 Good evening and welcome to the Center for Strategic and International Studies. I see some of our colleagues are out there getting Last-call drinks and they'll be in in a second. So welcome everybody in The book Opportunity knocking by Lorianne Laracco is something that you should all buy It is right outside here and I don't even think you should buy one I think you should buy like three, you know, even though the holidays have passed There's always a good occasion and this is a very practical book This is a book that everybody needs to read and that everybody needs to understand and hopefully we'll get To some of the understanding and some of the lessons in Lorianne's book today First if anybody's tweeting we're at CSIS and at Lorianne Laracco and at H. Andrew Schwartz So please feel free to live tweet from the event We'll have a video recording of this on-demand on our website later So if anybody wants to refer back to it and share it with their friends, please feel free But I'd like to welcome you all and I especially like to welcome my friend Lorianne Laracco who I've worked with for years This is a Fantastic book like I said and for those of you who don't know Lorianne She's known as the the producer with the trillion dollar Rolodex Not billion trillion T and that's because over the last 14 years. She's been I Would say inarguably the most important person at CNBC because she's the person who decides Who's gonna come on and who's not and Who is interesting enough to come on and who's really newsworthy and that's where I think you know a lot You know when you watch television today, you know, I was telling somebody earlier this afternoon It's really hard to watch the three major cable networks right now because one of them is covering the Malaysian plane endlessly The other two are sort of lost in a political fight most of the day between each other And so what what do you watch? Well if you really want real news go to CNBC You'll get the financial news, but you also get International news and domestic news that really matters and like I said, Lorianne is one of the real Really important people there who make Such great TV every day This book's meant to instruct the reader as how to find opportunity Regardless of the current stage of their career a concluding section in each chapter Is a page from my notebook and it lists the the case studies whether it's David Rubenstein or Alan Mulally or people like that in the book Harold Ham It gives their own personal insights as to you know the rules to live by their mantras their life lessons Lorianne then relates their message to the reader in Separate sections for business owners and managers for employees and for aspiring entrepreneurs the conclusion Chris crosses the seven layers of The opportunity pyramid which we'll get to in a second and and the business leaders themselves But the book's main purpose is to show that the successful use of opportunity Can ultimately be be applied to any person by any person at any stage of their career and any career path so with that I Lori did you want to give a few opening remarks and then I'll I'll just interview you or should we just kick it off? Right away. All right. Well the first thing I wanted to ask you is is you know One quality of your book that come that immediate that immediately jumps out to me is your immense passion for journalism You know is this book in the book? There's there's You know, was there one reason why you decide? Decided at any particular point that I have to do this book and I have to tell these stories this is a opportunity knocking is actually my third book and I wanted to write the book because when I go around the country and I speak to folks With my other books. Everybody always asks. How do people think? What do they do? What are the strategies that they employ? and It dawned on me. I was stuck in the airport in Miami It was snowing up north so I couldn't get back and I'm sitting there sitting on the floor And I'm reviewing like all these questions and it dawned on me that All the strategies no matter what industry folks are in they're identical and I said I've got to do something like this because it dawned on me that I use these strategies And I'm a journalist and I'm a mama 3 so I'm like if I use these strategies And I think I'm successful and I know like Alan Lolly of Ford and and all these other folks They use the same strategies I think people need to know and I think there's a leader in all of us And it's just a matter of us tapping into our strengths great the book is the book is about seizing opportunity One of the really original things that I find fascinating about this book is Lory Ann's created something that she calls the opportunity pyramid Annie Do you want to call up the opportunity here? Oh, it's already up. Okay good So here's the opportunity pyramid Lory Ann. Do you want to walk us through what the opportunity pyramid is? Sure I'm very visual because I'm a television producer And I think it's always easier for people to actually see something versus somebody just bloviating and you're trying to picture it in your mind Every layer of the pyramid there are seven as you can see It's a strategy now also with the pyramid. It's not That it's very linear and you're gonna be in one strategy safe for six months One for a year, etc. It is all based on your own timetable And what I found the most important thing you need to do if you wanted to find opportunity is to know yourself How can you distinguish between a good opportunity and a bad one if you don't know your strength and weaknesses? And it's very hard because you have to be very honest with yourself And that's what all these leaders that I deal with they're very honest about their abilities and what they need to work on So that's first and foremost What you need to do and within there? That's that's a really big Foundation is very large for you because that's where you develop your culture of the company that you're trying to create your mantra and Really you start thinking about your end game. You really need to know where you want to go in Order to start you can't make it up as you go along. I have never found a leader that kind of makes it up They literally have a plan so then after that you build