GAUTAM KUMRA is the chairman and managing partner of McKinsey's offices in Asia and has served on McKinsey's Shareholders Council, the firm's highest decision-making body. A co-founder of the McKinsey Center for CEO Excellence, he has spent 30 years advising Asian and global clients on growth strategy, organization transformation, leadership development, and governance.

CHERYL LIM is part of the founding leadership team of the McKinsey Center for CEO Excellence, where she helps design and deliver leadership programs for senior executives across Asia. Cheryl is also a global leader in the firm's People and Organization Performance practice, and advises public- and private-sector clients on leadership development, talent management, culture change, and operating model transformations. Cheryl has led large-scale transformations across Asia and the Middle East.

JOYDEEP SENGUPTA is the founder of the McKinsey Center for CEO Excellence, where he helps CEOs and business leaders transform organizational performance and health. With nearly three decades in management consulting, he has served on McKinsey's Shareholders Council and chairs the McKinsey Asia and Greater China Risk Committee. He has led McKinsey's banking, strategy and organization practices and authored publications on CEO leadership, digital strategy, and organizational change.

Introduction vii

Part I Who They Are 1

i. How Founders are Shaped by Their Environment 3
ii. The Traits That Bind Founders 29

Part II How They Operate 39

Driven by Mission 41
1 I Am a Pioneer 45
2 I Have Insatiable Hunger to Build 53
3 I Succeed If My Nation and Community Succeed 57

A Telescope in One Eye, a Microscope in the Other 67
4 I Sense Constantly and Bet on Long-Term Megatrends 71
5 I Have No Long Term Without the Short Term 77

Bold but Bounded 87
6 I Align Long-Term Risk with the Scale of Ambition 91
7 I Move Forward if I Can Live with the Worst Case 103
8 I Make My Own Luck 109

Innovate with Both a Big and a Small I 119
9 I'm Obsessed with Excellence 123
10 I Look for Opportunities to Disrupt 127
11 I Learn from the Best, but Adapt to Make It My Own 141
12 I Want Technology to Solve a Real Business Need 145

Derive Extraordinary Outcomes from Talent 153
13 I Recruit for Character and Fit 157
14 I Develop People Through Stretch Opportunities 167
15 I Take a Through-Cycle Approach to People 177

Scale Without Losing Soul 185
16 I Want to Preserve My Entrepreneurial Core 189
17 I Strive to Manage Business Transition and Family 201
18 I Build an Institution That Outlives Me 213

Epilogue 221
Acknowledgments 227
The Contributors 231
About the Authors 265
Notes 269
Index 281