Forbes Books CEO Adam Witty On Why Leaders Should ‘Die Empty’

Adam Witty believes business leaders should write books for the right reasons. 

To simplify the publishing process for busy executives, he created a done-for-you system that soon caught Forbes’ attention. This collaboration led to the creation of Forbes Books, a platform helping leaders worldwide become authors and amplify their authority in their fields.

One author, in particular, left a lasting impact on Witty. The businessman shared that he wanted to “die empty”—to leave nothing of value unshared. “Adam, I’ve achieved everything I could have dreamed of financially,” the man told him. “Now, I look at the remainder of my life this way: if I die with all of this knowledge still inside me that could have helped somebody, shame on me.” 

For Witty, this interaction became a guiding inspiration for his work with writers. “This was a man doing this for all the right reasons,” he said.

Having helped more than 2,000 executives publish books, Witty has witnessed firsthand the humility of many powerful leaders. “I’ll hear people say, ‘I just don’t have the ego to write a book,’” Witty shared on the podcast. “That’s a very simple way of looking at it. If you truly believe that you can share what you know to help others, you owe it to yourself—and to others—to share that.”

In this episode, Witty dives into more lessons, including:

• How his competitive spirit from high school basketball shapes his leadership approach today

• The importance of learning from peers and identifying clues to their success

• Why becoming a mission-driven thought leader can create lasting impact

Above all, Witty encourages leaders to use every available platform to share their knowledge. “If you want to create impact at scale, sharing what you know through a book, podcasting, blogging or speaking is a phenomenal way to do that,” he explained. “To give everything I know that can benefit and serve others so that, when I die, I can say, ‘I’ve died empty’—that’s a pretty cool way to look at it.”