According to a November poll conducted by Fast Company magazine, Glen A. Barton, chairman and chief executive of Caterpillar, deserves his job.
“I’ve learned that good performance and true job satisfaction come from exceeding what I expect from myself, not just what others expect of me,” Barton says.
Fast Company readers were asked to vote which company CEO best deserved his job, based on their answers to job interview questions. Approximately 75 percent of the respondents voted that Barton had the best answers.
When asked, “How do you define a good performance?” Barton replied: “The key to job performance is first to realize that as an employee, I have many customers who expect me to deliver a quality service. And just as every great company works day and night to serve its customers, I must do for mine.”
Barton also commented on efforts to make Caterpillar better.
“Great performances come from asking ourselves some basic questions,” he said. “Why are we doing it this way? How can we do it better? Or faster? Or more reliably? What haven’t we thought of yet? What’s best for our customers? Ultimately, the final judgment on performance comes down to one simple question: Is this the best we can do?”
Barton will retire from Caterpillar Jan. 31 after working for the company nearly 43 years and spending five years as chairman and chief executive.
To read Fast Company’s article, including Barton’s entire response, click on the link to the right.
