Lessons from the best CEOs?

I attended the Singapore Corporate Awards on Wednesday night.  I thought there was an interesting common thread between the three winners of the "Best CEO" award, which is awarded to companies with market capitalization <$300m, between $300m and $1b, and >$1b respectively.

All three companies - 2nd Chance Properties, Sheng Siong and DBS - are clearly very different in size, the nature of business, and corporate environment.  And I think it's safe to say that it would take equally capable, but very different skillsets to be an effective CEO and run a successful business in each of their respective fields.

But there was a common thread in the acceptance speeches.

The first acceptance speech focused on how, when that CEO was not yet a success, or during tough times when it seemed the business would not make it, his wife gave him unconditional support. But now, in better times, they enjoy the success together.  A great example of the "for richer or poorer" wedding vow.

The second acceptance speech made a deliberate point of recognizing how the extended family of brothers and in-laws worked together to make the business successful.  In a separate interview, this CEO has also previously explained that the moment he knew he would succeed is when he saw the extended family pull together during challenging times to work 12, 18-hour days together.

The third acceptance speech included a joke about a conversation between the CEO and his son, who was needling his father about his job as a CEO, and a heartfelt thank you to his wife of many years, whom he had known since he was a teenager.

So, at the point of being recognised for their corporate success, all three thanked their families much more than they thanked their colleagues!

Three things I took away from this:

a. this may be mixing up cause and effect, but maybe people with a solid family foundation have a higher chance of success!  After all, people often say "behind every successful man is a great woman" and hopefully the converse is true too!

b. after reaching the pinnacle in the workplace, these CEOs seem to recognise that the people who really matter, and whom they are proud about, are... their families.  If these people who have achieved the pinnacle of career success recognize that, then we who are striving in the workplace ought to take advantage of that wisdom and live our lives accordingly.  We don't want to reach the end of our careers and regret ignoring the people who really mattered;

c. I doubt if there will be a day that I succeed at work to the extent that I actually receive an award for it!  But I certainly don't want to wait for an award acceptance speech to say thank you to my wife and kids!  "Husbands, love your wives, even as Christ also loved the church, and gave himself for it." Eph 5:25

Now stop reading this and go call your wife/kids if you're at work, or give them a big hug if you're at home :)



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