Favorite Parts of Being a CEO at Blue Dot Motorworks
Tom, Blue Dot Motorworks' CEO, emphasizes communication as "the most important thing," requiring the ability to connect "the big picture" with daily execution. A strong foundation across multiple technical domains, coupled with grounded creativity in problem-solving, further contributes to success in this role.
Communication, Strategic Thinking, Technical Proficiency, Creative Problem-Solving, Leadership
Advizer Information
Name
Job Title
Company
Undergrad
Grad Programs
Majors
Industries
Job Functions
Traits
Tom Gurski
CEO
Blue Dot Motorworks
MIT 1999
N/A
Engineering - Mechanical
Automotive & Auto Parts
Entrepreneurship and Business Owner
Took Out Loans
Video Highlights
1. Communication is key to conveying your vision and approach effectively.
2. A strong grasp of the big picture, combined with the ability to translate it into actionable steps, is essential.
3. A multi-faceted skillset incorporating technical fundamentals across various domains, coupled with grounded creativity in problem-solving, is highly valuable.
Transcript
What skills are most important for a job like yours?
As a CEO, I believe communication is probably the most important thing. If you can't describe why what you're doing is needed and why the approach you're taking is the right one, and communicate that compellingly, it's going to be really difficult to make progress.
Obviously, before you can do any of that, you have to be good at thinking about the big picture. Then, you need to be able to connect that big picture down to what it takes on a day-to-day basis to execute on achieving your goals.
On the more technical side, I've found that being strong on fundamentals across multiple domains has been really effective. This means being able to have an intelligent conversation as a mechanical engineer with an electrical engineer, especially when you're trying to create product architectures that have to incorporate all of that together.
You also need to be creative about problem-solving, but ensure that creativity is grounded in reality. It's too easy to go off the reservation and have a lot of pie-in-the-sky thinking. Being able to tap into creativity while making sure it has a shot in the real world of working is a good skill to have.