your knowledge and that kind of stems back to the foundation where you know Your strength and weaknesses you want to build up what you you are good at and you want to work on things that you might not be So strong in and then it leads into defining your opportunity and sticking with it And again that all goes back to the very beginning where you use your knowledge and you use your definition of yourself and your strength and weaknesses and you come up with your game plan and What I have found all good leaders no matter what business climate that they're in whatever cycle we're in whatever Regulation is coming or not coming That plan is in place and they can continue working on it in any business environment Can government leaders apply this to their work as well most definitely I was actually just recently interviewed about that very topic I think Politicians can use this based on going there to the very beginning about who are they? Why were they elected to office? They're elected by their constituents They're not here for themselves They're really here for America, and I think what you're seeing is because we've got the gridlock in Washington right now People are making it part of them Like when you look at like I know dick army very well And he says one of the biggest failures of the tea party is they became what they are against They it's all about them. I mean look what happened with with senator Cruz He made it about him And I think that we have to get back to basics be a leadership And like if you're a leader in business or you're a leader in politics You have to realize why you are here Define why you here and you have to make sure that all of your actions go back to your mantra They go back to the greater good, and I think that is one of the biggest things that I think politicians can learn From this pyramid. It's interesting because as we you mentioned the polarization in Washington one of the the things that we're seeing often at CSIS is that Really the things that things when things really need to get done. They're not really done in the government They're done in the private sector. Most of the real innovation is done in the private sector And so therefore a government is starting to partner more with the private sector in our in our organization We have several business leaders on our board people like Jim McNerney of Boeing Muhtar Ken of Coca-Cola Rex Tillerson of Exxon John Hess of Hess oil John Hammergren of Macassan and so people like we Considerably learn at considerably and often as we can we learn from them and ask their advice On how to do different things in terms of national security foreign policy global challenges We're even working with Chevron on a development project right now where we're studying how development works as soft power We always sit around in these meetings with our CEO friends on our board and we're fascinated by them in your book You detail some of the really fascinating CEOs who are out there. Can you tell us about some of them and what makes them so interesting? When I came up with the pyramid, I want to I always think about who's gonna be the right person to be the example Harold Ham of Continental Resources. He is America's richest oil man, and he has a high school education he is one of 13 children parents were sharecroppers and Back in the olden days. He didn't go to school regular like September through June He worked on the farm. So he only went to school during the winter time and The kids had to work. So I wanted to pick him because he's extremely successful. He learned as He went along. He was he met by chance Somebody in the oil industry and it really left an impression on him. He was like, you know what? I want to do that Did he care that he had no money and they had a one bedroom apartment one bedroom house with 13 children? No, he didn't look at I can't it was I can So I thought he would be a wonderful example to kind of motivate people also Steve case of AOL of course Steve has reached the apex of success several times and has come also crashing down And I thought it'd be wonderful to have him in to kind of show that yes, you can learn from your mistakes And I thought that is something that everybody here in this room can relate to when it comes to Execution paying attention to those details, which is the second to the top of you know the pyramid I wanted to choose David Rubenstein of Carlisle. I've been fortunate. I've known David goodness for many many years and The way that he has created Carlisle It's amazing. He creates what's called the one Carlisle culture and it doesn't matter if you go to his office here or in Tokyo Or in London. They are identical All these leaders have these people that come in like everyone that that's their employee They all believe in the same thing. They believe in their mantra They believe in their game plan and they've all said that they have lost quote good people that are good on paper Because they didn't fit So I love how I can kind of weave in what they've learned and there are mistakes to kind of show to you that They're just like you and I you know, it doesn't matter like Warren Buffett is a regular person. He puts his pants on one leg at a time Leadership is not based on a bank account. It's based on within and it's based with qualities and That that's why I was trying to like focus on certain folks like that Well, we certainly know that David Rubinstein successful. All you have to do is go Down to anapolis Harbor and about half the people who own boats there work for David at one time or another So we know he's done pretty well, but how did a guy like Harold Ham? Who didn't have it? He wasn't educated Who came from a very humble background? How did he outsmart his competition? What was it about him that? Became the that he was able to become the richest oil man on the world He marketed himself He was a consumer He took it as if I need to buy oil What would I want a company do for me? Because remember he didn't have any money and he was very simple and it's like that aha moment He said if I could if I could offer the same service or better service at a cheaper price I'm gonna get the competition and it's not that I mean that's pretty basic knowledge, right? I mean, it's not like you're inventing