Photo: Librado Romero/The New York Times
Adam Bryant conducts interviews of senior-level executives that appear in his “Corner Office” column each week in the SundayBusiness section of The New York Times. Here are a few insights provided during an interview of Carl Bass, president and chief executive of Autodesk Inc. , a maker of 3-D design, engineering and entertainment software. He believes that, as chief executive, it is important for him to be clear about the company’s direction.
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Never Swerve When Driving the Bus
Q. Do you remember the first time you were somebody’s boss?
A. The first real place where I was in charge was at a start-up. We all knew what we needed to accomplish, but I would say early on I was not a comfortable manager. It was certainly nothing I ever wanted to do in life. I was much more interested in getting stuff done. I think of myself as the reluctant C.E.O., or somewhere between reluctant and accidental.
Q. Tell me more about the reluctant part.
A. I’m a mathematician by training. That’s what got me excited back in the day. I wasn’t interested in managing, but as I started to do it, I got more comfortable. I think it’s that first leap that everybody takes. For me, it was the transition from being someone who was a little bit the student who liked to throw spitballs. So you make that transition to being the teacher, and you have to be in charge, as opposed to being the person who can cause trouble, instigate and provoke, which I always found a much more comfortable place to be. At some point, you go even further, and you become the administrator, and you’re setting policies.
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Adam Bryant, deputy national editor of The New York Times, oversees coverage of education issues, military affairs, law, and works with reporters in many of the Times‘ domestic bureaus. He also conducts interviews with CEOs and other leaders for Corner Office, a weekly feature in the SundayBusiness section and on nytimes.com that he started in March 2009. In his new book, The Corner Office: Indispensable and Unexpected Lessons from CEOs on How to Lead and Succeed, (Times Books), he analyzes the broader lessons that emerge from his interviews with more than 70 leaders. To read an excerpt, please click here. To contact him, please click here.