What I've realized is most leaders cannot reinvent themselves at the CEO level or at the operational level.
When I got to be a CEO, I said: 'Right. I'm now going to tackle gender inequality head-on. I'm going to make a difference and lead by example and actively put in place policies and practices to support women.'
If hearing that the CEO of Apple is gay can help someone struggling to come to terms with who he or she is, or bring comfort to anyone who feels alone, or inspire people to insist on their equality, then it's worth the trade-off with my own privacy.
The only thing worse than a coach or CEO who doesn't care about his people is one who pretends to care. People can spot a phony every time.
The inequality between CEO compensation and the compensation received by workers and stockholders has grown to such an extent that it endangers our economy and and our society.
We tend to think of the mind of an organization residing in the CEO and the organization's top managers, perhaps with the help of outside consultants that they call in. But that is not really how an organization thinks.
Board meetings should not be for the benefit of the board. They should be for the benefit of the CEO and the senior team.
You're doing a major merger, you got to hope you didn't get it wrong. That's the view of any CEO.
Having a strong sense of self is fundamental to you, no matter what you're doing. I don't care if you're a stay at home mom raising kids or if you're the CEO of a corporation. It's really important for your survival.
At the end of the day, if you're a professional athlete in track and field you are the CEO of your company.
Nothing kills a CEO's credibility faster than legal, regulatory, and/or ethical questions.
I have spent some time talking to Rex Tillerson. He's an amazing human being. He's an American success story, not just in his business life. He's a rags-to-riches success story. He stated working at 8, lived in a one-bedroom house until the time he went to college, and grew to become the CEO of one of the world's largest companies.
When I became CEO of Xerox 10 years ago, the company's situation was dire. Debt was mounting, the stock sinking and bankers were calling. People urged me to declare bankruptcy, but I felt personally responsible for tens of thousands of employees.
Silicon Valley's involvement with Washington dates from one event, which was John Scully - who was the CEO of Apple - had dinner with President Clinton and Vice President Gore in 1993. And we're all going, like, 'What's going on? Why would we have dinner with the president?'
The chief strategist of an organization has to be the leader - the CEO.
In 2000, when my partner Ben Horowitz was CEO of the first cloud computing company, Loudcloud, the cost of a customer running a basic Internet application was approximately $150,000 a month.
When I was made CEO of Reynolds the first time, someone asked me what it was like to be a female CEO. But I said, 'I don't know what its like to be a male CEO, so I can't really answer that question.'
Am I as experienced, or mature, or smart as others CEOs? No probably not, but there's something, I think, very useful about having a founder as the CEO.
I have always been very tech-focused, which you may almost say is the traditional CEO in Silicon Valley.
Fortunately, right now 'entrepreneurship' is one of the business world's biggest buzz words and so many young people in our country are looking up to this new generation of CEO's as their modern day rock stars. Whenever you have that effect, it makes the job of promoting entrepreneurship much easier.
There have been, in recent years, many Asian American pioneers in the public eye who've defied the condescendingly complimentary 'model minority' stereotype: actors like Lucy Liu, artists like Maya Lin, moguls like Zappos CEO Tony Hsieh. They are known, often admired.
There's nothing about Lynn Good at age 30 or age 35 that would have said, 'I am setting my sights on being a CEO.'
When the CEO makes a decision, people don't come back on it.
When times are good, a CEO should remain poised and composed. When times are difficult, a CEO should remain poised and composed.
There is something only a CEO uniquely can do, which is set that tone, which can then capture the soul of the collective.
Nvidia's CEO, Jen-Hsun Huang, is an engineer and a chip designer. He cofounded Nvidia and still runs it like a startup.
You need to be the CEO of your own book.
A CEO of a multinational global company can't say what to do; you've got to plant the flag.
I liked being CEO of Blockbuster, but my job is to put it on the bottom line for shareholders.
No CEO ever says, 'Damnit, we need to increase research!' I want to encourage them to do that.
No one is born a CEO, but no one tells you that.
If I was President of the United States, I'd rather be right than interesting. If I was CEO of a company, I'd rather be right than interesting. But I'm a journalist - what journalist would rather be right than interesting?
Professional societies are sooner or later fractured by the ego of their leaders. Everyone wants to be president, chairman, CEO; no one wants to be a mere follower.
The first lesson my kids got about the ocean was to respect it. You can never turn your back on the ocean when you're dealing with tides and currents - factors beyond your control. You have to be the CEO of your family on the water. CEO stands for 'constant eyes on,' and it's something I never forget.
I am who I am, and I'm focused on that, and being a great CEO of Apple.
I literally went down to my car and thought, 'Oh my God, SAP bought Concur - maybe tomorrow they'll buy Dairy Queen.' It was the best thing that happened to me on the day I was named CEO of Oracle.