then, you know this new invention It's common sense and I think sometimes The solution that you're looking for is right in front of your nose and we're always so Deep-looking and you know, you sometimes you just have to kind of wake up and see it's right there And it just shows you how basic being successful is and what he did was he would learn from everybody out on the field and He took selective college courses eventually when he could afford it to get the geology background But it's very basic. It was just kind of relating to the person that he was serving So the other side of this is is and you mentioned someone like Steve Casey's reached the pinnacle But has also come crashing down. What are some of the the things that you found that? People tend to get stalled along this and what keeps them from achieving a pinnacle I Think one of the biggest levels I think that's very hard is a combination of staying the course and the execution Because once you're really high and then when you get through the passion part When you're on the road to success it could be fairly intoxicating And a lot of people especially in today's Instantaneous environment people want it now and they don't realize that it could take time and I think sometimes When you start getting successful you get that buzz Like oh, they're up and coming. They're the new one I think people get intoxicated and they start believing in the hype and that's when arrogance can Can set in and arrogance I think is one of the biggest downfalls of any corporate leader Because they make mistakes because they believe that they can't do anything wrong So I think you know you still have to be passionate You have to recognize still everything that's going on and you have to stay that course and you have to execute Is it that their instincts somehow get blurred as they get more successful or is it something? You know you mentioned arrogance You know I tend to think that the people who are successful In this world are really trust their instincts. Is it is it become a matter of them trusting their instincts too much? No, I think your instinct for most part is always right You always go with your gut you really do If something doesn't seem right if you get in that weird vibe from somebody You normally your your gut is pretty much like your your homing device if you will I think what happens is The arrogance does cloud their judgment in terms of thinking that they're infallible interesting Well what the other side of that is what are what are all the essential traits that all successful businessmen need to? Navigate this pyramid well first and foremost. I have to be honest With themselves with the people that they hire They have to have the passion Because you have to truly believe in what you are doing and you have to surround yourself your team Doesn't matter if you're a small business owner or a big CEO You want the people around you to further believe in what you guys are doing your great or good because it's going to be tough so I think passion is important and I think just constantly learning that thirst for knowledge is Also equally important those are three big characteristics. I think that all good leaders share Tell us a little somebody who really stuck out to me was Ralph Schloss team the head of Evercore partners and one of the things he said really resonated with me It's a sports analogy a great leaders like a great point guard They try to make everyone around them a better performer you here in Washington We've just seen this because our wizards are you know coming out of the dark into the light because our point guard is Making everybody around him better. So tell me about Ralph Schloss team and and and how he came to that and and who he is and what He really jumps out of your book to me as somebody who's pretty pretty special Well, he he used to work in Washington. He used to work on Treasury back in the 70s As you said he is the head of Evercore, which is one of the largest private equity firms You know next of course Carlisle Ralph is a people person Roger Altman former Deputy Treasury Secretary who formed Carlisle is the one who hired Ralph and he really gets to know people and He truly cares about the people that work for him and he's all about like you said teamwork It's all about being on the same team being on the same page letting you work to your strengths and and you know kind of compiling and collaborating and It's funny because we you mentioned the teamwork every CEO that I talked to like in that book They all mentioned teamwork in one way or another be it Ron Krzyszczewski of steeple financial Steve Kay said that one of the biggest things one of the biggest positives That an entrepreneur needs to have in their camp if you will is it is it is team? It's not I We go together and no one goes alone So how do you know one of the things he says here is this is Ralph Schloss team There's always going to be a new normal and every business has to adapt in order to to continue to be successful So how do you do that? How do you make everybody better around you? How do you adapt and how do you lead a team and how do you? Execute really good teamwork. He seems to me the pinnacle of all that. I it's their culture It's their culture you have to be nimble You know especially after the financial crisis, it's pretty obvious you have to be nimble in order to succeed They don't believe in being in like the deer in the headlights And I think if you have a culture in place Where you have your set mantra all your decisions go back to that mantra mantra it goes back to your goal and your end game Based on those two things it enables you that no matter what what part of the cycle you're in You can achieve success because you have your roadmap if you will So that's why he's always saying that no matter what environment we're in we can still make money Sometimes we'll make more money. Sometimes we might you know because in the private equity as you know there are cycles, but if you stay to your core values and Everyone's on the same page. You'll be able to achieve what you're trying to achieve Another fascinating case study is Alan Mulally of Ford. Yes. Well, I saw on TV today That little news just a little But you know one of the things that