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Virginia Rometty on leadership

From Former IBM CEO: 3 rules for leaders | Ginni Rometty · · Big Think

“There's a great saying; I'm gonna paraphrase it. It's actually Napoleon: It says, 'The role of a leader is to paint reality and then give hope. Because there's no straight road to success when things are not going well.'”

Virginia Rometty
Former Chairman, President & Chief Executive Officer, IBM
leadershipmanagementresilience

On , Virginia Rometty, Former Chairman, President & Chief Executive Officer at IBM, spoke about leadership during Former IBM CEO: 3 rules for leaders | Ginni Rometty on Big Think.

Former IBM CEO: 3 rules for leaders | Ginni Rometty
Watch on YouTube at 4:21
Former IBM CEO: 3 rules for leaders | Ginni Rometty
Big Think
Watch on YouTube at 4:21
Former IBM CEO Ginni Rometty reveals the secret to “good power.” Join us for a live Q&A with Ginni on learning to lead ► https://bigthink.plus/3ThljNV Subscribe to Big Think on YouTube ►    / @bigthink   Up next, Up next, Don’t chase happiness. Become antifragile ►    • Don’t chase happiness. Become antifragile ...   In her book "Good Power," former IBM CEO Ginni Rometty challenges the negative connotations often associated with the concept of power. She argues that power can be a force for good, and that building belief is at the heart of good power. Building belief involves creating an environment in which people voluntarily want to do something, rather than being ordered to do so out of fear. Rometty suggests that co-creating the future with others, rather than dictating it, is a key element of building belief. It is important to make the process personal by showing empathy for those involved and being authentic and honest about the challenges ahead. Rometty draws on her own experiences to illustrate these principles. For example, when IBM acquired PricewaterhouseCoopers Consulting, she acknowledged the risks involved and showed empathy for the changes employees would have to go through. Ultimately, Rometty believes that building belief and empowering others — rather than attempting to sway them with money — is key to being a successful leader. She urges leaders to focus on building their own power first and then using that power to influence and inspire others toward a common goal. Read the video transcript ► https://bigthink.com/series/the-big-t... ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------- About Ginni Rometty: Ginni Rometty was the ninth chairman, president, and CEO of IBM. Under her leadership, the 100-year-old company reinvented 50% of its portfolio, built a $25 billion hybrid cloud business, and established leadership in AI and quantum computing. Rometty also drove record results in diversity and inclusion and supported the explosive growth of an innovative high school program to prepare the workforce of the future in more than twenty-eight countries. Through her work with the Business Roundtable, Rometty helped redefine the purpose of the corporation. She has been named Fortune's #1 Most Powerful Woman three years in a row, is a member of the National Academy of Engineering, and was honored with the designation of Officier in the French Légion d'Honneur. Today Rometty serves on multiple boards and cochairs OneTen, a coalition committed to upskilling, hiring, and promoting one million Black Americans by 2030 into family-sustaining jobs and careers. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Read more of our stories on leadership: 15 leadership training topics for forward-thinking organizations ► https://bigthink.com/plus/leadership-... How to develop emotional intelligence training for leaders and managers ► https://bigthink.com/plus/emotional-i... Interpersonal skills training: 5 lessons for building people skills ► https://bigthink.com/plus/interperson... ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------- About Big Think | Smarter Faster™ ► Big Think The leading source of expert-driven, educational content. With thousands of videos, featuring experts ranging from Bill Clinton to Bill Nye, Big Think helps you get smarter, faster by exploring the big ideas and core skills that define knowledge in the 21st century. ► Big Think+ Make your business smarter, faster: https://bigthink.com/plus/?utm_source... ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Want more Big Think? ► Daily editorial features: https://bigthink.com/?utm_source=YouT... ► Get the best of Big Think right to your inbox: https://bigthink.com/subscribe/?utm_s... ► Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/BigThinkdotc... ► Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/bigthinkers... ► Twitter: https://twitter.com/bigthink/?utm_sou... ► LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/theb...
Virginia Rometty

About Virginia Rometty

Former Chairman, President & Chief Executive Officer · IBM

Ginni Rometty, former Chairman, President, and CEO of IBM, has been speaking about leadership, artificial intelligence, and workforce development. In a 2023 SXSW conversation, she discussed her book "Good Power," which outlines five principles for using power positively. She described her personal background, including her mother's return to community college after her father left the family, as shaping her belief that "no matter how bad it gets there is always a Way Forward." Rometty advocated for a "skills first" movement in hiring, stating that "half the jobs in our country are over credentialed" and that IBM had hired 100,000 people in two years under that approach. She also reiterated her view that AI should "augment Humanity" and be built with "principles of trust and transparency." Earlier in her tenure, Rometty frequently described data as "the world's new natural resource" and argued that cognitive AI would impact every decision within five years. She promoted IBM's "Watson" platform as a tool for domains like healthcare and education, emphasizing that AI systems must be transparent and trained on unbiased data to avoid perpetuating historical biases. Rometty also spoke about the importance of corporate social responsibility, citing an IBM program that grew from a single school partnership to 300 high schools and 150,000 students globally. She has called for public policies that support data movement, skills upgrading, and investment in research, and has stated that companies must balance the interests of customers, shareholders, and communities.

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