Shellye Archambeau joined CEO David McCormick for the latest conversation in Bridgewater’s Distinguished Speaker Series to discuss mentorship, her path to becoming a Silicon Valley CEO, and the foundations of a sustainable business in 2020.
Archambeau attributes her three decades of expertise in technology and an incredible career path to the cultivation of certain superpowers: consistency, courage, and candor. Set to launch her latest book, Unapologetically Ambitious: Take Risks, Break Barriers and Create Success on Your Own Terms, she shared advice on fighting imposter syndrome, bringing discipline to your goals, and cultivating bravery. From describing early career ambitions to the lessons she learned going toe-to-toe with Netflix during her stint at Blockbuster, Shellye’s message to Bridgewater employees was clear: long-term success lies in the power of being intentional in your actions while demonstrating resilience and the courage to innovate.
And those lessons don’t only apply to individual careers — she and David discussed the relationship between corporation and culture, and her support of the Business Roundtable’s stance that companies have responsibilities to employees and communities, in addition to shareholders. Archambeau sees this topic as a conversation around resilience and courage couched in long-term thinking. “What shareholders want are sustainable returns,” she said. “If you want to have sustainable returns, then you have to make sure that what you’re doing, where you’re operating, how you’re operating, all those things, are able to continue.”