1: “When written in Chinese, the word ‘crisis’ is composed of two characters – one represents danger and one represents opportunity,” John F. Kennedy once said.
Yesterday, we explored how the best CEOs create a small team of senior leaders to deal directly with the crisis. This prevents the CEO from becoming all-consumed by the situation and enables the rest of the organization to continue to get work done. … continue reading
1: “It’s ten years out, and Netflix is a failed firm. Estimate the probabilities of the different causes.”
That’s the exercise Netflix CEO Reed Hastings poses to his leadership team.
“Let’s say one cause is that a plane crash takes out Netflix’s headquarters,” Carolyn Dewar, Scott Keller, and Vikram Malhotra write in their book CEO Excellence: The Six Mindsets That Distinguish the Best Leaders from the Rest.… continue reading
1: Imagine taking our seat at a classical music concert. We arrive early, and the orchestra is warming up.
“And it’s a very unpleasant noise because they’re all doing their own flourishes,” observes U.S. Bancorp CEO Richard Davis in CEO Excellence by Carolyn Dewar, Scott Keller, and Vikram Malhotra.
“Suddenly, they stop,” Richard describes. “And then out of stage right comes a human being holding nothing more … continue reading
1: The best CEOs establish a mindset for their leadership teams.
“The top team is every member’s ‘first team,'” McKinsey consultants Carolyn Dewar, Scott Keller, and Vikram Malhotra write in their book CEO Excellence: The Six Mindsets That Distinguish the Best Leaders from the Rest.
“The best CEOs are unequivocal on this issue,” Carolyn, Scott, and Vikram note. “This means that everyone is expected to put the … continue reading
1: DuPont CEO Ed Breen has been celebrated for his boldness.
Earlier this week, we looked at his aggressiveness in conquering the multi-billion dollar cable set-top market while serving as CEO of General Instruments and later in pursuing a merger with Dow Chemical, as detailed in Carolyn Dewar, Scott Keller, and Vikram Malhotra‘s powerful book CEO Excellence: The Six Mindsets That Distinguish the Best Leaders from … continue reading
