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Gary Burnison Chief Executive Officer Michael Distefano Chief Marketing Officer Joel Kurtzman Editor-In-Chief

Creative Directors Robert Ross Roland K Madrid Marketing Manager Stacy Levyn Project Manager Tiffany Sledzianowski Circulation Director Jaye Cullen Web Comm. Specialist Edward McLaurin

Contributing Editors Chris Bergonzi David Berreby Lawrence M. Fisher Victoria Griffith Dana Landis Stephanie Mitchell Christopher R. O’Dea P.J. O’Rourke Glenn Rifkin Stephen J. Trachtenberg Adrian Wooldridge

Board of Advisors Sergio Averbach Stephen Bruyant-Langer Cheryl Buxton Dennis Carey Bob Damon Joe Griesedieck Robert Hallagan Katie Lahey Byrne Mulrooney Indranil Roy Jane Stevenson Companies, People & Earth on the Rise.

26 22 52 60 66 • In Review

• From the CEO 38 • Parting Thoughts • The Latest Thinking

he Briefings Interview How to Save The Oceans Comeback City Four Men at War Saving the Amazon Roaring Back Comeback On Two Wheels •T Pollution has put our seas on Detroit on the verge Akamai and Photographer Salgado focuses his lens. life support. What can we do? of a new era. Legends high-tech rising. 1 7 3 2 5 8 6 9 4 11 17 13 21 12 51 31 15 71 18 61 19 16 41 14 10 57 37 27 72 32 33 53 35 23 52 55 25 67 22 28 38 58 47 62 63 39 65 65 36 59 29 26 56 43 24 45 42 34 66 69 48 70 54 49 46 30 20 50 64 60 44 18 40 1 FROM THE CEO THE FROM

