In her upcoming book, Lean In, Sheryl Sandberg talks about the invaluable mentors who have helped her succeed — including Larry Summers, Mark Zuckerberg, and others.
We can all learn something from those around us, no matter how vastly different their worldview, if we're open to it. That's how the world's most successful people got to where they are today.
Google Chairman Eric Schmidt — who also gave Sandberg her best advice — says that you have to "find a way to say 'yes' to things. Say 'yes' to invitations to a new country, say 'yes' to meet new friends, say 'yes' to learn something new. 'Yes' is how you get your first job, and your next job, and your spouse, and even your kids."
We've compiled Schmidt's advice and more from the world's top executives.
We can all learn something from those around us, no matter how vastly different their worldview, if we're open to it. That's how the world's most successful people got to where they are today.
Google Chairman Eric Schmidt — who also gave Sandberg her best advice — says that you have to "find a way to say 'yes' to things. Say 'yes' to invitations to a new country, say 'yes' to meet new friends, say 'yes' to learn something new. 'Yes' is how you get your first job, and your next job, and your spouse, and even your kids."
We've compiled Schmidt's advice and more from the world's top executives.
Marissa Mayer, CEO, Yahoo
Jemal Countess/Getty Images
From a 2011 interview with the Social Times
Eric Schmidt, executive chairman, Google
"Find a way to say yes to things. Say yes to invitations to a new country, say yes to meet new friends, say yes to learn something new. Yes is how you get your first job, and your next job, and your spouse, and even your kids."
From Katie Couric's book "The Best Advice I Ever Got," excerpted by The Daily Beast
Shafqat Islam, CEO and co-founder, Newscred
NewsCred
"I think that's a good piece of advice for anyone building a company because you hear 'no' so many times and I think that's normal, I think that's a good thing, that means you're trying to do something that's disruptive, that's ground breaking."
From a 2012 interview with Business Insider
Jim Whitehurst, President and CEO, Red Hat
"For any business there are three levels of leadership. One is getting somebody to do what you want them to do. The second is getting people to think what you want them to think; then you don’t have to tell them what to do because they will figure it out."
"But the best is getting people to believe what you want them to believe, and if people really fundamentally believe what you want them to believe, they will walk through walls."
From a 2012 interview with The New York Times
"But the best is getting people to believe what you want them to believe, and if people really fundamentally believe what you want them to believe, they will walk through walls."
From a 2012 interview with The New York Times
Maureen Chiquet, Global CEO, Chanel
AP
Mickey Drexler, CEO of Gap at the time, told Chiquet:
“I’m going to give you some important advice. You’re a terrific merchant. But you’ve gotta learn to listen!”
From a 2008 blog post at Harvard Business ReviewJeff Weiner, CEO, LinkedIn
LinkedIn
"It wasn't until decades later that I fully appreciated the importance of those words and the impact they had on me."
From a 2012 post at LinkedIn
Ursula Burns, CEO, Xerox
AP Images
“Stuff happens to you, and then there’s stuff that you happen to.”
“Stuff that happens to you, please, let’s talk about it for five minutes, and you can cry, and let’s go through that, the healing process, but then it’s kind of done. I can’t hear about that two years from now.”
From a 2010 interview with the New York Times
Brian Chesky, CEO and co-founder, Airbnb
Owen Thomas, Business Insider
"Build something 100 people love, not something 1 million people kind of like."
From a 2013 interview with Pando Daily
Tory Burch, co-founder and creative director, Tory Burch
"When I started my company, many people said I shouldn't launch it as a retail concept because it was too big a risk.They told me to launch as a wholesaler to test the waters — because that was the traditional way.
"But Glen Senk, [then] CEO of Urban Outfitters and a mentor of mine ... told me to follow my instincts and take the risk. I wanted to create a new way of looking at retail."
From a 2009 interview with CNN Money
"But Glen Senk, [then] CEO of Urban Outfitters and a mentor of mine ... told me to follow my instincts and take the risk. I wanted to create a new way of looking at retail."
From a 2009 interview with CNN Money
Terry J. Lundgren, CEO, Macy's
AP
Gene Ross, the man who recruited Lundgren at Bullock, told him:
"You’re not going to do this forever. There’s a finite amount of time you’re going to be doing this. Do this really, really well. And if you do this really, really well, everybody will see that, and they’ll move you onto the next thing. And you do that well, and then you’ll move."
From a 2009 interview with The New York Times
Richard Branson, founder and chairman, Virgin Group
"My mother always taught me never to look back in regret but to move on to the next thing. The amount of time people waste dwelling on failures rather than putting that energy into another project, always amazes me. I have fun running ALL the Virgin businesses — so a setback is never a bad experience, just a learning curve."
From an interview with The Good Entrepreneur
From an interview with The Good Entrepreneur
Lloyd Blankfein, chairman and CEO, Goldman Sachs
Chip Somodevilla/Getty
His boss at Goldman during the 1980s told him:
"First, it's good to solicit your people's opinions before you give them yours. And second, your people will be very influenced by how you carry yourself under stress."
From a 2009 interview with CNNMoney
Sheryl Sandberg, COO, Facebook
Business Insider / Matthew Lynley
Source: All Things D
Warren Buffett, chairman and CEO, Berkshire Hathaway
Berkshire Hathaway director Thomas Murphy told him:
"Never forget Warren, you can tell a guy to go to hell tomorrow — you don't give up the right. So just keep your mouth shut today, and see if you feel the same way tomorrow."
From a 2010 interview with Yahoo!
