The Importance of Independent Thought

David Cote, executive chairman of Vertiv Holdings and former CEO of Honeywell, joined Julia La Roche for a wide-ranging discussion of his best-selling book “Winning Now, Winning Later.”

Cote knows a thing or two about turning things around. He describes his early years as a “tumultuous beginning.” The first in his family to graduate high school, Cote had a 1.8 GPA in college before he stopped attending classes to be a fisherman. Shortly after getting married, Cote and his wife found out they were expecting, and he only had $100 in the bank. Cote got serious and returned to school, earning straight As. He later started at GE as an hourly worker before moving up the executive track only to be fired by Jack Welch.

Cote’s opportunity to change as a leader began in February 2002 when he joined Honeywell as its CEO. During his 15-year tenure, Cote took Honeywell's market cap from $20 billion to $120 billion, delivering returns of 800 percent and beating the S&P by nearly two and a half times.