It may come as a surprise that only 44% of successful American entrepreneurs have a college degree and fully one in three of the world’s billionaires have no post high school education. When polled, these same billionaires said that hard work, persistence, credit sharing, integrity and the ability to shake off failure were pivotal in their success.
Regardless of academics, a study involving 2,000 CEOs revealed that introverts were more successful than extroverts. Also, the most successful CEOs all admitted to serious errors, with 45% saying that errors they made were so grave that they either got fired or caused material damage to the company they were running. This same study also revealed the four behaviors the most successful CEOs had. Effective executives were 12X’s more likely to be successful if they were decisive—even if it turned they were wrong and had to make a “course” correction. The highest achievers did not worry about being liked. Nor did they protect their teams from difficult decisions. Successful CEOs were also 7X’s more effective if they adapted and pivoted quickly. Finally, the research showed the most successful CEO’s treasured reliability and predictability. Almost all of the top CEOs in the study followed through consistently on their commitments.
Born exactly 100 years ago this month, Bennis was awarded both the Purple Heart and the Bronze Star for his achievements in WWII.
Perform better!
