Based on David Rubenstein's new book, How to Lead: Wisdom from the World's Greatest CEOs, Founders, and Game Changers. David Rubenstein is a Baltimore-born, Washington, D.C.-based private equity founder, billionaire, financial analyst, philanthropist, and lawyer.

1. 15 Leadership Tips From the
Greatest Leaders According to
David Rubenstein’s New Book

2. Introduction
• Based on David Rubenstein's new book, How to Lead: Wisdom from the
World's Greatest CEOs, Founders, and Game Changers
• David Rubenstein is a Baltimore-born, Washington, D.C.-based private equity
founder, billionaire, financial analyst, philanthropist, and lawyer.
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3. Jeff Bezos,
Founder of
Amazon
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● Many of the big, successful decisions
that Jeff made were based on gut
intuition rather than a strict analysis of
data
○ Yes, he still recommends that
you analyze your data whenever
you have access to it, but there
comes a point when you just
have to make decisions based on
intuition alone.
● Your job as a business leader is to
make a couple, high-quality, good
decisions every day or week

4. ● If there’s one characteristic that Phil
believes helped him successfully build
Nike, it was his eye for good talent.
The first few partnerships he made
during the start of his company were
instrumental.
● Leaders come in all shapes and sizes,
but a leader has to truly want the
vision they’ve set out to pursue.
Phil Knight,
Founder of Nike
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5. ● Indra’s mother never got the chance to
attend college and always lived
vicariously through her daughter.
● She would tell Indra and her siblings to
dream big and would have them
pretend that they were the Prime
Minister or President, asking them to
give speeches at the dinner table to
help them build their confidence.
● Then, she would critique them based
on what she thought the real Prime
Minister would or wouldn’t say.
Indra Nooyi, CEO of
Pepsi Cola
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6. Richard believes that a great leader:
● Is a great listener.
● Loves people.
● Sees the best in people.
● Surrounds him or herself with great
people.
● Learns to not do everything alone and
delegates tasks well.
Richard Branson,
Founder of Virgin
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7. ● Great leadership comes from innate
talent, honing it as a skill, or both.
● The traditional view of a great leader
being a general manager type is
wrong. Nowadays, a great leader
should be exceptionally skilled in one
area and then later branch out to be
decent in other areas.
Eric Schmidt, CEO
of Google (from
2001 to 2011)
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8. ● Everyone has the same goal, which is
to achieve the highest level of
expression of their being. That pursuit
never ends until they die.
● Oprah’s skill came not from her
interviewing abilities but her listening
abilities.
● She held a focus group after every
show, where she would chat with her
audience to learn more about them.
And she found this to be the most
enjoyable part of the show.
● At the end of the day, everyone wants
to matter.
Oprah Winfrey,
Talk Show Host
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9. ● When hiring, Ginni looks for curiosity
and the propensity to keep learning.
The world is constantly changing, and
what you know now may not be
relevant in the future.
● But even if you don’t have an innate
curiosity to continue learning new
things, you can still develop it.
Ginni Rometty,
CEO of IBM
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10. ● A great leader must get the big ideas
and strategy right.
● You have to communicate them
effectively through the breadth and
depth of your organization.
● You have to oversee their
implementation.
● Most importantly, you need a formal
process for examining how the big
ideas need to be refined, replaced, or
scrapped entirely.
General David
Petraeus, Retired
Director of the CIA
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11. ● When reflecting on the leadership
skills that got him hired at the NBA,
Adam cites:
○ his ability to work hard
○ his technical knowledge of
media, negotiation, and law.
Adam Silver, NBA
Commissioner
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12. ● Dr. Fauci is a relevant and respected
leader during the current fight against
the COVID-19 pandemic.
● Fauci says a great leader clearly
articulates his vision for his
organization.
○ He’s observed that bad leaders
fail to do this, and the
organization is left rudderless.
Dr. Anthony Fauci, Head
of the National Institute
of Allergy and Infectious
Diseases
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13. ● Jack attributes his success to:
○ believing in what he can do,
○ focusing on what he can do
rather than what others can do,
○ knowing that winning brings
more winning.
Jack Nicklaus, One of the
Greatest Golfers of All
Time
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14. ● Five-time National Champion
● It takes a team to achieve your goals—
you’re not going to get there alone.
● Learn how to listen.
● You’re going to fail along the way, but
failure is not the destination.
Mike “Coach K”
Krzyzewski, Duke
Basketball Coach
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15. ● When you have power, you never have
to explain to others that you have
power. People just know.
● As a leader, Lorne pushes people since
he has a high standard of excellence.
● A great leader should be right more
than he or she is wrong.
● When leading a creative team, Lorne
believes that you should speak less,
especially during creative discussions
since your team will already touch on
all points you want to cover.
Lorne Michaels,
Creator of Saturday
Night Live
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16. Ken Griffin, Founder of
Citadel, a Hedge Fund
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● One key to his firm’s success is his
ability to delegate and trust his people
to do the right thing.
○ An analyst who has been
studying one company for 10
years can make a better decision
about that company than he can.
● He looks for people who are
passionate about what they do
because that fuels everything.

17. Summing It Up
1. The ability to hire great talent, delegate, and trust that they will do
a great job. (Get out of their way!).
2. The ability to define a vision for your organization and clearly
communicate that goal to all members while inspiring them to
pursue it.
3. A great passion for what you do.
4. Being right more often than you are wrong with high-level
strategy.
5. Having great listening skills.
6. The ability to pivot and redefine yourself and your goals,
depending on the circumstances.

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19. Thank you