Chairman & CEO, Cisco Systems
John T. Chambers
A Superb Salesman who has put Cisco networking quipment at the heart of the internet, Chambers has turned the firm into an IT giant. So central is Cisco Systems' Technology to the internet, He can justifiably be considered one of systems 'technology to the internet, he can justifiably be considered one of the most significant figures in the evolution of the new medium. Chambers has demonstrated a rare understanding of the management of corporate acquisitions, acquiring network specialists StrataCom and Cerent among others, and enabling Cisco to weather the bursting of the dotcom bubble.
Biograpghy
Born in Cleveland Ohio, In 1949. He holds a bachelor's degree in business studies and a law degree from west virginia University, and an MBA from Indiana University
Leadership Style
Colleglate in an industry famous for mavericks who lead by hseer force of vision OR PERSONALTY, chambers is that great rarity a relatively hands-off manager. He sets the strategy but lets his people achieve it.
Key strength
Hanging on to top creative talent, often difficult people to manage.
Best Decision
Sharing investors' pain after the dotcom crash of 2000. Chambers decision take a mominal S1 salary while he set about rebuilding the firm not only kept him his job, it also kept shareholders on board.
Technology Leader
Chambers became CEO of cisco in 1995, after 20years in IT sales for IBM and wang labs. A natural communicator, He soon made his name as an enthisiast who belived the net would change the way the world works, lives plays, and learns. He made sure that Cisco took a leading role in making that happen, buying uo firms like StrataCom and Cerent in order to build a dominant Footprint in the online infrastructure market. Chambers also attracted top people to the company and proved himself a natural manager as intersted in people as technology. By the turn of the millennium, Cisco was the most valuable company in the world, with a market capitalization of $550 billion, but when the tech bubble burst, Cisco's value evaporated, dropping to $100billion. Remarkably, Chambers survived, a testament not only to shareholders' faith in him but also to the way in which he handled the calamity- he openly admitted his mistakes and was therefore allowed to carry on.
Future Growth
Chairman since 2006, Chambers has continued to grow Cisco by acquiring companies such as Linksys and Scientific Atlanta. Diversifying into new ,arkets such as voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP), Ethernet switching,SOcial networking and tele presnce he has succesfully kept the company in pole position as the internet evolves. When demand and growth slowed as a result of the global credit crisis, Chambers announced his intention to continue to invest in emerging technologies and markets even suggesting that an economic downturn might be a good tome for further acquistions
Lessons In Business Managing The best
Chambers was a succesful junior basketball captain, despite not being a gifted player. According to his father, He realized that the only way for him to win was to attract more talented people to play on histeam.
Hire the best people: they are ambitious and sometimes more difficult tomanage but they get results.
Channel ambition using aggressive promotion that streches people and makes them grow into their jobs.
Understand that one of the key responsibilties of the CEO is to unleash the talent of people by listening to them and searching for new insights.
Moral For Us
"Education and the internet must go hand in hand,,,,It will serve as one of the great Equalizers,"
- John T. Chambers
Other blogs
http://sonalworldh.blogspot.com
http://sonalworldh.blogspot.com/2011/02/chairman-ceo-of-apple-steve-jobs.html
http://sonalworldh.blogspot.com/2011/02/3m-ceo-william-mcknight.html
http://sonalworldh.blogspot.com/2011/02/forex.html
