Coca-Cola chairman calls work-life balance a ‘weird phrase’ and says success is down to survival—’kind of like Squid Game’

The path to the C-suite can feel long, uncertain—and at times, brutally competitive. Just ask Coca-Cola executive chairman James Quincey, who says his rise to the top had less to do with careful planning and more to do with endurance.

“In the end, how did I get to where I am?” Quincey said in a recent interview at the London Business School. “You could argue it’s survivor basis. I just flipped heads every time the coin went after 20 job rounds and therefore I’m the only one left.”

“Kind of like Squid Game.”

The comparison to the hit Netflix dystopian series where contestants survive round after round of high-stakes elimination games may be tongue-in-cheek. But Quincey’s point is serious: success often comes down to navigating whatever challenge is in front of you, again and again, until others fall away.

British-born Quincey joined Coca-Cola in 1996 without a rigid roadmap for becoming CEO. Instead, he gravitated toward roles that challenged him—moving through leadership positions in Latin........

© Fortune