Ep 53 - Best CEOs of 2024 - Career Coaching Xs and Os

Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
This is Career Coaching X's and O's, and I am
your host, Mark Anthony Peterson, the founder and thought leader
at Sierra Consulting, a small business strategy and technology consulting firm.
A small part of our practice is executive coaching. These
episodes are the summation of some of those sessions. Welcome

(00:24):
to episode fifty three. In today's episode, we're going to
give you twenty twenty four best CEOs. Before I get
into that, I want to say happy holidays to all
of you out there that have supported the podcast and
been a very supportive listener. This has been a great

(00:46):
year and looking forward to twenty twenty five. I also
want to let you know it's not too late to
get a copy of my book, Career Coaching, X's and
O's How to Master the Game of Career Development. Great
gift for a graduating college student, or a graduating high
school student, or anyone in college or a high school

(01:07):
or a young executive. I lay out a lot of
the challenges that I faced in climbing the corporate ladder,
and so let's not let them hit the same speed bumps.
Let's help them to avoid it. The ebook is incredibly
cheap and the paperback copies only nine ninety nine. Check

(01:28):
out the links and the show notes and give the
gift of knowledge to your friends', associates and relatives. Okay,
As I mentioned, this episode focuses on the top CEOs
of twenty twenty four. We want to recognize the people
that are doing great things in the top job for

(01:52):
their companies, their communities, and their employees. And this year
we have seven who've made the list. Now, there are
a lot of great companies things with a lot of
great CEOs, but we tried to narrow it down by
looking at three key areas. How did they perform as
leaders of the company, because if you don't hit your

(02:14):
north star, you could be great, but you'll soon be
without a job. How did they treat their employees? And
then finally, how did they treat the community? To me,
these are all the basic building blocks of a CEO
with character, something that people used to demand twenty thirty

(02:37):
years ago and something that we're starting to miss in
today's environment. So let's start with number seven. Shan Tanu
naharay In of Adobe comes in at number seven. Now,

(02:58):
what did Naharayan do at Adobe? We transition them from
a traditional software licensing model to a cloud based subscription
model with an Adobe Creative Cloud. And guys, for those
of you who haven't been in corporate America, making a
complete right turn with the car going as fast as

(03:21):
it can possibly go and not missing a beat. That's
very hard to do. And this strategic shift revolutionized the
company's business model and significantly increased its revenue. You've got
to give him credit for that. Now, he's also been

(03:42):
a strong advocate for diversity and inclusion with an Adobe
something that's being pushed hard against in today's environment, but
he's been a strong advocate for it. The company has
been recognized for its inclusive workplace, has consistently been named
a great place to work. And this guy has a

(04:08):
knack for making great acquisitions Omnature, which is one of
the acquisitions that he made expanded Adobe's capabilities from content creation,
which for all of you who grew up in the
eighties and nineties knew that that was adobe sweet spot,

(04:30):
to content management, measurement, and monetization. That's a great CEO.
Who comes in at number six Michael Weening at Calyx.
Underwening's leadership, Calyx transition from a hardware centric business to

(04:51):
a software, cloud and appliance company. Major pivots like that,
as I mentioned are earlier, are very hard to pull
off while also maintaining a great working environment. This strategic
shift significantly boosts calex market cap and positioned the company

(05:15):
as a leader in the broadband industry. Now, how could
he do that? Because he's forward thinking not just on
the strategic direction of the company, but also how he
manages his people. We need to implemented a remote working

(05:37):
model at Calx in two thousand and sixteen, well ahead
of COVID nineteen. This proactive decision was driven by his
desire to attract the best people. Now, I love that

(05:59):
because in my our days at working as a business
management consultant for one of the big four consulting agencies,
that was our motto. Now, our business model lent itself
to remote work, but one of the things that was
a byproduct of that is that we were able to

(06:19):
get the best people. Implementing that in a hardware centric
environment and pulling it off and getting the best people,
that tells you Winning has his pulse on the industry
and on his people. You see, Winning believes in the

(06:40):
principle that investing in other success leads to personal and
corporate success. This philosophy has nurtured a culture of collaboration, innovation,
and growth at Calyx. There's a lot to be learned
from Michael Winning, who's number five. Maria Black at ADP.