that struck me about him is different from some of the other leaders is the talks about a compelling vision Yes by creating a compelling vision and sticking to that vision and sticking to that plan tell us about your your experience With Alan, I mean another thing he says you don't wait for an opportunity. It doesn't come to you when you're just sitting in a room You know we this is somebody who really turned around One of the most American of all American things Tell us about him Alan is just larger than life what you see on TV. He is like that in person The people that work for him I have friends that work for Ford they just worship him This positive energy he truly believes in what he is doing When he took over Ford as we all know was a mishmash of everything He was looking for inspiration and it came in the form of a 1927 ad opening the highways to all mankind It was his aha moment so much so that I loved it that I actually put it in the book because Sometimes the most simplest things are like I said are staring you right in the face and he went back to basics and Based on that one central vision that compelling vision because it really is compelling because it's so simple Every decision that he has made at Ford goes right back to that very thing opening the highways to all mankind And how do they do it be it with green vehicles? They sliced and diced all the you know the the cars that that didn't fit the Ford brand Everything goes back to that and they have weekly meetings on Thursdays. It's it really is a culture of inclusion and empowerment That's why I'm actually writing a piece about you know Kelly stepping in that I I personally believe that I think it's gonna the the culture of goodness is going to continue because Kelly was a key part with Allen and reformatting Ford and I think now that they know who they are they define themselves They have their mission statement. They have that compelling vision and the passion behind it because every Every person from the floor all the way up to the corner office. They all believe in that So I think that the success will follow So what does he mean when he says quote? You never want an improvement to pass you by because you need that improvement every month every year in order to continue on Your path to continuously improving and deliver that compelling vision you You want to be the best that you can be and you can't be stagnant It's like going back to Ralph's Austin talking about you have to be nimble you have to be able to Kind of go with the flow and if you're a leader You always want to strive you always want to be one step ahead of the competition because if you get complacent and You kind of stay the way you are you're not going to be innovating You're going to fall behind you're going to pass that baton if you will so Allen's always looking for ways be at a better engine a better design Making lighter weight vehicles as we all know that they recently put out so that's what that's a big challenge You know you've got to constantly perfect yourself Interesting so now back to Steve case so Steve case maybe One of the things that's interesting about the book too is there's cross themes that pick up on each other So one with Steve case that Steve case brings out is is you can't lead alone. You can't do it alone How does that square with the pyramid with the overarching philosophy that you're trying to get across in the book? Well, I think it really The you can't go alone and it starts with your foundation. I mean of course an idea starts with yourself You start a small business. It's it you of course But you know when they say like your friends are a reflection of yourself Well the people that you hire are a reflection of you and you can't go it alone and You know Steve case when he was at game line He left a he left a fortune 500 company to start this new venture When he got there he realized the company was going down it was going bankrupt first meeting He ever went to it so you can imagine what he's thinking as he's sitting in the board meeting going oh gosh, what did I do? But he found like-minded people and then they created AOL because they believed in that compelling vision of social media So I you know when you when you talk about Steve it goes right to the very beginning of your foundation And the same thing with building your knowledge because if we work together We're going to collaborate you're going to know my strengths and my weaknesses and I'm going to know yours And what happens is if you have that good culture you have that good teamwork. You're going to complement each other So you know that's also another way that teamwork will work as well as to find the opportunity and the passion because you're all going to rely on each other in tough times you're going to need somebody to be there to kind of Encouragement you're going to encourage each other I mean it's nothing is worse than working in a in an office space where people are Digging at each other talking behind people's back those cancers as I like to call them You want to have that really good culture that good environment where you'd be like Andrew great job today It's going to make you feel good or you know vice versa So I think even like an even going up to like the thinking ahead world domination You've got to work as a team You got to all keep your eyes open to see what the competition is doing and once that like what I would say Ten set ten sets of eyes are a lot better than just one Because a lot of times if you're so insular and you think you're the end-all be-all and you're arrogant You're going to be shutting yourself down from the people around you And I think a lot of times you need those other people to kind of bounce off ideas as well as to see That give and take where it's going to spark something you never know where it's going to lead you Well, I can tell you one thing I wouldn't be able to do anything without my staff here and I tell them that all the time And I think that goes for you know all the programming here at CSIS it takes especially in our new building where we had the scale Has changed we if we if we're not working as a team We're failing and so we think about that all the time now speaking of failure There's another side of this and David