Name: Emerson Electric CEO: Young Leaders Don't Like Taking Risks
Uploaded: 2019-12-19
Duration: 3 min 50 s
Description: David Farr says student debt keeps younger business leaders from trying new, different things.

 David, most CEOs are in the top job for maybe six years. You've been running Emerson Electric for 17 years, which is so rare. What would you say is the most important thing that you've learned about being a successful leader? CEOs that stay in their job for a long time are willing to so wreak reinvent the business. And so I've done two reinvention of Emerson since I've been CEO. So I think the key thing for CEOs is you have to have the focus on the business and say, OK, what's relevant for the long term, how do you put that energy into that, and how do you drive that change? You have said that every good leader takes risks every day to succeed. So as you look back on your 36 years at Emerson, what was the biggest risk that you took, and how did it help you succeed? The biggest risk I took as a young leader inside Emerson was late 1992, Mr. Knight asked for someone to raise their hand and to run Asia-Pacific. It was clearly going to take off. I raised my hand. I said, Chuck, the next leader of Emerson has to have this experience. I'm willing to do it. I'm going to move to Asia. I moved there for 4 and 1/2 years. He brought me back. The business grew to $3-$4 billion. He brought me back. I ran on the process business, and within 2 and 1/2 years, I became the CEO of Emerson Electric. And a lot of people that didn't raise their hand didn't get that job. People are afraid to take risks. And it's easy to do the familiar and comfortable kind of thing. How do you get people to stretch themselves, take risks, and abandon the practices that made them successful in the past? I'm constantly preaching. I teach leadership with inside the company. I'm constantly preaching that you have to take that risk. You have to lean into it. If you don't lean into this and take that risk, you'll never really find your full potential, and you will never totally succeed in what you want to get done in life. One of the big issues we see in the younger generation today is they're coming out of school with more debt. That makes them risk averse. And so I'm talking to a lot of young kids coming into Emerson, both undergraduate graduate, say, OK, I know you have debt, but you still have to take the risk. But as I tell people, you're going to fail once in a while, just don't fail more than 50%. I'm looking for leaders that they're bad above 500%. So what's the most important characteristic you look for when you're hiring someone? I'm looking for people that want to make a difference. And I tell people you've got to make a difference if you really want to get ahead in this role, you have to make a difference. You have to make an impact. You have to personally drive that. Is there one question that you always ask in a job interview that helps you to spot that kind of a person, that kind of a leader? The question I asked a lot is that if I give you in your classroom today and you have to form a team, who are the five people you want in your team and why? And what's the answer that lands the job? The answer that lands the job is this they think through the dots. And they say, OK, I need this level of person. I need someone that thinks out of the box. I need somebody can analyze. I need someone that can pull charts together I need someone to get information. But I want to see them connect those dots, because that means they're thinking about how do I create an organization to be successful? As you reflect back on your life and your long career at Emerson, what's the best leadership advice that you've ever received and why did it stick with you all these years and shape you as a leader? My dad was the first one. He told me, Dave, work hard every day, have passion for what you're going to do and do a good job. The other person that gave me great advice was Mr. Knight, my predecessor, who I worked for 20 years. He said, Dave, you need to get engaged and make something happen and then you'll succeed. And I look at both of those as very, very important relative to being a successful leader. 

Emerson Electric CEO: Young Leaders Don't Like Taking Risks

Leadership

David Farr says student debt keeps younger business leaders from trying new, different things.

David. Most CEOs are in the top job for maybe six years. You've been running Emerson Electric for 17 years, which is so rare, what would you say is the most important thing that you've learned about being a successful leader? Seo's that stay in their job for a long time, are willing to Tariq reinvent the business. And so I've done to reinvention of Emerson since I've been CEO. So I think the key thing for CEOs is you have to have the focus on the business and say, OK, what's relevant with long term? How do you put that energy into that? And how do you drive that change? You have said that every good leader takes risks every day to succeed. So as you look back on your 36 years at Emerson, what was the biggest risk that you took and how did it help you? Biggest risk, like took his is a young leader inside Emerson, with night late 1992 Mr Knight asked for someone to raise her hand in to run a specific clear that can take off. I raised my hand, I said. Chuck, the next leader of Emerson has to have this experience, I'm going to do it. I'm going to moved Asia. I moved there for four and 1/2 years. He brought me back. The business grew to $2234 billion. He brought me back. I took. I ran with the process business, and within two and 1/2 years I became the CEO of Emerson Electric. And a lot of people that didn't raise her hand didn't get that job. People are afraid to take risks, and it's easy. Thio do the familiar and comfortable kind of thing. How do you get people to stretch themselves, take risks and abandon the practices that made him successful in the bath? I'm constantly preaching. I teach leadership with inside the company. I'm constantly preaching that you have to take that risk. You have to lean into it. If you don't lean into this and take that risk, you'll never really find your full potential. And you will never totally succeed in what you want to get it done in life. One of the big issues we see in the younger generation today's they're coming out of school with more debt that makes him risk averse and So I'm talking to a lot of the young kids coming into Emerson, both undergraduate graduate. Okay, I know you have debt, but you still have to take the risk. But as I tell people, you're gonna fail once. Well, just don't fail more than 50%. I'm looking for leaders that they're bad above 500%. So what's the most important characteristic you look for when you're hiring someone? I'm looking for people that want to make a deal, and I tell people You've got to make a difference. If you really want to get ahead in this world, you have to make a difference. You have to make an impact. You have to personally drive. That is there. Is there one question that you always ask in an intern job interview that helps you to spot that kind of a person, that kind of a leader? The question I asked a lot is that if I give you in your classroom today and you have to form a team, who were the five people, you want your team and why? And what's the answer that lands the job? The answer lands a job. They think through the dots. Okay. I need this level. Person. You Someone thinks out of the box. I need something can analyze. I need something that can pull charge together. I need something. Get information by I want to see them connect those dots because that means they're thinking about how do I create an organization to be successful? You reflect back on your life and your long career at Emerson. What's the best leadership advice that you ever received? And why did it stick with you all these years and shape you as a leader? My dad was the 1st 1 He told me Dave, work hard every day, have passion for what you're going to do and do a good job. The other person gave me great advice. Was Mr Knight my predecessor, who I worked for for 20 years? He said, Dave, you need to get engaged and make something happen, and then you'll succeed. And I look at both of those is very, very important relative to being a successful leader.