As far as career accomplishments go, it's hard to top Eric Schmidt.
A self-described software "nerd" from Falls Church, Virginia, Schmidt was hired as Google's chairman and later CEO by co-founders Larry Page and Sergey Brin in 2001 to provide some "adult supervision" to their growing web-search engine. At the time, Schmidt was>On building a successful career: 'Luck is the first and most important thing that I had'
I think that anyone in my position should start by saying that luck is the first and most important thing I had. Luck of birth, education, interest, timing and the business I was in. I also worked hard, but luck is just as important, if not more important, And as you get luckier, you create your own luck.
I was a young executive, promoted quite quickly. I describe myself as a workaholic. Most people are not workaholics, thank goodness.
The most successful people have a lot of skill, and also grit. I don't think I understood my ambition — I just thought what we were working>How Steve Jobs influenced his leadership style: He 'was not a normal person, by any means'
Steve Jobs, who I worked very closely with [Jobs recruited Schmidt to be>In building Google into a behemoth: 'We made many mistakes along the way'
I had the benefit of working with Larry [Page] and Sergey [Brin], who were both my best friends and my partners. Larry, Sergey and I would have these huge food fights over this or that. We would honestly disagree. But there was never a moment where I doubted their commitment to the company and the cause.
If the two of them were in agreement, I would usually just say, "yes." If they disagreed, I would force a process where the three of us came to some conclusion. Usually, their ideas were better than mine.
Sergey Brin, Google Inc. co-founder, left, Larry Page, Google Inc. co-founder, center, and Eric Schmidt, Google Inc. chairman and chief executive officer, attend a news conference inside the Sun Valley Inn at the 28th annual Allen & Co. Media and Technology Conference in Sun Valley, Idaho, U.S.,>On handling criticism: 'Get used to it. I got used to it'
I'm careful about what I talk about nowadays, because I'm in this interesting class of "tech people" who somehow get criticized for everything we do.
I have to tell you that I didn't encounter the kind of criticism that I've had at Google, before Google. I think part of that is [because] the social media world and the [media] changed and everything became about power and influence.
As a public figure, you learn to let it go. You learn that most of the stuff that's false, people forget. The attention span of our society now is very short.
That criticism comes from a sense of both accomplishment and envy. The fact of the matter is: I think it's part of life. So when I talk to people now, I say, "Get used to it. I got used to it."