dived head-first into the end victory was never in question GARY BURNISON “As a leader, zone for a touchdown. For Luck, for Hagenbeck. a Heisman Trophy winner (and As the general told me it’s not previously featured on the cover the story, I was impressed about you, of Briefings), this wasn’t a case of by his quiet confidence and “luck” at all. Here was the “good compassion for the soldiers but it starts Failure or Success— fortune” that results when under his command. His eyes preparation meets opportunity. dampened as he told of 28 with you.” It’s a Grand Illusion The same applies to us, if we soldiers wounded in the first 30 learn from failure and embrace minutes of fighting — and of an setback as a temporary moment Army Ranger who was captured etback or comeback. Failure or success. in which preparation and determination must collide and killed. Hagenbeck’s concern for his soldiers Luck or destiny. to create opportunity. No matter how many times we was boundless. In return, his troops were inspired The difference between them can be a “throw interceptions,” we almost always get another followers, not just soldiers taking orders.Just a few Svery fine line. Look no further than this chance to play quarterback. The question then weeks ago after that NFL playoff game, Colts Head year’s Winter Olympics, where the difference between becomes, do you trust your own passing or hand the Coach Chuck Pagano (a comeback story himself, after the gold medal “thrill of victory” and the “agony of ball off to the running backs? missing nearly all of last season as he battled cancer) defeat” is measured in hundredths of seconds. There are two endpoints in life, but the shortest described the Luck-led victory as “one for the ages.” I have discovered that narrow bridge between path between them will not be a straight line. Simi- The quarterback, sounding an awful lot like a general failure and success to be learning and, then of course, larly, leadership is not linear. You must have a Plan C on a battlefield, summed it up differently: This was courage. Similarly, what turns setback into comeback for Plan B for Plan A, but none of those plans should his job, what he and the team had been trained to do. is determination coupled with perseverance. include surrender. I recall former West Point Superin- As one teammate told Sports Illustrated, “You see his In sports or in leadership, one of the most impor- tendent and Army Gen. Buster Hagenbeck telling me, eyes get focused and he says, ‘We are going to go on a tant lessons I have learned is that: “I’ve been in a lot of fights — never on the night be- drive [for a touchdown], right now.’ ” In other words, It doesn’t matter what you do at fore a battle did I sit up with my Luck is a leader — making the moment of failure; it’s what you sergeants and captains and say, others believe and enabling that do afterward that counts most. Gary Burnison ‘Gee, I hope we win tomorrow.’ is CEO of belief to become reality. That’s what came to mind when I recently Losing is just not an option.” Korn Ferry and There is something about watched the NFL playoff game between the India- As a leader, it’s not about author of the a comeback, about hardship, napolis Colts and the Kansas City Chiefs. The Colts you, but it starts with you. new book LEAD. about overcoming the odds,  LEADthebook.com had gone into the second half down 28 points, and However, leaders don’t stage about victory for the “little guy,” the Indianapolis quarterback, Andrew Luck, was a comeback just for themselves. that is more sustaining and drawing boos from the hometown crowd, having They are propelled by purpose, by others. Nelson holistically motivating than stories of riches, fame, thrown two interceptions. At that exact moment of Mandela came back from 27 years in prison to lead his celebrity and success. Why? Possibly because most of the game, the statistical probability of a Colts vic- nation, because he believed in a unified South Africa. us can relate to an “underdog.” Or because arriving tory was a mere 3.6 percent, according to ESPN. But Abraham Lincoln endured numerous setbacks in at the destination or achieving the goal is not as the improbable is exactly what happened, as Luck business and politics to become the greatest president sustainable or impressionable as the memories and subsequently turned setback into the second-largest in U.S. history because he had the strength and moral learnings of the trials and tribulations of the journey. comeback in NFL playoff history, winning 45-44. conviction to keep the nation from splintering apart. For these reasons, one must derive humbleness What was equally remarkable, however, was And on the mountainous border between Af- from success and allow failure to impart wisdom. Luck’s demeanor throughout the game, even after a ghanistan and Pakistan in late February 2002, This should remind us that leading is less about failed play: no slumped shoulders or panicked expres- Gen. Hagenbeck — now retired — led a mission strategy and decision making and much more about sions. Instead, you could see the confidence in his known as Operation Anaconda, an intense battle empowering, believing and connecting emotionally eyes. When a Colts running back fumbled at the goal against more than 1,000 foreign al-Qaeda. No with others. If you are looking for others to believe in line after a long drive with little over 10 minutes left matter that U.S. and allied troops were outnum - you, you will be waiting a long time for results — rather, in the game, Luck instinctively grabbed the ball and bered and the conditions were extremely harsh; believe in others, and you will be amazed by the results. 

How While it’s true that Korn Ferry has grown of the diversified and something to be done build, attract and When great brands endure from a twinkle in the contemporary firm lightly. Over the past ignite talent, driving Korn Ferry the test of time, visionary eyes of we had become. We year we have carefully dramatic change in something has evolved they do so through our founders into a needed a refreshed crafted a new brand the organizations periodic transforma- billion-dollar global identity that honored that is confident, we serve. We hope ignites... our brand: tion to reflect new organization. our storied past while classically modern you enjoy the realities, broadened Over time, our taking us boldly forward. and rich in meaning. Brand-Formation visions. Over four brand became an Tinkering with an Our brand conveys of Korn Ferry. and a half decades, inadequate reflection icon, however, is not our ability to design, —MIKE DISTEFANO

182 BRIEFINGS TALENT+LEADERSHIP 3 TALENT + LEADERSHIP T H E L A T E S T

AN OASIS OF CALM AN ICONIC BRIDGE. A HIDDEN PARADISE. A LONG BREATH OUT. THE WHISPER OF FOUNTAINS. THE SCENT OF HIBISCUS. THE COMPLETE ESCAPE. HOTEL BEL-AIR. 8 The Briefings Interview MARIA CORTE MARIA Gail Kelly CEO WESTPAC GROUP Illustration:

Women on Boards 6 Conversational Intelligence 16 Investing In Next-Generation Talent 18

