What It Takes To Lead a Fortune 500 Company, A Start-Up, and, Yes, Schools
Advice from leaders of successful corporations, sports teams, and school districts is like nectar for hummingbirds: sweet tasting but fleeting. A recent entry into the nectar-producing industry comes from The Corner Office where Adam Bryant interviewed more than 70 CEOs and leaders of non-profits representing “decades of collective experience … [who] learned firsthand what it takes to succeed.” For all of those boards of directors eager to choose their next CEO and school boards dithering over who the next crackerjack superintendent (Newark and Atlanta are searching) should be, here are the five qualities that Bryant distilled from his interviews:
Passionate Curiosity: [it is] “indispensable, no matter what the job is.You want somebody who is just alert and very awake and engaged with the world and wanting to know more.”
“In every business I’ve worked in, there’s been a lot of cost and value locked up in things that are deemed to be
