Jim Whitehurst

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Raleigh, NC

Jim Whitehurst is President and Chief Executive Officer of Red Hat, the world’s leading provider of open source enterprise IT products and services. With a background in business development, finance, and global operations, Whitehurst has proven expertise in helping companies flourish—even in the most challenging economic and business environments. Since joining Red Hat in 2008, Whitehurst has grown the company, and its influence on a variety of industries, by reaching key milestones—the most notable in 2012 when Red Hat became the first $1 billion revenue open source software company.

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Authored Content

Collaborative agenda setting

Create a culture where difficult conversations aren't so hard

I worked as a consultant for many years before becoming the CEO of Red Hat. One of the most surprising aspects of that work was that people would open up to me, an outsider…

Pull to open here

How I discovered Linux's true power

My Linux story begins like that of so many others—with an old computer and a desire to tinker. It was the late 1990s when I read an article about a UNIX-like operating system…

open source button on keyboard

How to earn respect as a leader

In this adaptation from his new book, the CEO of Red Hat, Jim Whitehurst, shares advice for how to build credibility in an organization—especially if you are new to it, have a…

open source button on keyboard

Be a leader who can admit mistakes

This might sound obvious, but if you want to build a more engaged workforce you need to, well, engage. That means, whether you are a CEO or a frontline manager, you need to be…

Two different business organization charts

Managing performance when it's hard to measure

Organizations of all kinds have long struggled to accurately measure the performance of individual members. The typical approach is to assess an individual's performance…

putting the pieces together

Like open source software, a book is more than its content

Since launching the The Open Organization in June, I've received questions about why we chose to distribute the book via a traditional publisher. Some have wondered why we…