This document contains advice from various successful executives on topics related to leadership, success, and overcoming challenges. Some of the common themes in their advice include dedicating yourself to core values, associating with talented people, recognizing your gifts or passions, learning from both successes and failures, having courage and determination to pursue your goals, and staying true to who you are.

1. Take A Lesson…

2. Kenneth Chenault
CEO, American Express Co.
 Dedicate yourself to a
core set of values
 Determine what
constitutes success for
yourself and not based on
what other people think
 Associate with the best
and brightest people
 Don’t overestimate the
importance of networking“Have a strong sense of self.
Without it, you cannot lead,
you risk being consumed by all
sorts of elements that don’t
reflect what your about”

3. Kevin Clash
Principal Puppeteer, Jim Henson Company
 Recognize that you have
a gift or a passion, and
go after that, even if it
takes you in a different
direction from everybody
else
 To be successful, learn
from the positive and the
negative
 Be generous with your
skills or experiences
 Take a chance, keep
moving forward, go, go,
go “It’s not enough to have a dream or
talent. It’s working at it, and
perfecting it, that makes you a
success.”

4. Johnnie L. Cochran, Jr.
Partner, The Cochran Group Schenider, Kleinick, Weitz, Damashek
 Get in the game in order to
demonstrate what you can do
 To win, you have to be
competitive and you have to
be tough
 YOU cannot quit or stop or
back up or blink
 YOU have to move forward
 YOU have to press the limits
 YOU have to trust your gut
 YOU have to pursue the
possibility of success through
failure after failure“There are wins and losses,
you have to accept them
both”

5. Ann M. Fudge
Executive Vice President, Kraft Foods, Inc.
President, Maxwell House and Post Divisions
 Be you, not what you
think you should be to fit
into someone else’s
definition of what you
should be
 Do not define success as
monetary success or
celebrity, but rather as
full realization of life’s
potential
 Leadership Principles;
Intelligence, Credibility,
Humanity, Courage, and
Discipline
“Courage is the quiet strength
that truly separates the leaders
from the wanna-bes”

6. Sylvester Green
Executive Vice President, Chubb & Sons
 In business, you only have a
few seconds to make an
impression
 Learn how to assess the
situation and make the most of
it
 Listen, Respond, an Adapt
quickly
 Learn to live in different worlds
 Be very strategic
 It’s not enough to want
success, you have to want the
responsibility that comes with
it
 Be Yourself
“I don’t attack people, I attack
issues”

7. Elaine R. Jones
President and Director- Counsel, NAACP Legal Defense
and Educational Fund
 Do not compare yourself to
others
 Expose yourself to new things
 Don’t focus on what it takes t
get there, focus on the goal
 Stay optimistic, Work hard, Get
the resources, and Learn from
your losses
 Don’t give in to adversity and
unfairness, you won’t be able
to function
 Don’t be afraid to seek help
 Love what you do “Taking on the challenges in life
forces us to grow”

8. Tom Jones
Chairman and CEO, Global Investment Management
and Private Banking Group, Citigroup Inc.
 Be able to be your own best critic
in terms of understanding where
you’ve gotten out of balance
 Learn to work better with other
people, How to better interact
with other people, How to share
with other people
 Have a good sense of your
capacity, Be able to pace yourself,
Know how to not go so hard that
you burn yourself out
 A leader must help others be
strong, Have an instinct for crisis
 Get centered in terms of what you
stand for
“What you think is your biggest
problem can also be your biggest
blessing”

9. Spike Lee
CEO, Forty Acres and a Mule Filmworks
 Surround yourself with
people Surround yourself
with people you respect
and listen to
 Be who you are
 Stay focused on what
you’re doing and why
you’re doing it
 Be open
 Learn at ALL times
“It’s not just about quantity, it’s
about creating a body of work
that will stand the test of time”

10. George R. Lewis
President and CEO, Phillip Morris Capital Corporation
 The harder you work, the
more success
 Knowing corporate
culture, and having great
communication skills
 Being creative, Being
bold, and somewhat
political
 Learn from failure and
adversity
 Don’t give up
“Every time I would run into a wall I would
come at it again from a different angle”
George R.
Lewis

11. William M. Lewis Jr.
Managing Director, Morgan Stanley Dean Witter & Co.
 Create options; don’t limit
them
 Don’t be afraid of being wrong,
learn from your mistakes
 Bring solutions to the table
 Lead don’t follow
 Don’t be afraid to go it alone
 Don’t be afraid to lose
 Don’t be afraid to ask
questions
 DON’T BE AFRAID
“ Nobody can predict what it’s
going to take to be successful or
who’s going to make it”