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TALENT+LEADERSHIP 5

HBA_AD_8.125x10.875.indd 1 14/12/2012 16:20 By Karen Kane

in” with three CEO’s who knew her well. Was a International, says his best advice for directors board seat a valid objective for her? Not only did they looking for a second board seat is, “Be an extraordi- endorse the idea, but they became active supporters nary director” on your first board. Becoming a Director of her candidacy. When Hallagan talks to CEO’s and chairmen, he Goodwin understood technology, as she had con- often asks, “Who is your best director and why?” sistently picked winning companies in this industry “Those rated as exceptional directors are Is a Career Choice for her clients’ investment portfolios. While presenting bright, engaged and accessible; they challenge man- on a panel with the former CEO of Akamai Technolo- agement, but in a respectful way,” said Hallagan. ary Agnes Wilderotter had a good job as vice president for sales gies, George Conrades, Goodwin decided to make In light of dižculty in finding top talent for boards, inquiries. She told the search firm partner who had Hallagan noted that more and more of his clients

at a small start-up technology company serving the cable industry. ERSEY She had a good education and parents who encouraged her and her H organized the event that if Akamai were ever looking are doing long-term board succession planning. M HN for a director, she would love to serve. Because of her Anticipating future gaps in the board’s competency JO three sisters to be successful. “Ambition is part of femininity,” their mother initiative and simultaneous conversations at Akamai, — because of changes in business model or upcoming taught them, and each daughter was expected to find her own path to the search firm formally proposed Goodwin for candi- retirements — has paid off for clients. “As one client success. Early on, Maggie Wilderotter decided she wanted to be a director. dacy, and she joined the Akamai board at age 44. noted, you can always expand the board by one for a Illustration: Goodwin values what she has learned as a board short period of time if it means not losing an excep- That approach has worked well for the member. She regards Conrades and director Martin tional candidate,” he said. chairman and CEO of Frontier Communications Coyne as mentors and supporters. Coyne endorses While CEO’s remain the most-recruited group, the (NASDAQ:FTR) who has served on 23 public company Goodwin as “a model director who is well talent supply is limited, according to Hal- boards in the past 28 years. versed in business issues, well prepared There’s lagan. His team is now going to highly suc- According to Wilderotter, just as an ambitious and actively participates. Her financial, nothing cessful companies, working with the heads individual develops a career plan that builds upon international, risk management and busi- casual about of human resources and identifying high each successive job of increasing responsibility as a ness experience adds considerable value to potentials. “They will be exposed to best stepping stone to the ultimate goal of being a C-Suite our board discussions.” becoming practices, have histories of making good executive or CEO, the search for a board seat should When Northwestern University’s Kel- a corporate decisions, and through NACD [National follow the same path. Some begin with a private or logg School of Management decided that director: Association of Corporate Directors] and nonprofit board, moving to a small public company alumni clubs were a great tactic in strength- It should other educational programs, we can help board and ultimately a larger public company board. ening relationships with former students, educate them on good governance.” Today, Wilderotter chairs her own board at Fron- Blythe McGarvie, then in her 20s, jumped be part of Human resources executives represent tier Communications and serves on the boards of in as one of the founders of the first club. a larger another new talent pool, said Hallagan. Xerox Corp. and the Procter & Gamble Company. “As program director, I did everything — ar- career plan. “Ensuring a company has the right CEO It’s clear that there’s nothing casual about be- ranging programs, speakers, helping with leadership and an environment that attracts coming a corporate director: It should be part of a membership.” Her raised profile caught the attention of top talent is a key driver of shareholder value,” he said. larger career plan. the university, which sought to recruit her to the Board “This topic increasingly has to be a top priority agenda C. Kim Goodwin agrees. She joined Mellon Bank of Trustees in 1985, a remarkable achievement for a for boards, and HR executives can certainly add value.” in 1987 and during her first week on the job, she was 29-year-old. When she asked what brought her to the To the uninitiated, getting on a board may appear invited to attend a career strategy session for women board’s attention, she learned it was her passion for her daunting, but Wilderotter is fond of saying, “You’ve and minorities. The Princeton graduate with an graduate school and willingness to contribute. got to fish where the fish are.” By that she means, M.B.A. and a master’s of public administration from A recruiter asked her to consider a director role those seeking director positions need to get to know the University of Texas remembers seeing a diagram at a private company that wanted to add her retail the current board members of the company. She also of a pyramid with “CEO/Board of Directors” at the experience to its board. She declined, saying she says it’s crucial to know what you offer. “It’s not an top. She was surprised later to learn that she was the would wait for a public board seat. But the recruiter elevator speech, but it requires that you know where only course participant aspiring to rise to that level. persuaded her to talk to the CEO. you are going and how you add value. It requires Like Wilderotter, Goodwin took charge of her “The recruiter was right,” said McGarvie. “Dick research and thinking of the matrix of skills that the career with the strategic goal of becoming a director. Wood is an extraordinary leader. Wawa Inc. is current board possesses.” She sought more responsibility and harder jobs, private, yet they operate with all the discipline of a Once again, Wilderotter made the Fortune Magazine which sometimes meant moving: from Mellon she public company.” She joined the board in 1998 and is list of the “50 Most Powerful Women. “ The magazine went to Putnam Investments as senior vice president still on it, serving as the company has grown revenue points out that nearly everyone on the list is “striving and portfolio manager, then to American Century In- from $1 billion to $9 billion. “Like my first marriage, to reinvent her business,” but this group of executives vestments as managing director and chief investment it was my first board and I’m going to keep it.” is not sitting still. ožcer, then to State Street Research as managing Bob Hallagan, vice chairman and managing The magazine noted that Wilderotter, at No. 40, director and CIO. At that point, she decided to “check director of board leadership services at Korn/Ferry ”remains a respected corporate voice.” 

