From 600+ conversations with the world’s leading thinkers.
If you go into a business and see an organisational handbook... you're in trouble. When people spend too much time drawing up organisational rules and charts, they're spending less time with customers. Hierarchical structures are the death of flexibility, they are the death of agility and remove the distributed leadership needed to make business work.
He approached me, asking what he should do, to which I responded, 'You're the boss. Why are you asking me?' My conviction has always been that it's crucial to operate this business as an institution; I don't have to always be glued to my chair.
The most important thing a leader has to have is an idea on where they want to go and the ability to bring people with them. Most discussion about leadership is about styles and characteristics, but the most important thing is having a clear sense — and a right sense — of where you want to go.
War teaches you that there are many different types of people, good and bad, and you have to understand that good and evil co-exist, and it's up to you to calculate your way through the world, understanding where people are rooted.
All leadership really is, is empowering people to find their purpose, because the only way people are fully engaged and productive and happy, which I think is one of the most important things people forget, is when they are working towards a higher purpose.
Unlearning silence doesn't mean speaking incessantly—the world is far too noisy for that. Instead, it means understanding the difference between choosing to be silent and having silence imposed upon you. It's recognizing whether silence is additive or oppressive, whether it's reflective and generative or merely detracting.
The key to being successful in business is trust, you have to trust the people you work with. This trust must co-exist with competence. Many people weigh trust higher than competence, however competence is absolutely key.
A great entrepreneur always acts with full intention and without limitation, always striving for the best in everything they do. From an early age I knew I had to rely on myself, look after myself, to not be afraid of anything. It gave me huge confidence and unshakable belief.
All we can control in this life is our dedication, our self-belief, our determination. I can guarantee you, I will always have that, and that's my legacy. That's what I want to leave as a gift to my kids – the message that they should never give up, never have regrets, to give everything, never back down in front of obstacles, and to always keep going, no matter what.
Speed and pace are important – the circumstances that brought people to the table can change over time, nothing is forever, nothing is static.
Success is working on things important and valuable to you with people you like and respect. Since I became financially independent, I work on things that I find interesting and where I can have impact.
Only a handful of diplomats and governments are prepared to put the global good before the national interest. Seldom is it the case for any diplomat that they put the global good high up on the agenda; in my career I've seen it very rarely. Only 30 of the 193 or so ambassadors at the UN in NY will be devoted to a multilateral context. Most are pursuing bilateral interests in a multilateral context.