6/25/2023 0 Comments What is the meaning of ceoI’ve heard similar-sounding stories from a few CEOs about how the simple act of wandering into a retail store turns into a mental back-of-the-envelope exercise on the business’s likely revenues and costs. They approach everything with an inquiring mind-set - whether it’s making sense of shifting consumer habits or the global macroeconomic trends that are shaping their industry.Īpplied curiosity is as natural as breathing to these executives, and they couldn’t shut it off even if they wanted to. ![]() And then they start wondering how those things could be made to work better. People who have it engage in relentless questioning to understand how things work. Yes, curiosity is table stakes for anyone hoping to succeed. Some people’s curiosity leads them to excel at crossword puzzles or to be champions on Jeopardy. Applied curiosity is a more specific variety. Ultimately, I settled on a habit of mind that I call applied curiosity. Another, Carla Cooper, the former CEO of Daymon Worldwide, an advertising and marketing company based in Connecticut, played classical organ from a young age and sold the instruments as her first job out of college.Īs I interviewed more leaders, my qualitative data set became quantitative, providing a critical mass of examples to start trying to answer a simple question that kept nagging at me: What is it about all these people that explains why they were promoted to the top job over everyone else? What is the difference maker? I spoke with one CEO who started out as a schoolteacher: Abbe Raven, who led A&E Networks, a U.S. Many of the leaders hardly fit the central casting stereotype of the CEO who seemed destined for the role from a young age. In choosing the leaders I would interview, I pursued diversity in every aspect: race, gender, and nationality, as well as company size, industry, and for-profit status. I asked them about formative experiences and influences, and the key leadership lessons they had learned over the course of their lives. I wanted to understand what makes them tick as human beings, rather as business strategists. ![]() ![]() Over the last decade, I’ve conducted in-depth interviews with more than 500 CEOs. By David Reimer, Adam Bryant, and Harry Feuerstein
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