Chuck Robbins, CEO of Cisco, photographed during an audience discussion organized by The Wall Street Journal in 2024 for the conference “The Future of Everything”, PHOTO: Dia Dipasupil / Getty images / Profimedia
Chuck Robbins, CEO of tech giant CISCO, says it's a waste of time to interview candidates from within the company for promotions, and that HR departments and superiors have a much more relevant metric for determining who should get a job, Business Insider reports.
“I think when we have two or three internal candidates for a promotion, the whole interview process is stupid,” Robbins said in a recent interview with the TBPN podcast. “What are we going to learn about them when we sit in a room for 30 minutes and ask them questions, when we can watch them work firsthand?” he asked rhetorically.
That frustration, Robbins says, translates into his belief that “every day you work is an interview for your next job.”
Robbins, who started working at Cisco in 1997 as an account manager, said it's not enough to simply work your way up the corporate ladder either. “There also have to be people who care about their peers succeeding as well. The person who is solely focused on getting to the top as an individual is most likely not going to succeed,” he added.
Cisco CEO's tips for career advancement
Robbins also said there's a simple exercise people should do when aiming for a promotion.
“If your peer group looks at your promotion announcement and says, 'That's perfectly fine,' then you've done your job, right? And if you can't look in the mirror and say, 'OK, those people, would they be happy, would they think it was the right decision?'” And if they don't, you're probably not where you should be,'' he said.
When it comes to those aiming for senior management positions or maybe even his job, Robbins said “you can't underestimate” the value of emotional intelligence (EQ). Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella made similar comments last year about the importance of EQ.
“IQ matters, but it's not the only thing needed in the world,” Nadella said, among other things, in an interview on the “MD Meets” podcast hosted by Mathias Döpfner, head of the Axel Springer media group. “I've always felt that, at least for leaders, if you just have IQ without EQ, it's just a waste of IQ,” he pointed out.
“People who are wildly successful have this really incredible combination—in our industry—they understand technology, have a high EQ, and really care about the team's mission,” Robbins said.
Robbins also stated that, as far as he's concerned, he's always had the ability to mentally compartmentalize the things he can't control. That's why, he says, there's nothing to keep him up at night.
“Look, I went home after really bad days and looked at my wife and said, 'You want to hear the good news? I didn't get diagnosed with cancer today,'” Chuck Robbins said. “And someone was and I wasn't. So if on my worst day I'm not diagnosed with cancer or some terminal illness, tomorrow I wake up and fight another battle. You just have to have perspective.”