6 BRIEFINGS TALENT+LEADERSHIP 7 The Briefings Interview

Leaning In, Gail Kelly. Chief Executive Officer, Westpac Group, Sydney. Not Blending In.

8 BRIEFINGS TALENT+LEADERSHIP 9 The Briefings Interview: Gail Kelly

It’s a bright

institutional presence that somehow under- Sydney in Asia, to help support scores a generosity of the increasing number spirit she believes leaders of Australian customers require in these disrup- morning building their businesses tive days for business. there. Pretty much ev- Budding vases of and the sun is streaming eryone is trying to home yellow roses, woven rugs, in through the glass in on the emerging mar- stuffed brand mascots kets in this Asian century, and splashes of bright to Westpac Group including rivals from paintings, including a chief Gail Kelly’s office Australia’s bank-heavy famous naive of Aussie in the city’s Central market, including Com- bushranger Ned Kelly monwealth, ANZ and (no relation), soften the Business District. The NAB. neat corporate furniture. boss of Australia’s Just shy of its 200th Family snaps hint at the second-largest bank anniversary in 2017, Aus- journey of the South tralia’s oldest company African-born teacher has a spectacular view is setting itself up for a and bank teller, M.B.A., of the sparkling harbor third century, knowing mother of four (including and the company’s new it will have to adapt to triplets) and sports nut, office tower rising up dramatically different to become Australia’s circumstances and com- first female bank chief in in a revamped historic petitive terrain. It is a 2002. docklands area below. long list: sluggish credit After overseeing an But Kelly’s rapid-fire growth, the disruption audacious and controver- Narelle Hooper Christopher Pearce mind is elsewhere. With caused to bricks-and- sial merger in 2008 with trademark smile and mortar businesses by St. George, the smaller almost infectious enthu- digitization, the need to rival she previously siasm, she is recalling re- rebuild trust and meet headed for five years, lentlessly busy Shanghai new capital rules after Kelly is making her mark,

Interview by and Mumbai and the the reputational pasting as one of the world’s port of Chengdu. The the banks took during most influential women Photographs by western Chinese port, 13 the financial crisis, and leaders. a signatory to the United of what’s possible when hours’ flight north, ships aging demographics, are To use Facebook COO Nations Global Com- a company sets its mind in a week what Sydney just for starters. Sheryl Sandberg’s line pact, the world’s largest at achieving gender does in a year, all mecha- Kelly drives all this, a of the moment, Kelly is voluntary corporate balance. nized efficiency and business with 36,000 leaning in. She aims to responsibility initiative. Kelly recently sat down throughput. staff and $A696 billion make Westpac one of Having learned by harsh with Narelle Hooper, The bank from Down in assets, from a CEO’s the world’s most admired experience that it is not former editor of the Aus- Under is boosting its office that feels homey, companies. The bank is enough just to keep your tralian Financial Review’s head down and do your BOSS Magazine. What best, she’s also setting follows is an edited ver- up Westpac as a model sion of their conversation.