(07:08):
Employees appreciate her leadership style which emphasizes support, growth and development.
She is known for fostering a positive work environment and
ensuring that employees feel valued and heard. Now this is
going to be a common theme, valued and heard as

(07:31):
we move closer to the top of the list. I
think this is a common characteristic that more CEOs need
to embrace as opposed to trying to be the superhero
CEO in ignoring the feedback of their employees. If you

(07:52):
can remember last year when I put up the worst
CEOs of twenty twenty three, that was one of the
traits they didn't listen and so Maria at ADP has
done a great job for that and she's been recognized
for her commitment to diversity inclusion within the company. As

(08:16):
you can probably see that theme running through the top
CEOs that we selected at the Career Coaching x's and
o's is because it takes courage to continue to invest
in success when the environment is pushing back against it.
She ensures that all employees, regardless of their background, feel

(08:37):
included and have equal opportunities for growth. Who's number four
on the list Chad Richardson at pay Com. Employees at
Paycom appreciate Chad's positive and supportive environment. The company promotes
career growth, professional development, and upward mobility for those willing

(09:02):
to put the effort in. For those CEOs who are
afraid to use the term DEI, use the term I
just gave you, because that's what Chad's doing at pay Come.
That's the whole goal behind DEI projects. When they lose

(09:24):
that focus, I would fight to get rid of them.
The goal is about promoting people who want to put
the effort in and when they do, reward them regardless
of what you look like. And he's been able to
do that now under his leadership, Paycom has been recognized

(09:45):
for his outstanding company culture and compensation. The company offers
competitive benefits including affordable healthcare insurance for one K, matching,
paid family leave, and so many any other non traditional benefits.
Satia Nadal at Microsoft comes in at number three I

(10:09):
love his leadership philosophy of open communication and what it
does to build and foster trust in a transparent work environment.
A few years back, I was in the running to
buy a hotel and the philosophy that Satia uses is

(10:34):
the exact same one I use to manage the hotel.
In the negotiation process, whenever someone would complain about another employee,
I would bring both employees into my office and ask
the first person to repeat the complaint in front of

(10:57):
the person that they were complaining about. My other key
phrase was if I am doing your job, that means
I'm not doing my job. And if I'm not doing
my job, You're not gonna have a job. Transparent communications.

(11:22):
Clear communications don't mean you're best friends with the employees.
It just sets the stage for clear direction and accountability.
And Satia has done that at Microsoft. His guiding principles
are impactful and straightforward, and it has nurtured a growth

(11:48):
mindset all centered around continued learning. Why do I stress
that because on the prior CEOs at Microsoft, the attitude
is we know it all, and based on their acquisition history,

(12:09):
I think we all know they didn't know it all.
Besadiya reset that and gave the employees a startup mentality
of we're continuously learning. He regularly engages in one on
one meetings, ensuring all team members feel like they're heard

(12:34):
and aligning their values, their individual goals with the company's
strategic direction. I love all of that. When you can
help employees understand how their everyday work leads to improvement

(12:56):
in the north Star metric of the company, and you
have transparent communication that's clear and establishes accountability, the boat
will turn itself. I also love how he handles the
issue of remote work because it fits perfectly within his philosophy.

(13:22):
He says, you can continue working from home unless productivity drops,
and that is perfect. That's the lesson that we preach.
That's the message we preached again back when I was
a business management consultant. If you're an adult, you can

(13:44):
continue to work from home. If you're a child, then
we'll sit you in the office and have someone manage you.
Number two on the list Arthur Blank, owner of the
Atlanta Falcons and CEO president's CEO of the author M.

(14:05):
Blank Family Foundation. Now full disclosure. I'm a Falcons fan,
have been since I was a tiny, tiny tike three
four years old. Growing up in the Black Belt South
in Alabama, we didn't have a team until the Birmingham

(14:25):
Stallions came along, so they're still one of my favorite teams.
But the Falcons were the team that I rooted for
the hardest. And when mister Blank bought the team, he
wanted to not only build a great football franchise, but
he wanted it to have an impact on the community.

(14:48):
And boy has he done that. In twenty twenty four,
he opened a new nineteen story, two million square foot
facility in Atlanta that is dedicated to children's health. It
opened on September twenty ninth, two thousand, twenty four, and

(15:10):
it features a Level one trauma center with an emergency department,
state of the art operating room's infusion center, and an
advanced diagnostic UH equipment. The Author M. Blank Hospital is
home to many pediatric clinical specialties including cardiac cancer, blood disorders,

(15:36):
critical care, lab, transplant, and many many more. I was
in town on two eighty five, the day they moved
every patient from Eccleston's Children's Hospital over to the Author M.
Blank Hospital, and it was a work of beauty, of planning, beauty.

