Simply Managing

⁸I was told the story of the chief executive of a major British company who would not let regular employees walk past the door of his office. To get by, they had to go down one set of stairs and up another. Those who got into that office had to sit on chairs lower than his, so that he could talk down to them. He moved to the chairmanship of an even greater company, and eventually he got knighted for his efforts. When he left that chairmanship, his advice to his successor, at board meetings, was to (1) dress properly, (2) not smoke, and (3) keep control with a clear agenda. His successor, at his first board meeting, took off his jacket, lit a cigar, and asked, “What would you like to talk about?”