MCI-Livetalk with Logitech CEO Bracken Darrell.

MCI-Livetalk with Logitech CEO Bracken Darrell: MCI as an international role model as an educational institution

To succeed as a leader, it takes experience. That is what Bracken Darrell, CEO of the US tech company Logitech, explains and offers deep insights into his career in the MCI Livetalk with Andreas Altmann.

As a teenager, Darrell became 'hooked' on the concept of leadership. Due to his height at a young age, Darrell found his passion in basketball and was named team captain of his team. It was there that he first learned the impact leaders can have on the entire team.

Early in his career, Darrell quickly discovered that there were many challenges for leaders. For example, during his stints at Old Spice or at Brown in Germany, he had to go through drastic experiences that shaped him and his later successful career. These experiences range from fatal strategy decisions to leading a team from a different cultural background. "I don't like the word failure anymore. I think the term should be replaced with the word 'learning,'" Darrell takes away from these experiences.

This view is also reflected in his understanding of what makes a good leader, which for Darrell consists of three key points:

Authenticity: "Everyone else is already taken, so you might as well be yourself. Once you understand that, you attract people who get the things done that need to get done," Darrell says, explaining his belief in acting authentically as a leader.

Unlocking passion in others:  Darrell would love to motivate all of his employees to live out their passion in the workplace every day.

Lifelong Learning: For Darrell, the old-fashioned concept of learning is outdated and he stands in solidarity with the innovative teaching concept of the Entrepreneurial School®.

Darrell explains in the livetalk that he sees many advantages in starting as a CEO with no expert knowledge in the leadership position. There are plenty of experts in the respective departments; as a CEO, the convinced generalist does not need to bring any expert knowledge with him. So Darrell can limit himself to the role of listener and talk to the customers: "Often you listen too much to the experts, but instead you should listen more to the customers".

Tip to students: "A leader can only be a leader if you see yourself in the context of the world."

Career of Bracken Darrell:

Under Bracken Darrell’s nine years of leadership as president and CEO, Logitech has reinvented itself into an award-winning design company, an industry force in pursuing a more sustainable and equitable world, and a top performer on the SIX Swiss stock exchange and NASDAQ.

Bracken is a proponent of design and the liberal arts in business, especially of their role in innovating product experiences for consumers. As a result, Logitech has been the recipient of numerous awards, including more than 200 design awards over the past three years from the likes of iF Design, Red Dot and Fast Company, and numerous sustainability awards.

Bracken himself has been named Swiss CEO of the year by Obermatt three times in the past four years.

Bracken brings to Logitech nearly thirty years of experience in product, people and brand management through design. He has worked around the world on iconic brands like Old Spice, Gillette and Braun, for which he was president. He has spent time at P&G, Arthur Anderson, PepsiCo, GE and Whirlpool.