4 leadership lessons from Barry Diller: They don't teach this in business school

CNBC Leaders Playbook premieres Wednesday, January 7, 2026 at 10 p.m. ET/PT on CNBC, with all-new episodes airing Wednesdays.

These leadership takeaways are part of a new primetime series, CNBC Leaders Playbook, premiering January 7 at 10 p.m. ET/PT. Hosted by Julia Boorstin, the series goes inside the minds of the world’s top business leaders to reveal how lasting success is built.

Media mogul Barry Diller admits that even the most powerful executives start out with no idea what they’re doing.

His philosophy: fake competence until you’ve actually earned it — because overthinking or waiting until you “know enough” can lead to missed opportunities and potentially even failure.

For Diller, the best way to vet an idea is to get a group of people around a table and let them argue passionately about their idea. He calls it “creative conflict.”