10 BRIEFINGS TALENT+LEADERSHIP 11 The Briefings Interview: Gail Kelly

You’ve had a fascinating life and career KELLY You start at the top — role modeling When did you come to that? Was there a journey — from growing up in Pretoria, at the very top of the organization. We take moment it clicked? South Africa, to running Australia’s our values very seriously. I talk about the second-largest bank. You seem to adapt values wherever I go, so there is a big piece of KELLY Many years ago, I listened to Jack well to change. How did that come about? leadership in terms of communication and Welch. It was after he left G.E. He was asked embedding and showing, by your own actions, about leadership lessons he reflected on KELLY I’m not entirely sure! A combination that the values actually matter. and things he might have made more of. He of luck, hard work and taking opportunities And we’re very clear on the behaviors that spoke of a generosity gene. That struck me that came my way, I think. I am fortunate are evidence of One Team and the behaviors and I thought “That’s it.” I inherently believe to have had an excellent education, to have that are not. We call them out, and we recog- leaders need to evidence generosity of spirit. had parents who encouraged me to give my nize and reward through oŒcial performance That’s where it clicked for me because I in- best and to back myself. I think growing up in reviewing. We evaluate individuals’ perfor- herently believe in the power of the individual South Africa was a help, too – I was given real mance relative to their values; it’s a specific to make a difference. You need to create an accountability at a relatively young age and piece of the performance review. environment where individuals can flourish, learnt how to deal with change. The 1980s where they can be the best that they can be. and 1990s, when I was starting out in my He says it’s a gene in you. I’m not so sure — career, were really interesting and challenging What about removing employees if they I think you can develop this empathy through years. Once in Australia [the family migrated don’t adhere to the behavior? learning, observation and experience, and in 1997], I was fortunate to have been given there are some leadership dynamics. great opportunities which I threw myself KELLY We absolutely do that. I have ex- I picked up on this in my research report into. I really do love what I do. amples, and we make sure people understand on my M.B.A., in 1986. I’d spoken to these exactly why that has occurred. Silo mentality, South African CEO’s, leaders. … If you want silo behavior … we really do call that out. to be a good leader, you need to like people. How do you get that responsiveness in a I run processes twice a year with my team Leadership is about people. If you like people, big organization? That hierarchical struc- where we sit down as a team and spend time you take time to understand them, what that ture is so strongly ingrained in the way we to explicitly address how we are performing person’s individual motivators and drivers are operate. as a team and reviewing each. I’m part of that and therefore how to create an environment team, and I receive the same feedback and I where that person can thrive…. And to be pre- KELLY Culture is one of the things I’ve give the same feedback. It’s very powerful. pared to develop that relationship to the point pushed really hard, in all my stay in Westpac, It is a very open and constructive environ- where you can have a conversation: “I’ve no- and it has been a theme for me through all of ment, but it is very candid. Out of that, we ticed … and I’m concerned, so perhaps you can my leadership career. It is what I call a One each devise our own set of things we are going help me understand why this is occurring.” Team approach, which is different from team- to work on for the next six months. work by the way. Teamwork is one team working together, And the flip side is when they need a One Team is all of us across the whole In that, there is an issue around trust. It stretching? operation think about pulling together for the doesn’t come naturally to a lot of people. customer. It involves teamwork, but it means KELLY Correct. You see it in sport as well. I different teams will support each other so KELLY It doesn’t happen overnight. You love sport. I have several passions in life, one they will put the outcome for the customer keep on working on it. It boils down to a of them is sport. My father represented South and the outcome for the corporation first be- few things. One is deep respect for people Africa and in team sports. I grew up on sports fore the outcome for their own business unit and a belief people make a difference. If you fields. I’ve watched and been involved in team and the individual. don’t have a deep respect for individuals and sports, and I’m interested in the psychology of a view that people make a difference, you team sport and competitiveness. are not going to get trust. You are not going Some people need daily feedback and others A lot of organizations aim for that, but to get a One Team set of behaviors. You are are, “Let me be. I know what I’m doing and how do you make that real for people who not going to drive a “generosity of spirit” ap - when I’m ready I will bring it to you.” My kids go in every day but who are not as con- proach towards leadership, which I feel very are like that: “Mum, don’t keep asking me how nected to it as you and your top team? strongly about. I am. I am fine,” and other kids are different.

