CEO talks on keys to successful leadership

Outlining the 12 keys to being a successful business leader, Price Waterhouse Chief Executive Officer Shaun O'Malley told students to be assertive and ethical in a speech in Steinberg-Dietrich Hall Thursday. Throughout the hour-long lecture, O'Malley stressed the need to keep an open mind, embrace challenges, work hard and seize opportunities. "Challenges keep you alert and enthusiastic and it is alertness and enthusiasm that enable you to be successful," O'Malley said. He also recommended students be willing to take risks, continue learning, but most of all to live well-balanced lives. O'Malley offered several other suggestions for future businesspeople, including "thinking globally" -- especially with the expanding world marketplace and instant communication technologies. "I encourage you to adopt a global perspective," O'Malley said. "A knowledge of different countries and cultures has been invaluable to me throughout the years." O'Malley then discussed the need for the need for honesty and ethics in leadership positions and communication in the business world. "To be successful, you must stay in touch with your people and your markets," O'Malley said. Finally, O'Malley argued that every leader must think strategically and guide actions for short-term and long-term benefits. He recalled that his first act as CEO was a three-tiered focus strategy. Students who attended the speech said that they found O'Malley's suggestions very helpful. "His points on leadership are extremely important for the future business leaders," said Wharton senior Jason Battaglia said. "I thought his advice was really general," said Wharton and Engineering junior Louis Toth said. "It was something he could say because he's got the experience. It's not something we can plan our life out by." O'Malley graduated from Wharton in 1959 and is a member of the Wharton Board of Overseers and the University's President Council. O'Malley also serves on the Securities and Exchange Commission's Emerging Markets Advisory Board, and is president of the Financial Accounting Foundation's Board of Trustees. The speech was the second installment of the Wharton School's Leadership Lecture Series, sponsored by the Wharton Dean's Undergraduate Advisory Board.

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