Mike Gitlin never set out with a master plan to become CEO. Instead, his career has been shaped by a series of decisions to embrace opportunities that pushed him outside his comfort zone.

In this episode of Executive Decisions, the Capital Group CEO reflects on the family values that shaped his leadership, from lively dinner-table debates to mock trials with his father that taught him to think critically, listen carefully and communicate with confidence.

Gitlin discusses his early fascination with financial markets, why he chose to study history instead of finance and the lessons he learned after being thrown into overnight trading in Asia with little experience and no roadmap.

He also explains why he left T. Rowe Price - where he thought he would spend the rest of his career - to join Capital Group, helping transform one of the world's largest asset managers from the inside.

Along the way, Gitlin shares how moving his family around the world influenced his biggest decisions, why he believes feedback is one of leadership's greatest gifts and why EQ will become even more valuable than IQ in the age of AI.

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After 25 years at Dow, Ester Baiget left a business she loved to take on the top job at Novozymes — now Novonesis. It was not a move driven by ego, or a lifelong plan to become CEO. Baiget says she did not need the title. What drew her in was purpose, potential and a belief that she could help the company make a bigger impact through biology.

In this episode of “Executive Decisions,” the Novonesis CEO reflects on the family values that shaped her, the teacher who nudged her toward chemical engineering and the mother who pushed her to attend the interview that began her 25-year career at Dow.

Baiget discusses why curiosity has guided her more than career planning, how she learned not to take setbacks out of proportion and why the CEO role is less lonely than many assume when you build the right team.

She also explains the strategic shift that led Novozymes to see itself not as an enzyme company, but as a biosolutions company — a decision that helped make the merger with Danish biotech company Chr. Hansen possible.

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After 26 years at Goldman Sachs, Robin Vince made a decision few senior Wall Street executives would make: he walked away without another job lined up. At 48, he chose to take what he called a “gap year,” turning down an immediate approach from BNY so he could step back and think carefully about what he wanted from the next phase of his life and career.

In this episode of Executive Decisions, the BNY CEO explains why stepping away became essential, and how that pause helped him decide he was not finished building. He reflects on the pressure, uncertainty and self-doubt that shaped his career, from arriving in France as a child unable to speak the language to navigating the intensity of Goldman Sachs in the 1990s.

Vince also looks back on the global financial crisis, including the weekend of Lehman Brothers’ collapse, and the lessons he took from moments of extreme pressure. He then discusses the transformation of BNY under his leadership, why consistency matters in building institutions and how he balances running one of America’s oldest banks with family life and personal wellbeing.

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