When Marc Benioff decided to quit his job at Oracle and start his own company – the now $50 billion cloud software giant Salesforce – he turned to executive coach Tony Robbins.
Robbins, who has been called “The CEO Whisperer,” has advised Fortune 500 CEOs, high-profile entrepreneurs and prominent athletes in his 38 years of coaching. He saw one quality in Benioff that he says all successful entrepreneurs possess: Drive.
“Uncovering what you’re most driven to be a part of will keep you from plateauing,” he says.
Though drive is a quality shared by both the best startup leaders and the best Fortune 500 CEOs, Robbins says there’s a difference in mindset. CEOs of Fortune 500 companies have been hired to perform; if they don’t execute their goals in a certain period of time, they’re out. Founders have the pressure of needing to constantly ask themselves how to scale, add value and innovate to stay ahead of the game, he says.
Robbins has watched CEO and founder Benioff answer these questions from the beginning of his entrepreneurial journey.
“[Benioff] said, ‘I’m going to start this company called Salesforce.com. We’re going to change the world. We’re going to do $100 million in business,’” he says. “I tease him now because this year he’ll do $8 billion on the way to $10 billion.”
To hear Robbins’ tips on how to become a truly confident leader and entrepreneur, watch the videos above.
