Sunday, April 01, 2007

The Best Bosses and Business Role Models I have had

As I look back upon great bosses and role models I have had, I realize that they have certain characteristics in common. The biggest single one is that instead of issuing orders from on high, they asked smart questions. From John Coady, for whom I worked at Mars, Inc. to Dave Allen at Marketing Corporation of America, they encouraged me to stretch by asking me the right questions. From Don Campbell at Procter & Gamble and Heinz Ivo at Mars, to Frank Perdue, they made sure I did worry about the details. A great plan, poorly executed may be worse than a poor plan.

For every weak boss I have ever met, I have had several good ones, and a few great ones. I will go into more detail one by one in later posts.

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