12 BRIEFINGS TALENT+LEADERSHIP 13 The Briefings Interview: Gail Kelly

How does that influence your day and how shareholders. We have EPS and TSR metrics. you do your job? We talk about four quadrants. We seek to achieve a balance on financials. We need to KELLY A big part of my job is assisting in be strong first, so we set clear goals on capital the process. I’m playing a leading, steering, liquidity. Then the growth quadrant — we’re guiding and cheerleading role in lots of ways. looking to target the growth in segments My job is in lots of ways to take all the where we get the best return — so increasing fantastic work, input and thinking and make in Asia, wealth, insurance and focus on sure I can distill it in really clear ways that deposits, transactional banking, SMEs and have meaning. That is so people can identify strength. Then there’s the productivity “Leadership is about with it and say, “I’ve got it.” quadrant. It is really important, and we have For example, we have a question on our to keep simplifying and standardizing and [employee] survey on whether I as an indi- eliminating waste. vidual understand how my work connects to The last quadrant is return. It goes to people. If you like the vision of the organization — 97 percent margin management and ROE. And they’re said yes. trade-offs: you want the appropriate level of I talk a lot about the elevator speech. They capital to be really strong and driving the people, you take time tease me about it. So you get in at level 1 and growth piece to really drive the return met- by the time you get out at level 21 between rics. You are balancing them, knowing there the two of us we can nail the elevator speech. are trade-offs. to understand them, You want people to have a simple, clear Part of my job is balancing resources that understanding. are finite – people, money, time — to best bal- ance that set of outcomes. what that person’s What are your main objectives as a leader? individual motivators KELLY You have global goals — to be the How does that sit on your shoulders? [one of the] most highly respected companies in the world. That’s why our sustainability KELLY I don’t feel alone. I have a fantastic and drivers are and metrics matter. It is about deep respect. board — and it provides great input and sup- That’s why I was so chuffed with the World port, understanding and guidance — and a Economic Forum where they choose 100 com- great relationship with my chairman. therefore how to create panies as best in sustainability. We came out And I have a fantastic team. … Having the 10th this year. We were the leading bank on right people in the right roles is the single the survey and the leading Australian com- most important factor for achieving business pany on the survey. It is about being respected success. And that includes moving the wrong an environment where and helping our customers, communities and people out of the wrong roles. employees prosper and grow. So I have a great team and we are all marching to the same agenda and we are all that person can thrive. really clear about what success looks like and —Gail Kelly And other goals? that balanced scorecard. We’ll sit as a team and make prioritization decisions, and that KELLY We set clear frameworks. We want comes to the One Team, because not everyone to achieve at least 15 percent ROE because it will have their wish; there are always many is important to be strong first, if you are going more requests for funding than we can do. to play this role in society. We’ve all seen what It’s not just funding—it’s often people and happens when banks fail, they can’t support change. You can’t put too much change into a customers, or provide an adequate return to system at once. 

