Fast Talk

Sy Sternberg

Chairman and CEO, New York Life Insurance Co.

Q. Name one of your role models, and tell us why you chose that person.

A. My most important role model is my mom. She set an ethical standard for me, whether it was in terms of excelling in school or in making sure that I dealt honestly with people.

There was an honesty in the way she conducted her business with others. She was a stay-at-home mom, so she wasn't in the business world. But you could see it in the way she dealt with me, the way she dealt with my dad, and the way she dealt with our neighbors. Honesty and integrity were just vitally important.

And when it came to academic excellence, she was right there watching how I did in school, how I did on every exam. Clearly, nothing satisfied her more than doing a perfect job. That was the standard of excellence that she set for me.

With honesty, you don't think about the rules set down for you by a role model on a day-to-day basis. Right now, I'm learning how to play golf, so there's a whole bunch of rules in my head. I'm sure 5 or 10 years from today, all those rules won't be in my head anymore, and I'll just do them a bit more naturally. When it comes to issues such as telling the truth, frankly, it already comes naturally. I have to believe that it's because that's how I was brought up. Now it's like riding a bike.

Gordon Bethune

Chairman and CEO, Continental Airlines

Q. What does it take to be a survivor in today's airline industry?

A. Well, a shit lot of money would work. Okay, that's my smart-ass answer. But you can go through a lot of money pretty quickly in the airline industry these days. And if you don't have it, you're not going to make it.

To survive in this industry, number one, you need to understand your product. You have to understand people, your employees. And you have to be nimble. The market's moving so fast, and you have be able to move with it. If not, you're going to be a dinosaur and gone like so many others.

What differentiates our company from other airlines is that our people actually like coming to work. And let me just tell you, when I was an airplane mechanic, do you know how much faster I could fix an airplane when I wanted to fix it than when I didn't want to?

We had a big hurricane come through Texas several weeks ago; it passed 90 miles beyond Houston, where we have a hub with 500 flights a day. We didn't cancel a single flight. That's because our people wanted to get the job done. During the big blackout on the East Coast, all three New York-area airports shut down. We only canceled 11 flights. That's because we wanted to. Yes, we have professional men and women, and that's great. And yes, we have the right systems, and that's great. But mostly, we have people who want to get the job done. If you don't have that edge, you're going to be an also-ran.

The economy can't sustain everybody in the industry. We're focused on being a survivor. I tell our guys, "Look in the mirror--that's who's going to save you." It's not going to be the economy coming back. It's not going to be the government bailing us out. We have to do it ourselves.

Glen A. Barton

Chairman and CEO, Caterpillar Inc.

Q. How do you define good performance?

A. I've learned that good performance and true job satisfaction come from exceeding what I expect of myself, not just what others expect of me.

The key to job performance is first to realize that as an employee, I have many customers who expect me to deliver a quality service. And just as every great company works day and night to serve its customers, I must do the same for mine. On the most basic level, I want to satisfy our board of directors, our customers, and shareholders. Good performance shouldn't be judged simply in the results you achieve. It's also determined by how you achieve those results. You have to take what exists and build on it.

The best performances come when we take the time to ask questions, to learn from customers and from the past. My job as a leader is to encourage innovation and unleash the natural creativity in myself and those around me as we drive toward solutions we never thought were possible.

Last year, the Caterpillar team faced tough new EPA standards for the diesel engines we build. Our competition chose a known technology that could only meet the standards by sacrificing reliability and fuel efficiency. Caterpillar, on the other hand, developed its own technology that not only meets the EPA standards but also maintains performance and fuel efficiency. We didn't choose the easy or the safe route; we chose the right route.

Great performances come from asking ourselves some basic questions. Why are we doing it this way? How can we do it better? Or faster? Or more reliably? What haven't we thought of yet? What's best for our customers? Ultimately, the final judgment on performance comes down to one simple question: Is this the best we can do?