Here’s the best career advice that 6 CEOs received and are willing to pass on

• Career advice can completely change your perspective and how you approach your job.As our working and personal lives are completely transformed by technology, work and social change, getting the right advice is more important than ever.Here, six CEOs and leaders share the best advice they’ve ever been given.

Not every piece of advice we get in life and at work is helpful, but some can completely change your perspective. This is even more important in a rapidly changing economic environment that is radically transforming our personal and professional lives, as highlighted in the World Economic Forum’s Future of Jobs Report 2023.

We’ve asked guests of the Forum’s podcast series ‘Meet The Leader’, to share the most valued advice they’ve received over the course of their careers. Here’s what they said.

1. Which half of the world do you belong to?

Leif Johansson, former non-executive chairman at AstraZeneca, recounts criticizing something his team had – in his view – done badly. His boss agreed, but also gave him the following advice:

Johansson says that this changed how he dealt with failings at work. “[It] takes me out of being too critical,” he explains. Instead of being critical of the past, this approach allows him to focus on the future.

2. Getting people on board

As President of Innovative Medicines International and Chief Commercial Officer at Novartis, Marie-France Tschudin is used to managing change and getting her team’s ‘buy in’. One of her university professors told her early on in her career:

This has shaped her throughout her professional life, Tschudin says. “When you invest the time in making sure that people are willing to come along with you, that goes a long way,” she highlights. “In times of change, the worst thing you can do is not be there.”

In life as in business, many aim for perfection. But this well-intentioned goal can quickly become a stumbling block. Sometimes less can be more, as Caroline Casey, founder of The Valuable 500, a business collective that works to end disability exclusion, learnt.

Those were the words of her business mentor, a Fortune 200 CEO, who praised her ambition and vision, but taught her to get comfortable with slightly less than perfection in order to gain momentum. “Perfection is what gets in your way. Get out of your own way,” Casey added.

4. The power of whistling

Nicola Mendelsohn is not only Head of the Global Business Group at Meta, the owner of Facebook, she also has an incurable blood cancer. One piece of advice that helped her deal with both challenges has been this:

She also points to Eleanor Roosevelt’s motto of doing things you think you cannot do as a mantra. “Because when you do those things, you know, they’re terrifying. But that’s when you learn the most. That’s when you push yourself, and then when you look back, you go, yeah, I did that, and I was proud.”

As Chief Strategy Officer for Halo Car, a company specializing in self-driving vehicle technology, Cassandra Mao also believes in getting out of her comfort zone. “I really enjoy experiences where I feel very uncomfortable, and I lean into them. I actually seek them out because I think when you’re uncomfortable, it’s often a signal that you’re doing something new – and doing something new is the first step to growing, right?”Her best advice? “Feel the fear and do it anyway.”“Fear is fine, fear is information,” Mao adds, “but it doesn’t have to be a decider of your actions.”

Discover

What do we mean by ‘competitiveness’?

What is economic competitiveness? The World Economic Forum, which has been measuring countries’ competitiveness since 1979, defines it as: “the set of institutions, policies and factors that determine the level of productivity of a country.” Other definitions exist, but all generally include the word “productivity”.

The Global Competitiveness Report is a tool to help governments, the private sector, and civil society work together to boost productivity and generate prosperity. Comparative analysis between countries allows leaders to gauge areas that need strengthening and build a coordinated response. It also helps identify best practices around the world.The Global Competitive Index forms the basis of the report. It measures performance according to 114 indicators that influence a nation’s productivity. The latest edition covered 141 economies, accounting for over 98% of the world’s GDP.Countries’ scores are based primarily on quantitative findings from internationally recognized agencies such as the International Monetary Fund and World Health Organization, with the addition of qualitative assessments from economic and social specialists and senior corporate executives.Explore the full report

6. Be passionate

As a software engineer who now heads up next-generation aircraft maker Boom Supersonic, Blake Scholl has always followed his passions. “I don’t have the resume to build supersonic airplanes,” he says. “I spent a year kind of just teaching myself the fundamentals of airplane design and airplane economics, and it turns out I can learn that.” He describes the traditional mindset of specializing in a topic and becoming an expert over time as “self-limiting”, pointing out that “capabilities are very changeable, knowledge is changeable, but passions are not”. Scholl believes: