These leadership takeaways are part of a new primetime series, “CNBC Leader’s Playbook,” premiering January 7 at 10pm ET/PT. Hosted by Julia Boorstin, this series goes inside the minds of the world’s top business leaders to reveal how lasting success is built.
1) Make money by cheating
Media mogul Barry Diller admits that even the most powerful executives have no idea what they’re doing at first.
His philosophy is to fake your abilities until you actually acquire them. Because overthinking or waiting until you “know enough” can lead to missed opportunities and even failure.
You fake it while you’re at it. And…you’ll figure it out as you go along. And eventually there it is. No more counterfeiting.
barry diller
IAC/Expedia Chairman and Senior Officer
2) Embrace creative conflict
For Diller, the best way to vet ideas is to gather people around a table and have them passionately discuss their ideas. He calls it “creative conflict.”
Those different voices and perspectives create what he calls “the brew.” And if you really listen, he says, that brew can guide you to the right decision.
But he warns that cynicism poisons creative conflict, blocking insight before it emerges. That’s why he insists on keeping it out of the room and instead listening with an open mind.
You can’t be cynical. Cynicism kills everything.
barry diller
IAC/Expedia Chairman and Senior Officer
3) The secret to implementing ideas
For Diller, great ideas wither away because leaders don’t put in enough effort.
After ideas are debated through creative conflict and filtered through instinct, Diller believes the secret to bringing ideas to fruition is “blind willfulness.”
That doesn’t mean ignoring feedback or being stubborn.
For him, it means being fully committed to a direction and having the will power to make it happen no matter the obstacles or doubts that appear.
Without that final push, he says, even the best ideas stall. Diller argues that an idea is nothing without the sheer force of will that pushes it into reality. This line represents his relentless drive to bring innovative ideas to life throughout his 60 years of leadership.
Unless you have a will, unless you impose your will on something, nothing will happen.
barry diller
IAC/Expedia Chairman and Senior Officer
4) Bet on long-term truth over short-term fear
When air travel collapsed overnight in the aftermath of 9/11, many thought Mr. Diller’s decision to move forward with the Expedia deal was moot.
Despite that sentiment, Dealer went ahead and acquired the platform in 2001 for $1.4 billion.
He said the decision was based on the belief that the crisis in the travel industry is temporary and that long-term opportunities remain.
It was a simple, existential truth. People travel as long as they live.
We were talking about this in the middle of a discussion when someone in the room said, “If there is a life, there is also a journey.” And as soon as I heard that, I said, “Let’s seal the deal…I’m betting on it.”
barry diller
IAC/Expedia Chairman and Senior Officer
Watch Barry Diller’s interview on CNBC Leaders Playbook. This is a new primetime series hosted by Julia Boorstin that features candid conversations with the world’s top business leaders about how to build lasting success.
Episode Premiere (Barry Diller): January 14 at 10:30pm ET/PT on CNBC.
All new episodes are released on Wednesdays.
