- As a CEO working under billionaire Warren Buffett, Brooks Running CEO Dan Sheridan admits that being a leader is 80% love and 20% frustration. Even though some days are rougher than others, he admits that the key to success is keeping a winning attitude—and it may be paying off as the billion-dollar brand has grown revenue by nearly 20% year-over-year. A focus on mindset is something other top leaders, the likes of Amazon’s Andy Jassy and Cisco’s Sarah Walker, agree is valuable.
AI may be coming for the C-suite, but Gen Z isn’t scared—they’re inspired. While some executives fret that the rise of AI could make CEOs obsolete, 38% of young workers say they’re more ready than ever to take the top job, nearly double the rate of Gen X, per McKinsey.
And while the job may come with a corner office and a cushy salary, the CEO of the shoe company Brooks Running, Dan Sheridan, has a message for aspiring Gen Z corporate leaders: the job isn’t so glamorous all the time.
“Brooks isn’t perfect—no organization is,” Sheridan told Fortune’s Leadership Next podcast last month. “We’ve got our warts and bruises and things like that…. 80% of the time I love what I’m doing.”
The CEO admits that for around 20% of the time, his job is filled with “things that drive you nuts and things you can’t solve.”
As a company owned by billionaire Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway, the pressure for Sheridan to have his company succeed is high. The pressure is on and sometimes rough days make him want to give up. However, he says the most important thing he can do as a leader is keep a cool head, reevaluate, and move on.
“I just think as leaders, you have to be optimistic. You have to have a winning attitude,” Sheridan said.
“Otherwise, no one’s going to follow you. Your customers aren’t going to follow you. Your employees aren’t going to follow you, and your owners are probably going to scratch their head and say, what’s going on here?”
The power of a positive attitude
While Sheridan reveals that striking the right balance between optimism and realism is difficult, he says it’s mission-critical for leaders.
“One of the things that I think a lot about in my role is keeping my head above the clouds to see the future—but staying grounded enough in the dirt and the mud to know what’s going on,” he added.
He’s not the first to shout out about the importance of positivity: Other business leaders say it’s the very trait that can help aspiring executives stand out from the crowd.
The head of Cisco U.K. Sarah Walker calls attitude the No. 1 green-flag trait she looks out for in hiring and promotions—far outweighing what may be on your resume.
“You cannot teach positive attitudes and engagement and energy,” she told Fortune.
Amazon CEO Andy Jassy has even admitted that “an embarrassing amount of how well you do, particularly in your twenties, has to do with attitude.”
Even Microsoft’s CEO Satya Nadella has said that he is a believer in having a mindset focused on personal growth because “if you take two people, one of them is a learn-it-all and the other one is a know-it-all, the learn-it-all will always trump the know-it-all in the long run, even if they start with less innate capability.”
Leaders who have climbed—instead of hopping—the corporate ladder
Sheridan was named CEO of Brooks in April 2024, and has since led the company to rapid growth. Its second-quarter numbers, released last week, announced a 19% year-over-year global revenue increase.
But this moment has been one that’s 27 years in the making for Sheridan; in fact, this is the only company he’s called home for his entire career, starting in 1998 when he began his journey in account sales and marketing.
Over the years, Sheridan rose in the ranks by riding the promotion train every two to three years before becoming COO in 2019—and soon after landing the top job.
But he’s not alone in his success being tied to staying grounded at one company, instead of Gen Z’s preferred method of job hopping.
The CEO at fellow running shoe company Nike, Elliot Hill, climbed up the ladder for over 30 years—from apparel sales intern to head honcho. General Motors CEO Mary Barra and Walmart CEO Doug McMillon have similar stories of working their way up from making just a few dollars an hour all the way to up to the best corner office at the same company.
