1: When Mary Barra became CEO of General Motors in 2014, she immediately faced a crisis that would shape her leadership philosophy.
At least 124 people were dead because of a faulty ignition issue with General Motors’s cars. The company had been aware of the problem for more than a decade.
Mary responded quickly. More than 29 million cars were ultimately recalled.
There was, however, a more significant learning for … 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: It was the 1990s. DBS Group CEO Piyush Gupta was working at Citibank and was halfway through a three-year assignment within the bank.
One afternoon, he sat down with his executive coach, who asked him to identify the A, B, and C players on the team he was leading.
Piyush had some A players. But many of those on his team were B and C players.
“The coach bluntly … continue reading
“Culture is coded wisdom.”-Wangari Maathai
1: Seen the movie City Slickers?
At the heart of this classic 1990s comedy is the relationship between Mitch, a Manhattan yuppie played by Billy Crystal, and Curly, a tough, wizened cowboy played by Jack Palance.
Curly tells Mitch, “It all comes down to one thing. You focus on that, and everything else don’t mean s#&t.”
Mitch is confused. He asks Curly … continue reading