Rubenstein points it out pretty well He says if you're afraid of making a mistake and losing money, then you can't be in the deals world Absolutely true. You have to be able to take calculator risk There's a difference between carelessness and careful risk When you when you do your calculated risk That's when you go back to the foundation you go back to your points of what you want to achieve and every decision that you make Goes back to the overall Mission of what you're trying to do But in the end you have to be able to risk something Because how are you going to grow? But he's but it's very important to stress that You have to make the risk, but it's got to be that calculated risk He also talks about time as an important factor I think one of the things that we all have such a struggle with every day is Managing our time and you know, you're a mother you're you're a professional You have a husband you have a whole life going on and you work Really difficult hours at CNBC and you know as I know from my past experience TV is not the easiest thing It's not rocket science, but it's not the easiest thing to make work every day How do you factor time in in terms of success? It's extremely important Well, I live by the clock because I'm on television. So if you're not there at 750 for your hit, I'm screwed So I really care about the time I think what you need to do is like you put that pen to paper and it's about Constructing and prioritizing What you need to do the other thing with like private equity with David and one of the things he really Focused on as y'all know, he's a huge history buff And has done a lot for our nation in regards to like the rebuilding of the Washington Monument and that part and all this We're very short term now be it Twitter Facebook Google Plus He you know, he's like how many folks could actually sit down and read warm peace now Because they don't have time. You're always moving and going when it comes to investing particularly with him He's more of a like a buy-and-hold if you will I mean like the average time the average timeframe he holds a company is three or five years and In the world of hedge funds where they're you know trading stuff left and right and they're you know Blasting off the emails to try to bully their way to get whatever they want from the company It's a very different approach and even when you talk to Ralph Slashteen or be it a Ron Kraszewski It takes time to get to that goal post you have to be able to put the time in To make sure you focused on those details In order to achieve your goal So it's it's it's too firm in terms of investing and also like that knowledge and time in prioritizing A few of your passion seems to me to be a really big part of this One of my colleagues once asked David Rubenstein What do you do for fun and he looked at my colleague as if he were nuts. What do you mean what I travel 300 days a year and I? Achieve success. That's what's fun So that's his passion and that's why he's one of the reasons why he's done so well Let's talk about passion in terms of deciding what you're going to do and being really good at it I think that's something I talked to my staff about all the time It definitely um, it doesn't matter even outside of the individuals that are in this book be it Wilbur Ross Richard LeFrak, you know Wilbur's in his 80s. He still travels around the world making his deals He bought the Bank of Ireland, you know Um, he loves what he does and I think you know, we work so long in our life We we better be doing something that we like because you know, you don't want to have a job You want to have a career or you want to really love it? And and I work crazy hours and I've had the White House call my house during dinner time and the kids are like Tell obama's people to you know, hang up. We're eating dinner, you know You know, it's it's a very time-consuming, but I absolutely love what I do And I think if you love it You're going to be even good at it. So that's why I always say like the very beginning of the pyramid What are you good at because chances are if you're really good at something You're going to excel in it and you just have to figure out a way of um Where should you go like how do you use your talent speed in an organization or you create your own company? If you're a manager You're passionate about it. You want to exude that passion you want to you want to um You know make your own and you want you want to encourage your own employees to have that passion because positivity as well as negativity is infectious And I think that's one of the one of the biggest things In terms of kind of getting you through all those levels of the pyramid because you have to be happy So at the end of the day Is it all about money for these guys? Or is it about success or is it about Achievement or I don't think it's about money because if you look at A lot of them like with their mantras and their life lessons. It's all about giving back All of them have some sort of essence of giving back. God bless you um They want to get I mean yes, they're successful Yes, they have beautiful homes and paintings and things like that But all of them give back to either charity or society and they're humble They say please and thank you for instance like david rubenstein and um Their president I was talking to them once at the ron baren conference And they were talking about how they take notice if they are walked to the door or not I always do that when I have guests that come on squawk box and my guest co-hosts I walk them to the door. I walk them out of the building. I never thought twice about it But apparently that's a really big deal and a lot of businessmen do not do that They look for common courtesy. They look for manners And if you were You know a greedy Uh top one percenter that doesn't care. That's just a billionaire You wouldn't care about manners, but all of those individuals and the what and this Business leaders that I deal with all do and I think that says a lot about a person because Bottom line like I said before it doesn't matter how much money you make It depends on the value of the individual and that's what they look for as well when they're hiring people Is the value and we saw this week just in the news one billionaire