Better Than You Found It

When I prepped for this interview, I mean, I already knew this about you, right. But when I prepped for this interview and I really dug deep, you have done so much. I mean, at just 26 years old, you were a VP at GM, youngest ever, you went on to transform a bunch of industries from robotics to digital transaction management. You're now a diplomat, former US Undersecretary of State. What would you say is your life's purpose, and how critical is this to your success as a leader?

You know, I think it's leaving the world better than I found it, I guess, would be the life's purpose. You know, the most important thing to me is my family and leaving a great legacy with my five children, of course. It's also about the people that I've met along the way. I think at the end of the day, if you would ask me to judge my success, it wouldn't be by the companies that I built but by the people that I mentored. My dad always used to say you never know if you're a good father until you see your childrenÕs children. I also think you never know if you're a good mentor until you see your mentees' mentees, because did you teach them how to be a good mentor? So I think that's such a big part of it, the people side of the equation is just a huge part of it. And also, it's the biggest lever you could have in terms of making an impact in this world.