easy to confuse busyness and going to meetings with leadership,” Jordan commented at the New York Times DealBook Summit in 2025. “…Because what we all find, I’m sure, is there’s no time to ‘work,’ and you confuse going to meetings with the work.”

Jordan acknowledged that his approach might seem “crazy” to fellow executives who frequently attend meetings. However, the leader of the airline giant reasoned that CEOs are hired for their specific expertise, which is often not best utilized during time-consuming conversations.

“It’s so that you can work on things you need to work on,” Jordan clarified. “You can think about what’s important right now. You can call people you need to talk to.”

Twilio CEO Khozema Shipchandler: exercise between capped meetings

Shipchandler is a proponent of “working smarter” and is among the many leaders who are strictly managing their calendars. Similar to others, he is selective about the meetings he attends and their duration, utilizing the spare moments for brief physical activity.

“I do not take meetings that I don’t think drive the ball forward for the company, or that don’t bring me energy,” Shipchandler stated last year.

“I typically only do 25-minute meetings in a 30-minute slot, and I only take 50-minute meetings in an hour slot,” he explained. “And in the time in between, I’ll do maybe a quick lap around the house to get the blood flowing, or get some fresh air.”