Nusrat Jahan Progga
Were you always singing “Haven’t learned a thing” by Daughtry every time you got yourself into a difficult situation, passed poor judgments or made bad decisions? Below is a collection of stories from successful CEOs, which tell you exactly why you need to learn something from complex situations.
* JAMES GREEN (CEO, MAGNETIC)
You know you have something to learn from a person who said “No” to one of the most powerful people in the world- Steve Jobs! Mr. Jobs offered James Green a position in his company that was not really the best fit for him, and as difficult as it was, Green mustered up the courage to say no. Green’s story tells us that even if you get the chance to add the tag of a big company behind your name, and no matter how good it looks on your resume, sometimes you just need to stay true to your values and decline. Additionally, when James had taken on a leadership position, he realized that, while hiring, you have to pay attention to what the prospective employee wants, and offer him a position in accordance to that. Of course, being the great man Steve was, he went on to offer James a more suitable position which helped him grow and learn many things.
* CLAIRE TELLING (JOINT CEO, NORTH AMERICA, GRACE BLUE)
Claire Telling faced a situation that we come across in many aspects of our lives. She once got sidetracked by the various star marks on a job applicant’s resume and forgot to think about if he can actually do the job or not. Then later on, when that person is a member of your team, but is not doing things right, it is easier to overlook the matter due to the close connection. However, the wrong person has the capability to bring the business down with them. So it is important that we act immediately when we notice something wrong.
* JUSTIN TOBIN (FOUNDER AND CEO, DDG)
Justin works with the bigshots like the Fortune 500 companies who are thirsty to make changes in their internal processes in order to be able to compete and keep up with brilliant start-ups. During the earlier days of Justin’s career, he forced a client to make too many changes at once. Later on, Justin learned that he has to first asses how much change the client wants and how fast the client actually wants those changes to be applied. His daily mantra is “test small, fail fast, and fail often”.