CEOs Of The Year On Succeeding In The Top Job

The best advice I got as a new CEO was from my predecessor—many years removed—Dr. P. Roy Vagelos. Roy urged me not to allow myself to become overly enmeshed in the short-term challenges and day-to-day operations of the business at the expense of sustaining the company’s fundamental mission and purpose. He told me that while there were many important measures of success, the Merck CEO should focus primarily on the following: “How many people do you help and how much help do you provide those people?” —Ken Frazier, Merck

I came back to the office around 8 p.m. and the phone rang. Stupidly, I picked up the phone. It could have been The Wall Street Journal, but instead it was [former Xerox CEO] David Kearns. He’s screaming on the phone to me saying, “Did you read everything today?” I said, “Yep,” and he says, “Do you believe it?” I said, “No,” and he says, “Well, remember that, because you guys are going to do great. You’re going to turn the place around. And then when they write all the good stuff, don’t believe that either.” (2008 interview)
—Anne Mulcahy, Xerox

The former head of ABC Sports, Roone Arledge, had a postmortem of what went on during the weekend [where] whatever we had missed came up. At the time, I was young and low-titled and said, “It was my mistake. I missed that.” There was complete silence in the room. Everyone looked around. It was unbelievably empowering. It taught me that if you failed, you have an ability to not just accept the failure and attempt to understand it but to be accountable for it. [Owning up to failure] offers the best chance to recover from it. (2014) —Bob Iger, Walt Disney

When I was a young engineer at IBM, I once thought about the different paths my career could take—to become a vice president or an IBM fellow. A mentor gave me advice that has shaped everything I’ve done: run toward the hardest problems. That’s where you find the biggest opportunities. It’s where you stretch your abilities, where people recognize you for tackling challenges others avoid and, most importantly, where you grow into the leader you’re meant to be. 
—Dr. Lisa Su, AMD

When the pandemic hit, we didn’t know exactly what was coming, but we knew it was serious. My longtime friend and mentor Frank Blake told me, “Crisis doesn’t build character; it reveals it.” Those words stuck with me. It reminded me of the strength of our people, our values and the culture we’ve built over decades. That character carried us through the darkest days. I thought about Frank’s words every day during Covid, and they still inspire me. 
—Ed Bastian, Delta Air Lines

[GE CEO Jack] Welch always used to say, “Get rid of the bottom 10 percent.” I prefer to work on the top 10 percent. Because the people that move the company are the top 10 percent of the company. They actually move this enterprise around. The ones that you have to work on super, super hard are those people. The place where the value insertion comes from is in the top 10 percent. (2005) 
—George David, United Technologies

The best advice I ever received about leadership can be summed up in two simple words: Why not? They remind us to stay curious, challenge assumptions and never accept limits on what’s possible. The world changes because someone is willing to ask the question—and then act on it.
—Stanley Bergman, Henry Schein

Steve Jobs told me to be mindful and always project the future. Larry Ellison told me to cultivate a beginner’s mind.  Neil Young told me to nurture a heart of gold. —Marc Benioff, Salesforce

Abe Plough… was a legendary entrepreneur and manager who built Coppertone and St. Joseph aspirin. When he was in his 90s, we would have breakfast together. He’d always say, “Now, Fred, I want you to remember one thing.” He’d always say the same thing, and I’d pretend like he hadn’t said it, and he knew he was saying it for the nth time. He’d say, “You know what the secret of our being a good business is?” I’d always say, “No, tell me, Mr. Plough.” And he’d say, “Be in a good business.” (2004) —Fred Smith, FedEx