A biography for John T. Chambershasn’t been written yet.
“If we're going to acquire, what are we going to do differently? We came up with six rules of thumb. Whenever I've violated two of them, I usually get into trouble.”
“If you asked would I have done a startup in India, the answer is yes.”
“There's a lot to learn from President Clinton. It kills me as a strong Republican saying it, but he was the most effective president during my lifetime. And when business got out of line, he smacked them.”
“I learned another lesson from Jack Welch. It was in 1998, and at that time, we were one of the most valuable companies in the world. I said, 'Jack, what does it take to have a great company?' And he said, 'It takes major setbacks and overcoming those.'”
“Never ask your employees to do something you wouldn't be willing to do yourself.”
“I would say my strengths are vision and strategy.”
“If every company becomes a technology company, business models and transitions are going to occur. From a CEO's perspective, this is going to be the biggest technology transition of all times.”
“What I've realized is most leaders cannot reinvent themselves at the CEO level or at the operational level.”
“The definition of success is that the company doesn't miss a beat. Do I love what I do? Oh yeah - I love it more than ever. You've got to have that energy level 24/7. But you've also got to make sure the transition is smooth. Being realistic, most high-tech companies haven't done that well.”
“Widening the talent pipeline sufficiently will require a generational commitment to teaching math and science, providing technical training, and mentoring young people of all backgrounds so they understand the full range of possibilities that a career in technology affords.”
“I support both Democrats and Republicans on many issues. I'm more interested in where they are on technology.”
“Since I became CEO, 87 percent of the companies in the Fortune 500 are off the list. What that says is that companies that don't reinvent themselves will be left behind. I also think that's true of people. And I think it's true of countries.”
“I think, as time passes, people will come to see that the United States' credit standing is really not quite the same level as the ones that we rate AAA.”
“I hope that the new leader, whoever they are - and I hope that it will be Hillary - will bring our country back to participation by all groups and will talk about how technology will enable not just 10% of our population, but all of our population.”
“Everything becomes connected, and cyber security becomes the top issue for CEOs. An average company has 40-60 security vendors, and they have a violation every three months with viruses.”
“Our success at Cisco has been defined by how we anticipate, capture, and lead through market transitions. Over the years, I've watched iconic companies disappear - Compaq, Sun Microsystems, Wang, Digital Equipment - as they failed to anticipate where the market was heading.”
“Every company, city, and country is becoming digital, navigating disruptive markets, and Cisco's role in the digital transformation has never been more important.”
“When I look at the success of the Cisco Networking Academy program, which has reached more than 4.75 million people since 1997, I know it could have never achieved this scale without our partners. Together we provide the tools, equipment and training for our students and teachers.”
“In 2008, we began an initiative to outsource projects from our Israeli office to three companies in the Palestinian Territories.”
“The political gridlock in Washington leads us to conclude that policymakers don't have the ability to put the public finances of the U.S. on a sustainable footing.”