By Bijan White
Tim Armstrong, chairman and CEO of AOL Inc., was invited to UCLA Anderson as a part of the Dean’s Distinguished Speaker Series and sat down with Dean Judy Olian to talk about the revolution in video content and more. Armstrong joined AOL in 2009 and brought with him sweeping changes to the company, rendering it a NYSE-listed public company and a model for corporate success. AOL represents some of the largest and most influential brands and digital platforms on the Internet, including AOL.com, AOL Mail, TechCrunch, and Huffington Post.
Prior to joining AOL, Armstrong served as president of Google’s Americas Operations When he joined AOL in such a crucial leadership position, he was effectively an outsider seeking to reinvent the company. “It is sometimes good to come from the outside,” he remarked. “The model of reinventing from the inside out is difficult if you have always been on the inside.” Armstrong argued that his perspective allowed him a clearer view of the company’s situation and enabled him to make better decisions regarding changes in the firm. “Change,” he insists, “is a competitive advantage in the industry, and a great leader must have the fortitude necessary to undergo massive amounts of it.” He pointed to AOL’s recent 11 percent drop in stocks and noted that he believes the company has only become “more valuable; however, Wall Street might not agree. It is a question of how much value you are going to capture today versus what you want to capture tomorrow.”
Armstrong explained what he believes strong leadership entails. “You can have anything you want, but not everything, and to do this you need the right people.” Having the right entourage, according to Armstrong, is crucial to any great leader. Referencing UCLA’s legendary basketball coach, he said, “John Wooden had the best basketball team. Leaders need to surround themselves with exceptional people.”
Recruiters, Armstrong said, look for differentiation and, above all, creativity, the ability to work in a team, and curiosity. “We’re not looking for the average candidates, we’re looking for the exceptional.” Moreover, AOL is a proponent of women in the corporate world and works to build a greater presence of female leadership in business. “It is unbelievable to me that as a woman you have a different opportunity set than men… Education is a great way to reduce this effect.”
Finally, Armstrong expressed his personal interpretation of one of Anderson’s cultural pillars, shared success. He remarked that sharing success means to “celebrate success.” He suggested that “if you make your career about sharing success you will have more fun, and you will be more successful.” In terms of taking risks in business, he advised, “Taking risks is a strategic advantage. We should take more risks today than we took yesterday. What seems risky today may not seem so risky in ten years, don’t waste today. Sometimes, if you don’t go through pain, you don’t change.”
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