american billionaire who Really seems to have no values donald sterling from the los angeles clippers I mean we saw so incredibly successful guy financially But he certainly seems to be completely bankrupt morally and socially and in his own life So how can that be that's not success no one would define that as that is not successful Like I said success is not based on a bank account when you look back at life When you're 90 years old or whatever What are you going to leave this world? What is your legacy? Are you going to be a nasty miser? or are you going to Make the world a better place based on what you have done be it at your job or at your company or even as a You know what you contribute to society as a family person That's what defines success because you have to look at yourself in the mirror every day That's true and one of the case studies that I wanted to talk about but I do want to go to your questions So think of questions. I'm going to go to you in just a minute, but the the women who started blog her Tell us about them and about their story. Oh, they have a fascinating story. I love them There are three women Lisa lisa stone a lisa camohore page and jewellery desjardins Lisa stone was a single mother She had an at the time her son was an infant and she was a cnn correspondent And she realized, you know, I've got a baby now. I can't be traveling all over the world I got to find a different job because I want to raise my kid So she um Looked at her strengths and said what am I good at? I'm a good communicator. What can I do? So she went into pr and then social media jewelry Had a safe job in publishing And you know, she had this joke, you know, if you stay long enough in publishing You're going to make it to the corner office because you know why? because longevity Because longevity wins And she was miserable She left her job three times Three different times until she had the courage to leave And then you had a lisa camohore page She worked in silicon valley during the dot-com bubble And on a friday all these people were getting pink slips And she didn't get one and she was upset She wanted to be fired She was sitting she was stealing all week and like why didn't I get a darn pink slip? And then she went into her job on monday and said can you please fire me? And they said no, we like you And she's like, but I don't want to be here anymore So then you know, then she realized I've got to become a consultant So three various three stories we can all relate to or know somebody who's gone through it And they created A company based on what they wanted as a consumer And now blog her as like it's a behemoth in social media It sure is I mean one of the things that uh, jory says is it was so powerful doing my own thing That they got to the point that the risk of not doing it outweighed the risk of doing it Exactly. I think we should all live by that. We definitely should I mean, that's that's where you know that that seems to me to be the core Of happiness in a career that you can't live without it exactly Yeah, they've been trying to get rid of me here at csis for years, but I can't live without it Let's go to some of your questions Questions at the back We have a microphone. We're gonna pass it to you My name is Nancy Berg and actually i'm a Owner with three other women of a small business and I also teach leadership at the university level So this is very interesting and I want to thank you very much. I wanted to ask you If you had had all women in the book instead of mostly men, I think you just had this one trio of women Would you have had different lessons? and If you were to do another book and if it was all women who are some of the women you would think about Oh, that's that's tough. Um, I think this is your next book You know, it's funny that you bring that up because I'm always asked that this is my third book and um, I had two women my second book which was on shipping and that I had One female in my first book Um during the financial crisis Um, when I think of individuals just so you know, I don't really think about gender I think about the qualities of the leader Because I really truly believe it doesn't matter if you're a man or a woman you can be successful Shore women, of course, we have maybe some additional challenges um In our careers with family and and and uh salary and things like that But I honestly think that the lessons learned would be identical because we're all human I really don't think it changes. I just think it's the uh, the heaviness the weight if you will of our challenges that we face, but I really think You know bottom line it's kind of a non-gender specific in terms of the lessons I urge you all to read the chapter about the women of blog her because I actually found it to be I I wasn't thinking of it in terms of gender either, but some of the ideas that they put forward are just you know Really fascinating and one of the rules to live by Lisa stone says confidence is the heartbeat of beauty the trick to get There we have to fail and change the courage to fail is irresistible to me That's an amazing statement. Most people are so afraid of failure. You don't want to go anywhere near failure When you when you interview these folks for this book Do they really live up to all these traits that they put forward? I mean I'd probably more absolutely Yeah, no, they're they're again. They're larger than life and it's intoxicating To be around them because they're so passionate about what they do. They're constantly on the road When I interviewed jory, she was pregnant And she was busy going from blog her whatever year it was To the next event go into south by southwest They're constantly on the go and they are always pushing themselves because they have to evolve Especially in social media. I mean goodness. I mean look over the last course with the last two years things have just exploded So I think the the whole thing of being relevant as they talk about and as ala malale talked about It's it's extremely important To them. So that's why they have to have the courage to fail and how do they make themselves so relevant though I mean very few people get to be as relevant on the scale that they are It's because they listen to their community The community