Abigail Johnson Quotes
12 quotes from Abigail Johnson — Chair and CEO of Fidelity Investments, one of the world's largest financial services firms ($4.9T in assets under manag….
“Letting other people help you doesn't mean you're weak or helpless. Sometimes it just means you're smart enough to understand that you don't have to do everything in your own.”
“Sometimes you can gradually improve things. But sometimes, they don't work, and you've just got to just say: Let's grind this baby to a halt.”
“I demand pretty aggressive goal setting and a commitment to measured progress towards those goals because I don't like surprises. I don't even like good surprises.”
“No matter how senior you get in an organization, no matter how well you're perceived to be doing, your job is never done.”
“You have to be a worrier. Every business has risks, and companies that feel comfortable are probably not paying enough attention.”
“I would rather disrupt ourselves than let us become complacent and get surprised by new ideas and innovations from a competitor.”
“I think a liberal arts education is actually a great background for our industry. What's important to us is that people who come to us with liberal arts backgrounds are dedicated students and want to learn. So if we put something in front of you, you're going to learn it. You're going to study it. You're going to think, you're going to ask questions, and you're going to understand how to communicate well.”
“Don't doubt yourself. Keep at it. Stay looking ahead. Stay committed and stay true to yourself.”
“My biggest challenge has been to push Fidelity to increase our pace of innovation and to not be afraid to make the occasional mistake. To be successful in a rapidly evolving world, we need to take smart risks and value pace over perfection. The risk of competitive disruption in financial services has never been higher than it is today. I would rather disrupt ourselves than let us become complacent and get surprised by new ideas and innovations from a competitor.”
“I love this stuff—bitcoin, ethereum, blockchain technology—and what the future holds.”
“Blockchain technology isn't just a more efficient way to settle securities. It will fundamentally change market structures, and maybe even the architecture of the Internet itself.”
“No matter how senior you get in an organization, no matter how well you're perceived to be doing, your job is never done. Every day, you get up, and the world is changing; your customers are expecting more from you. Your competitors are putting pressure on you by doing more and trying to beat you here and beat you there.”