12. Joseph A. Moniz
Partner, Day, Berry & Howard
 If you are going to be
good at something, you
got to deal with being
knocked down first
 Don’t be afraid to make
mistakes
 You have to have thick
skin and a good sense of
humor
“Whatever you do, whatever your title
is, whatever successes you have, you are
going to be questioned “

13. Joan Parrot- Fonseca
President, JPF & Associates
 Do not be afraid to
make mistakes
 You’ll know yourself
better and you’ll make
better choices as you
have more
experiences
 Understand the power
and the value of
networking
“Well, if I can’t change
these rules, I’m going to
create another set of rules”

14. Richard D. Parsons
President, Time Warner, Inc.
 A deep sense of
personal security,
believing in yourself
 Don’t reference your
performance
according to what
others are doing
 Who you know is just
as important as what
your know, extend
your reach “If you don’t try, you can’t
succeed”

15. A. Barry Bond
Chairman and CEO, The Avis Group
 FORTITUDE
 PERSISTENCE
 SELF-
DETERMINATION
 It’s important to
know, not just what
your doing, but why
 Never operate on
other people’s
expectations
“ You have to look further than
the immediacy of what it is
you’re not getting, and you
have to focus on what you can
continue to do”

16. Robin Roberts
Sportscaster for ESPN and
ABC Wide World of Sports
 To get ahead, you
have to be willing to
put yourself on the
line
 It’s important to feel
within yourself

17. Joyce M. Roche
Former President, Carson Products
 Hesitancy is often
viewed as ignorance
or incompetence
 Each have to discover
our own purpose, our
own mission, our life’s
work, and pursue it to
the best of our ability“Respect, belief in
oneself, and service to
others will see us
successfully through
anything this new era
throw us”

18. Ruth J. Simmons
President, Smith College
 Carry thyself with
extraordinary self
respect and kindness
 Do your very best
 You need to know,
who you are and
what you need
“Our primary task is to
teach our children
fundamental respect for
other people”

19. Frederick O. Terrell
Managing Partner and CEO,
Provender Capital Group, LLC
 Get your feet on the
ground, and know
who you are
“You define you; your
character, your values,
your actions define you”

20. Lloyd D. Ward
Former Chairman and CEO, Maytag Corporation
 The key to success is
DETERMINATION
 The foundation of success
is preparation
 The realization of success
is courage
 The engine of success is
attitude
 Trust in your own
individuality and go at
your purpose with all the
energy, focus, and
resolve of someone who
can see no other way
“Life’s a do-it-yourself
proposition. Don’t let
it drive you; you’ve
got to drive it”

21. Patrice Clarke Washington
Captain, UPS Airlines
 Stick it out; there’s no
other choice, when trying
to reach your goal
 Have a dream or a vision
of something you want to
do
 Set goals for yourself
 Embark upon a plan to
make your goals happen
 Have patience
“I believe that what
we expect of ourselves
is what we achieve”

22. Maxine Waters
Congresswoman
 Learn how to feel
good about yourself
 Learn to respect
people’s differences
and the experiences
that shape those
differences
“The rewards outweigh
the sacrifices”

23. Clifton R. Wharton, Jr.
Former Chairman and CEO, Teachers Insurance Annuity
Association College Retirement Equities Fund (TIAA-CREF)
 You have to be who
you are
 Success takes
preparedness and
persistence
 Focus on what you
can do and go at it
with the utmost
integrity
 Trust your instincts “If it doesn’t fit, get out, and
if you’re not enjoying it, get
out”

24. Terrie Williams
CEO, The Terrie Williams Agency
 Be able to relate to
everybody
 Establish a relationship
outside your inner circle
 There are no excuses
(race, sex, the economy) for
not being able to do what
you want to do
 Despite any statistic, you
can defy the odds if you
want it badly enough“Sometimes you have to force yourself to do
things that you don’t like doing , but
usually your life is enhanced when you do
that”

25. Deborah C. Wright
President and CEO, Carver Federal Savings Bank
 You have to keep
track of who you are
because otherwise
you get lost
 You’re always being
evaluated, whether
others acknowledge it
or not “Whether it’s about race, age, or gender---
cuts both ways: You can be debilitated by
it or you can be empowered by it”