"I listen, but shortly after, the second piece is
to pull the trigger."
Terry Lundgren
Federated
CEO since 2003
?/BIG> On not noodling:
I have always been a pretty good listener, and I am quick to admit that I do not have all the answers. So I am going to listen. But shortly after I listen, the second piece is to pull the trigger. I have all the input, and here is what we are going to do. People need closure on a decision. If you listen and then noodle on it, people get confused, and that's not effective leadership.
?/BIG> On driving change:
When I was 35, I became CEO of Bullocks Wilshire, a division of Federated. The person I replaced had just retired and there was not a lot of change going on in the organization. I knew that we were not attracting young consumers, so we decided to try some new things in advertising. We had done line-drawn ads for 50 years, and it wasn't working. But it was the heritage of the company. The response was mutiny(a situation in which people refuse to obey the person who is in charge of them, and try to take control for themselves)— "How could you come in here and do that?" I didn't know if it was right, but you have to have good instincts in this business. I brought in someone to change the marketing, and all of a sudden we saw a contemporary point of view.
?/BIG> Favorite leader:
Martin Luther King Jr. With all the odds against him, he took a stand for what he believed in.
—M.B. |