(16:04):
They had staged that move for over a year because
many of the things they specialize in. There were kids
who were suffering from it at the Eccleston facility, and
so they had to make sure that the hospital was ready,

(16:24):
but also the transport vehicles were equipped and ready to
move them with all the contingencies baked in. Just a
incredible effort and he deserves recognition for that. But you

(16:44):
would think that alone would put him on this list,
but he's done more. In partnership with Operation Warm, the
Atlanta Falcons and the Arthur N. Blank Family Foundation are
so applying all girl flag football athletes in Georgia and

(17:04):
Montana with sports bras for the Operation Fly Forward initiative.
The Falcons have been at the forefront of growing girls
flag football in Georgia over the past six years, beginning
with a pilot program in nineteen schools in Gwinnett County, Georgia.

(17:27):
In twenty eighteen, this far, more than seven thousand girls
will participate in girls' flag football at more than two
hundred and eighty high schools throughout Georgia. Mister Blank, who
was a co founder of Home Depot, has certainly left
a legacy and set the bar high for people who

(17:54):
are in his stratosphere. He has dedicated himself to producing
the best football team, but also making sure that those
in his community get the best. He came in at
number two. So who's the number one CEO on our

(18:18):
twenty twenty four list. I bet you won't guess it,
because I was surprised when I put this name in
at number one. Taylor Swift. No, I'm not a Swiftie,
and yes I have had to book a hotel an
hour from where I planned meetings whenever she had a

(18:42):
concert in town. But I love what she has done
all around for so many people who are involved, both
directly and indirectly with her eras concert tour. You you
didn't watch CNBC during this time period, then you missed

(19:03):
the fact that that tour had significant financial impact everywhere
there was a show. And just like air and Airbnb
that measures the Airbnb effect on small businesses from those
who choose to stay at host locations, the Taylor Swift

(19:30):
tour had effects up and down the economy in every city.
Small businesses saw record profits. Larger organizations as well, hotel chains,
independent or chain, all saw significant benefits because of the tour,

(19:53):
and she should be commended for that. It's the reason
why a lot of the cities and college town love
their sports teams. One hundred plus people go to a
University of Alabama football game and it produces a near
ten million dollar economic impact in the area. So for

(20:16):
a tour that generated a billion plus dollars in revenue,
you can imagine the economic impact in each of the
cities that she had on the tour. But that's not
just the end of it. Tayl us With after completing

(20:38):
the tour, handed out nearly two hundred million dollars in
bonuses to her tour employees. That's according to People magazine,
and according to information gathered from news reports, she has

(20:59):
donated another six point five million to charity. She's been
involved in projects like the Tap Project initiative with auctioned
off bottles of water from the homes of celebrities. That
program raised another two point five million for people around

(21:20):
the world that don't have access to clean drinking water.
Like many of the other leaders, Taylor Swift has her
hand on the pulse of the people who call themselves Swifties.
She's not just a celebrity of hype, but puts her

(21:42):
money where her mouth is back into the people who
help make her successful and back into the communities where
she takes her tours. And you got to respect that.
And so if you are looking to lead an organization,

(22:04):
big or small, take some time and look at these
seven leaders, these seven CEOs, and glean the common factors
that help them to achieve organizational growth as well as
the personal growth of the people in the communities that

(22:26):
they live and work in. And I promise you it
will make a difference in your career. Guys, Happy holidays again,
thank you for supporting this podcast. There's so many of
you around the globe that listen to this podcast, and
I am thankful for each and every one of you.

(22:47):
As we move in the twenty twenty five, we want
to continue to bring you the best thinking we possibly can.
And the only way we can do that is to
do like these seven seas. Hear from you, learn from
you about topics that are meaningful to your career. So

(23:09):
follow us on social media, follow us on all of
our different accounts. The links will be in the show notes,
and our email is also in the show notes if
you want to reach out to us directly. The links
to my two books Career Coaching X's and O's and
Guerrillapreneur are also in the show notes. You can support

(23:32):
us by buying one of those books for yourself, for
your colleagues, or for your relatives who may be in
corporate America or transitioning out of corporate America to launch
their own business. I hope you found this episode helpful.
If so, hit the subscribe and the like button. It'll

(23:54):
make my new year a little brighter. If you did, again,
follow us on Twitter, Instagram, Facebook at R Consulting, and
I know you're going to share this episode because the
best people listen to the Career Coaching X's and O's podcast.
If you need more support in your career, please find

(24:17):
us on the web at CRRO dot com, c E
y E r O dot com and let us help
you develop a plan for your career. This has been
Career Coaching X's and O's and I am your host,
Mark Anthony Peterson, Founder and thought leader at Er Consulting,

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Ep 53 - Best CEOs of 2024

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