I have always believed a successful company must have a customer/marketplace orientation and a strong marketing organization. That’s why my second step in creating a global enterprise had to be to fix and focus IBM’s marketing efforts.

The more successful an enterprise becomes, the more it wants to codify what makes it great—and that can be a good thing. It creates institutional learning, effective transfer of knowledge, and a clear sense of “how we do things.

... my kind of executives dig into the details, work the problems day to day, and lead by example, not title. They take personal ownership of and responsibility for the end result. They see themselves as drivers rather than as a box high on the organization chart.

IBM LEADERSHIP COMPETENCIES

Focus to Win

• Customer Insight

• Breakthrough Thinking

• Drive to Achieve

Mobilize to Execute

• Team Leadership

• Straight Talk

• Teamwork

• Decisiveness

Sustain Momentum

• Building Organizational Capacity

• Coaching

• Personal Dedication

The Core

• Passion for the Business

The best leaders create high-performance cultures. They set demanding goals, measure results, and hold people accountable. They are change agents, constantly driving their institutions to adapt and advance faster than their competitors do.