From 600+ conversations with the world’s leading thinkers.
I genuinely don't care about scrutiny – it's a zero on a scale of 1 to 10 for me. If the table goes cold, I'll walk out of the casino. I'm good… I've got my nest-egg… I'm happy. I do this every day because I like it and want to accomplish my goals.
I think this is something that would have been a lot less controversial just a few decades ago, when people still remembered that, yes, the material side of war is obviously important, but it's only ever one aspect of it. And so, I'd say the big difference here is that we have to recognise that if we ignore or downplay the human side, we could lose.
What we managed to do was to bring these people together. I soon realized that human rights advocates, arms experts, and policy makers, despite their different fields, were all driven by the same curiosity and thirst for more information, each bringing their unique perspective to the table.
You move faster with replication. There was a time I could finalize an acquisition of a $3 billion company within days, from hearing about it on a Thursday to announcing it publicly on a Sunday. Such speed is a testament to the value of a replicable process.
I believe one of the most important skills you need is the ability to recognize the right people to work with. Without a team you can trust to make things happen, it's physically impossible to manage all the different aspects of your job—a leader is only the tip of the iceberg.
I recall a moment when my dad and I, lacking presents, salvaged chairs from a community dumpster, a testament to our determination to make the best of our situation without any sense of pride or entitlement. His willingness to do whatever was necessary for us taught me resilience.
My mindset changed from thinking that tomorrow I may be freed, to realising that unless I did something myself, nobody would come and rescue me.
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. Dangerous leaders can be charismatic and effective at mobilizing people, but take them down a wrong path.
Criminals are not looking for challenges, but opportunities. Every breach I've been involved with comes down to the fact that someone in the company did something they weren't supposed to or failed to do something they should have done.
If you get the culture right, most of the other stuff — including building your brand to be about the very best customer service — will happen naturally on its own. But if you don't get the culture right, then you're not going to accomplish any of the other stuff.
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. First and foremost the people in your business have to be extremely competent at what they do, and then it's up-to you as a leader to have trust in them.
Being an entrepreneur, or even running a large organization, is like being a society builder. The system is bigger than any individual. When you build a business, you're architecting and constructing something substantial.