The Wall Street Journal (WSJ) has a series of HOW I WORK video interviews (2-3min) with CEOS. Microsoft, Infor, Reddit, Anthem. Very short and snappy questions like “what is the best advice you have ever been given?” You’ll find that these 20+ CEOs answer directly, and honestly, are real people. A lot of them fly planes or wanted to be pilots. They clearly work a lot, and generally disdain long meetings. A few more, not shown below: Instagram, Slack, Whole Foods, Cadillac.
Advice for people new in their careers:
- Heinz: Work hard, dream big, don’t take short-cuts, do the right thing
- Infor: [To get into tech] Start early, start while in school, read everything you can, get an internship as soon as you can
- Yum brands: Take the jobs no one else wants to do
- Microsoft: Believe in yourself more than
- Slack: Smart, humble, hard-working, collaborative
- Adidas: Entrepreneurial spirit
Most important lesson as a CEO:
- Heinz: Surround yourself with people better than you
- Anthem: It’s not about you. Passion, presence, persistence.
- Nissan: Never get angry
What do you look for in new hires:
- Reddit: Biggest gap between skill and ego (high skill, low ego)
- SC Johnson: Shares our values: to win, and do it in a way that adds a positive contribution
- Microsoft: Clarity, energy
- Amazon: Competence
- Instagram: No drama
Best way to run a meeting:
- Anthem: Collaborative, active listening, dynamic tension
- Alphabet: Focused, on-time, short
- Danone: Short
- Youtbue: Clear agenda, quickly, get it done and move on
- Microsoft: Listen more, talk less, be decisive when the time comes
- Instagram: Not have them
- Slack: Quickly
- Carnival: Be in listening mode
Please let me know if there are other (good) ones that I missed.
Superb..Great to learn simpler and important things from big shots..
Yes, we often overcomplicate things. At least, I do.
Your post is awesome. The way you describe everything is very useful. Thanks for sharing.
Thanks for reading.
There is really a great article, which is a lot of learning. This article will step in and serve as the surrogate to provide the mentoring, pathways, and accountability to help those “in the system” to succeed.