are their blogger their bloggers And it goes back to like the harrell ham thing being the consumer What do I want from myself? What do I have to provide For a blogger such as myself and the key thing too with blocker and their instantaneous success was Corporate america realized that this is like a gold mine All these mommy bloggers when it comes to their products and things like that you go to a blocker conference You name the brand they are there They are showcasing new products. They're talking to people. What works what doesn't work Because once you get down like on that level You're able to Get so much more information. It's more intelligence than being stuck in the corner office And looking at numbers and looking at numbers. I mean ala malale afford is always down on the floor He knows names. He remembers people like you will not but it'll blow your mind He'll meet you once and then he'll maybe you a year from now It's that it's that touch. You've got to have you got to be on that pulse Extraordinary questions Ray We're gonna bring a microphone apart As an aside, I try to remind my two college age children that manners are a competitive edge This day and age Several years ago. I was asked by the media about the number of women in the pentagon In senior positions, especially positions that are presidential appointments requiring senate confirmation And what has happened over the administration since 1947 So I compiled this list and yes now obama has appointed more women into what we call PAS appointments than anyone else And in my research, I began to think How why is this happening? And of course, there have been many successful women in the media for Easily 25 or 35 years barba walters to begin with But do you realize today in companies that we here at csis Do research on and research About and investigate and dissect the aerospace defense electronics industries plural Linda Hudson ceo be this is ceo's linda hudson b.a systems Meg Whitman hp Ginny ramedi ibm marielyn hueson lockheed martin bb novakovic at At general dynamics ellen lord at at text around systems And I saw what is happening So as a kind of i'll i'll lay out your next book. No The idea of being are women better at this? Or have they just come into their own? Yes, because of our mother's Work feminists work to open up more doors Or are there are there some gender differences with respect to how women approach management challenges And the teamwork issue that you speak to I think it depends on the on the female because I work with a lot of bitches To be quite honest I do I think I think that I don't know. Well, even even when I worked on wall. Well guess wall street too. So there you have it with that I think sometimes very power like Powerful women a very secure powerful woman is not going to care if there's another powerful woman But if you have an alpha dog or you have an aspiring alpha That's where the cattiness can happen That's where the backstabbing talks. So I think the leadership has to come from the top to kind of nip it Um, I think the cattiness in the workplace kind of hurts women Um So you kind of have to rise above I think that women Were much more I at least I am I look within a lot And I think we take the time sometimes to take that little breath To look within to kind of go through those steps if you will Whereas with men it might be a little bit more analytical Women are more emotional. Let's face it. Um, we're passionate And when we truly believe in something We do it That's why they always say like every behind every man is a strong woman And then you know when the guys joke. Oh, I got to go home to the ceo There's a reason for that. I mean We we do a lot. We wear many hats and we're very strong. We're able to Compartmentalize we're able to Prioritize not saying that men can't But I think that now that you're seeing more and more women because society is now open to the fact of More female CEOs that we're able to kind of flex our muscles if if you will But I think it It just depends on the leadership involved to make sure that that cattiness doesn't happen Do you know I was once laughed out of a room Because I introduced myself to a chief executive as i'm amy goldberg's husband It's great. Yeah, and the guys all standing around just broke out and I I didn't understand what was so funny My husband says that I'm lori and the rockers husband Right exactly and tell everybody who your husband is just so they know My husband is on michael wallis. He's the morning drive anchor for wcbs 880 in new york So a few people listen to him in the morning. It's just a couple. Yeah, we have a question right here The interpersonal skills. Can we use the microphone? I'm sorry. Yeah I've enjoyed your talk very much. You've talked about the uh people skills of the The folks you talked to did any of them give you any kind of hints in terms of interpersonal skills in terms of emotional intelligence In terms of reading other people. Did they give you any hints as to what they have found works particularly well for them Well, a lot of this get me to know the person truly like really listening How many people in this room have know that they have spoken with somebody and they know that the person has not heard a dawn word They've said Right They're looking around they're trying to look for the next person who they can go talk to Um, it's uh folks that can really listen ones that can connect with the person that they're talking to and um, again the the basic manners of please and thank you and even saying good bless you You know, it's very common courtesy and also the ability to read people To watch the body language and know when to Go to the next thing We have a question right here Thank you. This is a wonderful event. My name is Lauren Holt and I have my own company Holt global strategies A former diplomat and I work on trade with asia and one of the questions I have for you It's a two-sided question. The first is for people who are transitioning from government to owning their own business And any advice for that and secondarily if you know an industry Still trying to find that niche And how does one find that niche beyond asking questions listening and trying to be a problem solver? Thank you sure I think making the transition