3 Lessons from 3 CEOs

Good things come in threes, they say.  So here are three lessons from three CEOs that I chose to take away.

 

Satya Nadella, CEO, Microsoft

 

As of this writing, Microsoft’s market cap is 1.19 trillion dollars.  It is the largest company listed on the US stock market.  Its growth over the past few years is thanks in no small part to its CEO, who took the reins in 2014. 

 

Nadella trusts his people, and relies on them in their areas of expertise.  In a Fortune Magazine article profiling Nadella, he credits success to the CFO, Kathleen Hood, and their head of HR, Kathleen Hogan.  He doesn’t hog the limelight, but allows others to shine in their roles.  And that is something I strive to do within my team and across the organization.

 

David M. Solomon, CEO, Goldman Sachs

 

Goldman Sachs has had its share of controversy, especially during the Great Recession of 2009.  But David M. Solomon has been transforming Goldman Sachs even before he became CEO.

 

More importantly, David M. Solomon is a DJ, known as DJ D-SOL, who performs at clubs all over.  He is not defined by his job as a banker.  He makes time to his passion. 

 

I play the piano, maybe not at the level that people will pay to see me perform, but I enjoy playing in church.  I also love to drive, so I drive as much as I can and enjoy the journey as much as the destination.

 

John Addison, former CEO, Primerica

 

John Addison currently sits on the board of Primerica.  He started there as a business systems analyst.  I picked up John Addison’s book, “Real Leadership”, a year ago. 

 

The biggest lesson I learned is in the first chapter: Decide who you are.  In the exercise at the end of that chapter, he advises: “List the top two or three people whom you most admire, along with what it is about them specifically that you seek to emulate in your own life.”  And I think I did just that right now.