Interview

I had a great interview (for a class I am taking) with a guy that I met about three years ago on a plane a couple weeks ago. He is a CEO of a large corporation in Louisiana. it was interesting when I met him because we were both sitting next to each other in coach seats on a Southwest flight through Houston. He messed around with his Blackberry for a bit and we just chit chatted a bit - you know the normal stuff that new acquaintances say - "how's the weather in Louisiana?", "Wow are those blue tarps really covering homes damaged in the hurricane?", "What is Texas like?", "Nice Cowboys Boots" etc . When he was getting up to depart he gave me his card with a handshake and an "if you need anything" type of goodbye. I looked at his card after he had left and it told me that he was the CEO of this large corporation.

I was not so impressed with his position as I was impressed with his demeanor. Some leaders of notoriety bask in the position of authority that they hold. This guy was so down to earth - riding coach when he could have his own plane. When the assignment to "contact a leader that you have been impressed with" came up in my class he was the first one that came to mind.

When I called his office to see about the possibility of an interview he said, "well I think you're scraping the bottom of the Barrel!"

I began the interview with having him tell me some of the "moments" that defined his direction as he became a leader. He gave me one. He said that he decided to take an ROTC class at Tulane University because it would be an easy A. What he did not expect was that the course would place him in the Navy for a season where he cut his "leadership teeth". Most of what he learned as a foundation to his leadership and the doors that have opened for him were after a decision where he was not even looking to the future.

Here is a list of some of the leadership principles that he shared with me.

- Being an old sailor he said, "As a leader, you need to be able to curse with the sailors and sip tea with the Queen and then relate with every one in between."

- "I do not suffer BS lightly!" Meaning - cut the crap! Be your best but don't fake it.

- Don't be fake. Real Leaders can smell out a fake a mile away. Be real.

- With regard to BS he said that most of his leadership opportunities came after he "called someone out" when they were wrong (BS-ing) What happens is that when you call someone out people will look to you for the direction that you think they should go. It then both gives you an opportunity to prove yourself and requires that you become the leader and lead into what you feel is right action.

- Be true to yourself. Do not be anyone else. Sooner or later you will need to make a choice between who you want to be and yourself.

- If you are not willing to "pound the table" over an issue - meaning fight for what you think needs to be done - don't bother bringing it up.

- Get the right people on the bus with you and just as importantly get the wrong people off the bus. When you have done your work to develop a solid team - the work will take care of itself. When Crisis comes you will have a solid response because you have already done your job.

- Most important - speak truth.

He is not a guy that has a ton of Charisma but he is a guy that stands with solid integrity. I think that charisma is over rated when it comes to solid leadership - it is much deeper than looking good.

The interview was a blast - I hope you can use some of the info.

Peace,

Mike