"Never forget Warren, you can tell a guy to go to hell tomorrow — you don't give up the right. So just keep your mouth shut today, and see if you feel the same way tomorrow."
From a 2010 interview with Yahoo!
Larry Page, co-founder, Google
"In graduate school at Stanford University, I had about ten different ideas of things I wanted to do, and one of them was to look at the link structure of the web. My advisor, Terry Winograd, picked that one out and said, 'Well, that one seems like a really good idea.' So I give him credit for that."
From a 2009 interview with CNN Money
From a 2009 interview with CNN Money
Maria Bartiromo, anchor, CNBC
"So when I see someone say anything nice about me in a magazine or anywhere, I probably won't read it, because I don't want to be in a place where I start believing my own press releases."
From a 2010 interview with Business Insider
Bill Gates, chairman, Microsoft
"Warren Buffett has taught me a lot of things, but he got me thinking very early on that at some point I'd have the opportunity and responsibility to give the wealth back.
"And so, literally decades before the foundation got started I was reading about philanthropists from the past … what they'd done and how it worked."
From a 2012 interview with ABC News
Howard Schultz, CEO, Starbucks
AP
"Jim Sinegal, the founder of Costco, gave me fantastic advice because we were going down the wrong track. We brought him in to look at our plan and he said, 'You know, I don’t want to be rude but this is exactly the wrong thing to do.' This was my idea, and he was right.
"His advice was the cost of losing your core customers and trying to get them back post-recession would be much greater than trying to find new customers, so we completely shifted."
From a 2011 interview with The Entrepreneurs' OrganizationJim Rogers, chairman, Rogers Holdings and Beeland Interests
"Buy low and sell high. When I went to Wall Street. Actually all the old guys used to say 'Figure out the money and you’ll figure out what’s going on.'"
From a 2012 interview with Business Insider
Richard Parsons, former chairman, Citigroup
AP
Steve Ross, the former CEO of Time Warner, told him:
"Just remember, it's a small business and a long life. You're going to see all these people again."
From the 2008 HACR Roundtable
Jennifer Hyman, CEO and co-founder, Rent The Runway
"Just do it. There's no benefit to saying, 'I'm just doing this because it will get me to this new place,' or 'I'm just going to go into this analyst program because it will prep me for X.'
"If you're passionate about something, go for it, because people are great at what they love and when they're the happiest."
From a 2011 interview with The Huffington PostEdward Rust Jr., chairman and CEO, State Farm
"[My father] had the uncanny ability with just a couple of little phrases. One: 'You know better… don't you,' and 'you can do better… can't you.'"
From the 2008 HACR Roundtable
Joe Uva, former CEO, Univision
Uva's boss early on in his career at McCann Erickson told him:
"Always have the courage of your convictions. Always state what's on your mind. Follow your gut. And observe what other people are doing around you."
From the 2008 HACR Roundtable
Roman Stanek, CEO and founder, GoodData
"10 years ago I had a meeting with a good friend of mine, and his first question was 'What is your strategy? I was building a startup and I was looking at execution, so I told him what I was going to do, this is the model, and so on."
"He said 'No, no, no, what is your strategy? You have to understand where you're going. You have to understand your assets are and what you're leveraging. Even if you're solving problems and running around and working 80 hours a week, it's not enough. You have to have a strategy.'"
From a 2012 interview with Business Insider
"He said 'No, no, no, what is your strategy? You have to understand where you're going. You have to understand your assets are and what you're leveraging. Even if you're solving problems and running around and working 80 hours a week, it's not enough. You have to have a strategy.'"
From a 2012 interview with Business Insider
Kenneth Burdick, president and CEO, Blue Cross & Blue Shield of Minnesota
Burdick received this message from various successful people he has met:
"Surround yourself with good people. And part of that is surrounding yourself with people who think differently than you. Surrounding yourself with people who have different experiences than you. In business, it's all about the team."
From the 2008 HACR Roundtable
Steve Schwartzman, chairman and CEO, Blackstone Group
"[My high school] coach, a 50-year-old named Jack Armstrong ... would shout, 'Remember—you’ve got to make your deposits before you can make a withdrawal!' ...
"Coach Armstrong came to mind in one of my first weeks on Wall Street, 35 years ago. I’d stayed up all night building a massive spreadsheet to be ready for a morning meeting. ... The partner on the deal, however, took one look at my work, spotted a tiny error, and went ballistic.
"As I sat there while he yelled at me, I realized I was getting the MBA version of Coach Armstrong’s words. Making an effort and meeting the deadline simply weren’t enough."
From a 2008 blog post at Harvard Business Review
"Coach Armstrong came to mind in one of my first weeks on Wall Street, 35 years ago. I’d stayed up all night building a massive spreadsheet to be ready for a morning meeting. ... The partner on the deal, however, took one look at my work, spotted a tiny error, and went ballistic.
"As I sat there while he yelled at me, I realized I was getting the MBA version of Coach Armstrong’s words. Making an effort and meeting the deadline simply weren’t enough."
From a 2008 blog post at Harvard Business Review
BONUS: Ben Silbermann, co-founder, Pinterest
"Don't take too much advice. Most people who have a lot of advice to give — with a few exceptions — generalize whatever they did. ...
"Every company carves its own path, and [founders] are under pressure to make their startups look like the last successful company everyone remembers."
"Every company carves its own path, and [founders] are under pressure to make their startups look like the last successful company everyone remembers."
Read more: http://www.businessinsider.com/executives-share-the-best-advice-they-ever-received-2013-2?op=1#ixzz2KyjotbpL
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