Masters in Business · Friday, September 4, 2026
Bill McNabb highlighted the importance of 'the power of we versus I' and leading by example, principles he learned from coaching and reinforced at Vanguard under leaders like Jack Brennan. He explained that collective drive for success is crucial in business, just as it is for a rowing team.
“I think that the two big things, and I was very fortunate to work for somebody at Vanguard who really lived this, and I'll come back to that in a second, but the power of we versus I.”
“I was coaching a rowing team, and no matter how good the individual athletes were, if they didn't really exist in order to make the boat go faster, you weren't going to win. And we had to really get that across to people. And that collective drive for success actually is incredibly applicable in the business world.”
“I think the other thing, maybe a little more subtle, is you lead by example. And some of the people who talk about it and they theorize and all these fancy sayings, I'd rather just watch somebody do what they do really well.”