“My biggest advice to CEOs is to start early with the attributes of what you believe will make a successful CEO when you’re gone. Don’t be nervous about discussing that with the board. Take their feedback. It’s actually a way for you to get an appraisal of how you’re doing.”
Mastercard
–Ajay Banga
Adidas
–Herbert Hainer
“You can’t play with only 11 strikers or 11 goalkeepers. You need an excellent goalkeeper, an excellent striker, and excellent supporting players. One of the most important tasks for a CEO is to build a team around them that they can rely on, where there’s trust and synergy.”
Microsoft
–Satya Nadella
“Five years ago people were saying, ‘Oh, this will never work.’ So it’s a lonely place. You’ve got to be the one to take some risk, and that emanates from your world view. As a CEO, you have to have an absolute first-class view of where the world is going.”
Netflix
–Reed Hastings
“The board really needs to understand the business, and helping them to do so is something that a CEO should feel it’s their duty to do—board members need to know the market, the opportunity, the threats, the internal players, the external.”
General Mills
–Ken Powell
“One secret about crisis management is recognizing when you have one. They’re not always as apparent as the COVID-19 pandemic. Sometimes you really have to bang the drum because it may not be quite so apparent…Let it grab your attention, and then react early, or you won’t see the crisis coming.”
JPMorgan Chase
–Jamie Dimon
“We’re very lucky. We should all acknowledge that. Most of the almost seven billion people on this planet would gladly trade places with us. So those of us here today are very lucky—and that gives us deep responsibility and obligations.”
Lockheed Martin
–Marillyn Hewson
“For the big decisions you have to make, you’re never going to have all of the information or consensus you want. If you get hung up waiting for more data, you may lose the opportunity. You trust in your team and the experience they have, and you pull the trigger and make decisions.”
Esquel
–Marjorie Yang
“My job is to drive away fear and frustration. Fear is the worst enemy of any business. If I come into the office with a positive spirit, it uplifts everyone else. As a leader, my job is to maintain confidence in the future and radiate that confidence.”
General Motors
–Mary Barra
“In areas that are running well with great leaders who understand the vision, they’re going to get a lot of independence. In areas that we’re transforming, I’m more involved. I’m making sure the organization moves with them and works to remove roadblocks.”
