From 600+ conversations with the world’s leading thinkers.
My ultimate legacy would be to retire from Atlassian one day and see it going on to bigger and better things in twenty, fourty, or fifty years after me!
We need companies to play by a different set of accountabilities, not just those that are related to performance. It's about creating legal accountability around the creation of value for stakeholders, not just shareholders. That's what changes the conversation in the boardroom.
You need clarity of vision and purpose. You need to know the reason you're there at that surgical table with a knife in your hand. You have to be clear that you are using these sophisticated tools (tools which can cause a lot of harm) to fundamentally and primarily help that entity, that child in front of you. That mindset provides the energy and focus needed to carry out the task.
You can't be successful unless you're genuine as a human being and honest. The startups in our world that are really successful are both genuine and honest; they bring that pure level of passion to the table and they're very honest about the world around them.
Today's Coronavirus crisis is not a force-majeure, it is a biological phenomenon, the spread of which is an indictment, and commentary on the mediocrity global leadership. It should never have escaped Wuhan, and the fact it has shows a failure of leadership and now the very same people who are responsible for neglecting these issues are being invited to comment on it, and lead our way out.
To me, a great leader should be empathetic, authentic, entrepreneurial, creative, ethical and lead from the front.
If people tell me, 'you're the mean shark', I say 'no I'm not, I'm the nicest shark – I tell the truth. And if you can't get past me on shark tank, wait until you get in the real world – you'll get shredded.
I know when this is coming because people at the club stop talking about the future. That is a big sign. When I see that the Arc is on the decline I start looking for a new Club!
The reason I chose the suit, specifically the iconic Savile Row suit, as the foundation of my work is because it stands for something far beyond just clothing. It symbolises culture in its purest form.
Most people think of optimism as a celebration, but for us optimism is a courageous choice to remain grittily determined to find solutions in a timely and collaborative way. We have no choice but to address climate change, and thus we have no choice but to remain stubbornly optimistic.