Learning About Leadership

01 Oct 2018

The value of remaining a student of company management teams and trends.

Re: Abby Johnson (MBA 1988)

Topics: Management-Management Practices and Processes Leadership-Leading Change Career-Awards

Abigail P. Johnson (MBA 1988) is chairman and CEO of Fidelity Management and Research in Boston and a recipient of the 2018 HBS Alumni Achievement Award. In this interview, she reflects on her early lessons in business leadership and on the need to watch for new trends.

“I basically spent nine years––in addition to my two years at HBS––being a really critical student of company management teams. One of the great things about being an equity analyst is you get to meet with lots of CEOs and lots of CFOs of the companies that you're investing in. And so you learn what good CEOs and CFOs do. And you learn what senior leadership behaviors don't work.

“One thing that really didn't work was company leaderships that over-promised and under-delivered––every business has risks––and company managements that feel comfortable and are probably just not paying enough attention to thinking about what the risks of their business are.

“It is important to get outside of the Fidelity four walls sometimes. Explore, really be on the lookout, scanning for new ideas of what's driving consumer behavior outside of our industry.”

Support the next generation of leaders Make a gift now

Featured Alumni

Abby Johnson

MBA 1988

Featured Alumni

Abby Johnson

MBA 1988

Stories Featuring Abby Johnson

- 28 Nov 2018
- Bloomberg
Elevating Women at Fidelity

Re: Abby Johnson (MBA 1988); Nidhi Gupta (MBA 2008)
- 02 Jun 2014
- Forbes
One-on-One with Abby Johnson, Fidelity's Ultra-Private President

Re: Abby Johnson (MBA 1988)
- 10 Mar 2017
- Boston Globe
As Head of Fidelity, Abigail Johnson Is Just Getting Started

Re: Abby Johnson (MBA 1988)

Stories

Stories