Former Google CEO Eric Schmidt once said that a lesson from his father about motivation shaped his leadership style and helped define his decades-long career. A Leadership Lesson That StuckSpeaking in a 2018 interview with renowned economist Tyler Cowen, Schmidt described himself as a "systemic thinker" who focuses on how people behave inside organizations. "My father taught me that the best way to get people to do stuff is to have it be their idea," Schmidt said. Schmidt served as Google's CEO from 2001 to 2011 before becoming executive chairman. Active in public policy, Schmidt also served on President Barack Obama's Council of Advisors on Science and Technology.