Mellody Hobson | Enduring Excellence Conversation

What does it actually take to pursue excellence over a lifetime, not as an outcome to be achieved but as a standard to keep raising? Mellody Hobson has been thinking about that question since she was a child growing up as the youngest of six in Chicago, watching her siblings' choices and deciding which ones she wanted to make for herself. In this Enduring Excellence episode, Tyler Mathisen of CNBC sits down with Hobson to trace the habits of mind and formative experiences that shaped how she works: the principal who made her rehearse the same four-minute speech every day for a month, the lessons John Rogers taught her about how to win an argument rather than just be right, and what Lewis Hamilton, one of the most decorated Formula One drivers in history, showed her about competing at the highest level without losing yourself in the process. She draws on more than three decades at Ariel Investments, her years on the boards of Starbucks, DreamWorks Animation, and Estée Lauder, and her work building the Lucas Museum of Narrative Art to make a larger argument: excellence is not domain-specific. That principle, she argues, applies just as much to how organizations are governed. A board that lacks diversity cannot be excellent, because homogeneity limits the range of viewpoints available when the hard problems arrive. She revisits her 2014 TED Talk, “Color Brave, Not Color Blind,” and the current retreat from DEI commitments. The episode also covers her philanthropy, her conviction that women's sports represents one of the most compelling investment opportunities of this generation, and why, in her view, getting better at something you have spent decades mastering is still the whole point. 00:00:00 Introduction 00:01:22 The Teach for America event that started it all 00:02:30 What it's like to watch a film with George Lucas 00:04:48 Growing up as the youngest of six in Chicago 00:06:16 How scarcity became fuel and what drives her now 00:08:27 The speech contest, the principal, and learning to rehearse 00:10:10 Excellence vs. success: why one is an input and one is an outcome 00:13:20 How you do one thing is how you do everything 00:16:39 Why she chose Princeton and what it opened up 00:19:01 Joining Ariel, never leaving, and the letter to Mayor Daley 00:27:18 Board service at DreamWorks, Estée Lauder, and Starbucks 00:33:30 Lewis Hamilton on discipline 00:37:27 Color Brave, not Color Blind and why diverse boards aren't optional 00:46:02 The Hobson Residential College at Princeton and the Lucas Museum 00:52:41 Why women's sports is the fat pitch of this generation 00:54:52 Closing thoughts on excellence, opportunity, and gratitude About the guest: Mellody Hobson is currently Co-CEO of Ariel Investments. Additionally, she chairs the board of Ariel Investments’ publicly traded mutual funds. Prior to being named Co-CEO, Mellody spent nearly two decades as Ariel’s President. In 2025, she founded Project Level® to change the game in women’s sports. Mellody co-founded Ariel Alternatives, LLC in 2021 and its inaugural private equity fund, Project Black®. Beyond Ariel, she serves as a director of JPMorgan Chase and is the former chair of Starbucks Corporation. Mellody was a long-standing board member of the Estée Lauder Companies and chairman of the board of DreamWorks Animation until the company’s sale in 2016. About the host: One of the country’s most respected business journalists, Mathisen has hosted or co-hosted many of CNBC’s flagship programs, including Power Lunch and Nightly Business Report. He also served as Managing Editor of CNBC Business News and Vice President of Events Strategy. His reporting has spanned the tech bubble, 9/11, the 2008 financial crisis, and the Covid-19 pandemic, and he’s produced award-winning documentaries and interviews with leaders across business, sports, and government. About Enduring Excellence: Enduring Excellence is a speaker series presented by the University of Chicago Graham School and moderated by longtime CNBC anchor Tyler Mathisen. Through compelling, in-depth conversations, the series engages world-class executives, ground-breaking scholars, and cultural icons to explore a timeless yet timely question: How do extraordinary leaders sustain purpose and impact across generations? Learn more at: https://graham.uchicago.edu/enduring-excellence/ #MellodyHobson #EnduringExcellence #Leadership #ValueInvesting #ArielInvestments #ColorBrave #WomenInBusiness #BoardLeadership #DiversityAndInclusion #WomensSports #UChicago Read 5 key takeaways from our discussion with Mellody here: https://leadforsociety.uchicago.edu/ee-mellody This discussion has been edited for length.