Mark Hurd and the Keys to Success
What makes successful executives? How did they come to be so successful? As we ponder their actions and decision-making, the steps they took to get to where they are now, we acknowledge the hurdles and roadblocks in their paths to success, and try to understand how they were overcome. For example, there's much to learn from the success story of Oracle’s Mark Hurd, whose perseverance and resolute leadership have led him to one of the most notable (and highest-paid) executives in the world of technology.
Mark Hurd is president of
Oracle Corporation, a multinational hardware and software company employing over 100,000 people worldwide. Hurd is hardly an overnight success story. He spent over 25 years at the NCR Corporation, moving up the ranks as a salesperson to sales executive to become president in 2001, COO in 2002 and ultimately becoming CEO in 2003.
His emergence as one of the best executives in the world occurred during his tenure as the CEO of Hewlett-Packard from 2005 to 2010. Hurd's role at HP has been regarded by some as revolutionary, achieving what James Stewart of the New York Times referred to as "one of the great rescue missions in American corporate history." Under Hurd, HP transformed from a company in turmoil to one sitting on revenue gains for the first time in five years, in addition to stocks that soared more than 130%. In 2007, Hurd was ranked #16 on Fortune's list of the 25 Most Powerful People in Business.
While his departure from HP was marked by controversy, their subsequent stock market collapse and revolving door as CEO serve as a reminder what a good job Hurd was doing. In his current role at Oracle, Hurd has established himself as one of the tech field's great managers. His secret is to believe in the company and focus on the needs of the customer. "It's our job as a company to help our customers save money and innovate," Hurd says. Another important ingredient of the recipe for Oracle's success is providing the best to not only the customer, but also to their partners, shareholders and investors. In addition to providing the best in every vertical, Hurd also stresses the importance of providing the customer with choices. "We want to give our customers choices. . .It's your choice how you get to access all of this [Oracle's] technology."
From one company to the next, Mark Hurd has been able to innovate, evolve and prosper. The secret to Hurd's success? There is no secret. "I focus on the same things I always have," Hurd says. "You have to got to get the strategy right, you have to get the operations right, lined up from R&D out to the field." This mentality and focus has been instrumental in Hurd's ability to do business on such large scale. "I can tell you who is in charge, from R&D to sales, all the way to deliver that value proposition to the customer."