from government You know over to the private sector. I think it's pretty much just very cut and dry looking at look within What am I good at? Looking out at the outside world and seeing the voids like where can I contribute? What can I do? in order to provide a service Or become a a team player in whatever organization you have to look at the assets it all goes back Like I said, it doesn't matter if you're public or private Or if you're going to start your own business out of your home if you were a homemaker It all goes back to those strengths and looking at the voids and then in terms of Like the various niches and all that A lot of industries are constantly changing. I mean like for instance, look at microsoft I mean they're like an ancient Ancient ancient company and they realize now that they've got to get along with the times Unfortunately, they're a classic example of being too late And they've got a you know now they've got a lot of ground to work up I think you just have to constantly keep your ear down in the ground I mean the auto industry is doing great with innovation Technology cloud computing It's interesting to See all the little players that are in there be it the little gadgets and doohickeys that make it all happen I think a lot of times when you look at the next things for tomorrow It's that innovation for those little pieces that make the larger picture So I think that's what we're going to be seeing are these other players kind of Blossoming out. That's fascinating, you know and to your question There's a great thing that really resonated with me in this book and again, David Rubenstein and he says As lory quotes him great fortunes have been made and will always be made depending on what a government does If you take a look at the greatest investments ever made Many of these investments have taken advantage of either a legislative change or a regulatory change If someone can figure out what those changes will be in advance They'll probably do reasonably well if they pursue the right niches So you brought up exactly I think you and David need to get together for lunch We had a question right here. Yes We'll bring the microphone around Thank you very much very interesting presentation. My name is Ted nozaki. I'm working for part of Mitsubishi my home country, uh, japan losing working population and uh more and more women have to start to work but um Management position occupied by women is so low probably less than 10% And uh, you mentioned about passion Passion and aggressive women. There are a certain women there, but uh, including my friend Toshie Frustrated because of the japanese society organizations tend to be authoritarian and uh Toshie left Japan 15 years ago because of some frustration and she found a great job here But um, I'd like to hear from you uh, any advice to the, uh Women in japan looking for the management job, but uh They're stumbling block or just pressure because of our main society and authoritarian How can those people Life and uh get their uh dream come true I mean, it's going to take a lot of persistence because unfortunately, you know the culture over there is Is not where we have here. So the opportunity Is a lot harder to achieve But I think that if you're passionate you have a loud enough voice If you could provide solutions That will work And you can make them known to the right people That you will be heard because in the end The company is going to want to be successful And you really have to treat your own horn. I mean even here you have to treat your own horn. You're you are your best advocate And I think especially if you're in such an environment where the kind of pigeon holds you and keep you down If you can just find that one person or get that word out about what you're trying to do or to kind of show that it works I mean, maybe eventually it might work But I think it's just that persistence and just making sure that you can get out whatever your solution is or Whatever you're trying to achieve out there Especially in business if you have a solution for something or a game plan You know get it out there because if it does work, it's another notch in your belt We have time for one more Right over here, sir Michael's getting a workout today keeps going back and come Hi everyone, zaitek from the IMF and I'm fascinated with this leadership issues and especially in private equity that you mentioned One quick question is how do the people in quite private equity that you met and in other businesses as well How do they hire people? And there's a lot of research about merit versus sort of friends or affinity hiring And how do they have you have you talked to them? How they build these teams that they can rely on and actually deliver the results. Thank you Well, a lot of times like for instance with Carlisle They actually have hired some of the CEOs of companies that they have taken over Again, they're like-minded people. They believe in the same thing They're also looking for individuals that have specialties Because as you know of private equity, they'll go into a whole Variety of different companies. So they will actually target folks that have strengths in certain industries I'm trying to think like But even like Ron Barron for instance for from baron capital A lot of his fund managers have had real-world experience in the very industry that they are Investing in so I think the practicality that rolling up your sleeves the real Experience is what counts because again, you can relate to it And then you'll think like the consumer are you going to think like okay? How should we get this company to move from a to b? Well, when I was at a certain company, this is how we did it and it didn't work or vice versa So I think it's that hands-on knowledge that they're looking for The book is called Opportunity knocking lessons from business leaders. You can find it right outside And remember that when charlie rose gets you I had you first Okay Again at laurianne loraco At h. Andrew schwarz at csis on twitter and this will be The the video of this event will be up later on csis.org So please feel free to share it with your friends and again, you know, don't buy one book buy two And let's give a big round of applause to laurianne. Thank you so much