Leadership

Be vulnerable and know yourself better: 7 leaders on the advice they're grateful for

Microsoft Vice Chair and President Brad Smith.

'Learn to let go' ... Microsoft President Brad Smith shares his advice from a former mentor. Image: Reuters/Thibault Camus

Charlotte Edmond
Senior Writer, Forum Agenda
  • The World Economic Forum’s Meet the Leader podcast regularly asks leaders what piece of advice they are most grateful for.
  • From the importance of being vulnerable to learning to let go, seven leaders share the advice that has had the greatest impact for them.
  • Among recurring themes have been self-knowledge and particularly the importance of recognizing one's own strengths and weaknesses.

“What’s a piece of advice you’re grateful for?” is a favourite question on the World Economic Forum’s Meet the Leader podcast.

It’s a subtly different question to asking someone for their best piece of advice, because it taps into how the advice has resonated with a person, and changed the way they think or act.

Over the course of 2024, host Linda Lacina has had the opportunity to speak to leaders from all industries and walks of life, and from all over the world.

Here are some of their best responses to that question, and the impact that it has had on their professional and personal lives.

Loading...

Learn to let go

For Microsoft President Brad Smith, advice from a former mentor over 20 years ago continues to ring true. “He said to me, the hardest thing you will find in your new job is letting go of things, because so often you will feel that if you could do it yourself, you would do it better. But you have to let go.”

The trick is to make a conscious decision to step back, Smith says. “There are certain projects that are so important that you actually need to exercise real control. But most of the time you have to get more comfortable letting go, and having less control.”

Loading...

Be vulnerable

Ravi Kumar S, CEO of Cognizant, has long valued the idea that leaders need to remain vulnerable and not dwell on successes and failures.

“Sometimes you could be overwhelmed with success, which will take away the authenticity of who you are,” he says. “Sometimes you're overwhelmed with failure. And if you focus too much on the fact that you have failed, you are never going to lift yourself up and come out of it. So being vulnerable and staying hungry for the next big thing has been my strength.”

Discover

What is a Cultural Leader?

Question your assumptions

Christopher Oakes, CEO of Reefgen, shared three questions which help him take stock of the people he works with: Can I trust you? Do you care about me? Will you do the right thing?

These questions are a litmus test of his relationships and have helped guide him in his professional partnerships, as well as his private life, he says.

Meanwhile, Sander van ’t Noordende, CEO of Randstad, also cautions people to question their assumptions – particularly where emotions are concerned.

“When people are passionate, sometimes maybe even angry, that means they care. So don't take anger too personally,” he says.

Remembering this has helped him empathize and avoid internalizing people’s anger. It makes it easier to find a solution and move on rather than become stressed, Noordende says.

Know yourself better

The need to recognize your own strengths and weaknesses has been a recurring theme for many.

Fidelma Russo, Executive Vice President and General Manager of Hewlett Packard Enterprise, underlines how important it is to work to overcome your Achilles’ heel and triggers.

“Sometimes when you're having challenges and difficulties, you really have to look in the mirror and think: is it you? Is it how you react? And if so, you need to really own that yourself.”

Loading...

Daphne Koller, CEO of Insitro, continues this theme:

“Often our areas for development are our strengths taken to extremes,” she says. “Sometimes if you have something you are really good at, you end up overusing it and then it ends up being a minus.”

Koller uses the example of how she is good at coming up with ideas, but now that she is in a leadership position, those ideas can unintentionally spawn new projects and suck in resources.

Loading...

For Nigina Muntean, Chief of Innovation at the United Nations Population Fund, knowing yourself needs to be put at the very core of your career.

“I never saw my [career] growth as a vertical ladder. It's kind of like a jungle gym movement instead,” she says. “Sometimes it's lateral, sometimes it's going down in the volunteering somewhere. Sometimes it's jumping up and accepting new challenges and new opportunities.

“Throughout my professional career, I never did something just for money – I always did what I really love and am passionate about. And I think that's part of also staying true to myself and to my interests and to my beliefs.”

Listen to the full episode here.

Loading...
Have you read?
Don't miss any update on this topic

Create a free account and access your personalized content collection with our latest publications and analyses.

Sign up for free

License and Republishing

World Economic Forum articles may be republished in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International Public License, and in accordance with our Terms of Use.

The views expressed in this article are those of the author alone and not the World Economic Forum.

Stay up to date:

Values

Related topics:
LeadershipBusiness
Share:
The Big Picture
Explore and monitor how Values is affecting economies, industries and global issues
A hand holding a looking glass by a lake
Crowdsource Innovation
Get involved with our crowdsourced digital platform to deliver impact at scale
World Economic Forum logo
Global Agenda

The Agenda Weekly

A weekly update of the most important issues driving the global agenda

Subscribe today

You can unsubscribe at any time using the link in our emails. For more details, review our privacy policy.

Why businesses must take action on disability inclusion by 2025

Katy Talikowska

December 6, 2024

How city governments can foster tech-sector growth without breaking the bank

About us

Engage with us

  • Sign in
  • Partner with us
  • Become a member
  • Sign up for our press releases
  • Subscribe to our newsletters
  • Contact us

Quick links

Language editions

Privacy Policy & Terms of Service

Sitemap

© 2024 World Economic Forum