14 BRIEFINGS 15 Five mistakes that lower Conversational Fixation on “Being Right” Intelligence

Neuroscientists are discovering that hu- By Judith Glaser mans have a passion for being “right” — more than a pas- sion — a compulsion. Allowing People “get high” Emotions on being right — and are rewarded indi- to Affect Ignoring vidually for having Listening Other “correct” answers. Tell-Sell-Yell What is Conversational Perspectives But, the more a Every conversation speaker pushes his It’s a mistake to has emotional Intelligence? Many people err or her “reality,” the think that more talk content. Fearful by spending most more the listeners always translates listeners may of their time de- will seek to protect into better misinterpret scribing their views their positions or communication, friendly advice he corporate battlefields are littered with can be cultivated in individuals, of reality rather points of view, which understanding or warnings as teams and organizations. than learning how reduces their con- and influence. The threats. the burnt-out, rusting hulks of auspicious others assess a nection with others truth is, the more Disengaged Conversational Intelligence strategies that failed in spectacular fashion situation. But the and raises the risk of we try to align Listeners T conflict. is the hardwired ability in all more we focus on others around and companies that — despite having novel and humans to connect, engage and the “realities” that “our” point of Those who nod others perceive, their heads promising ideas — constantly trail their peers in navigate with others. It is the view, the more we the more we con- create groupthink, while others talk profits and shareholder returns. A while back the most important intelligence nect with them. resistance aren’t always drug company Boehringer Ingelheim suspected that gets better when “we” do it or grudging paying attention. together. While the other types of obedience Leaders need to its underperformance sprang from a lackluster driven by fear. To learn to practice sales force. New Wave Entertainment blamed intelligence are more “I-centric” employees, this engagement conflicting egos in the executive suite, and in nature, Conversational Intel- comes across as strategies with ligence is a collaborative effort. “my way or the others to ensure Clairol believed inconsistent marketing efforts highway.” they are truly We can raise the Conversational connecting, sharing led to the company’s poor numbers. Intelligence level in personal and learning. relationships as well as the teams However, none of these assumptions turned out and organizations we are a part of. to be the whole truth. By digging below the surface, Conversations are not always what we think they each company uncovered another obstacle that are. We’ve grown up believing in a narrow view of was holding them back. It wasn’t simply that they conversations, thinking they are about expressing couldn’t execute, market or sell. The bigger problem thoughts, observations and opinions. Many see con- was a lack of Conversational Intelligence™. versations as “persuasion” or “getting others to think essarily what others see. Each of us maps the world a lot of senior management people, and at this level Conversational Intelligence is an organization’s the way I think.” through our experiences. We create the meaning, and competence and experience are a given. Trust is ability to communicate in ways that create a shared In our early research, we watched conversations then we share it with others. Conversations provide the difference-maker. When I look them in the eye, concept of reality. under different circumstances, everything from first the tools for talking about what we think and feel, I’m asking myself: Do I trust them, and do I get the Having worked with these companies and many meetings to major negotiations. It wasn’t di cult and if the conversations are healthy and robust, we feeling that they trust me? Do they get the vision?” more of the world’s largest businesses over the past to see the patterns emerge. We found that as many will come to see how others view the world and learn Distrust leads to defensive listening; trust leads to 30 years, I’ve learned that Conversational Intelligence of 95 percent of verbal exchanges were “telling” to work successfully with them. intelligent listening. Creating a healthy, trusting en- statements. “Asking” statements were rare, as was Conversational Intelligence begins with trust. vironment is the first step to gaining Conversational Judith E. Glaser, CEO of Benchmark quality listening. Consider the challenges Angela Ahrendts, who heads Intelligence. When intentions are set on bridging our Communications Inc., is chairman of Conversational Intelligence is about closing the Apple’s retail businesses, faced when she stepped into realities, being open and transparent, focusing on re- the Creating We Institute. She is an gaps between your reality and mine. As such, it can her previous job as CEO of Burberry in 2006. How spect and relationships before tasks, listening to un- organizational anthropologist and author of seven books, including her yield improved business results and create a frame- did she transform this tradition-rich British clothing derstand, discovering shared success and consistently latest best seller, “Conversational work for enhancing relationships and partnerships, line, founded in 1856, so that it outpaced all other working to narrow the reality gaps, we are exercising

Intelligence: How Great Leaders CORTE MARIA

Build Trust and Get Extraordinary Results.” releasing new energy for growth and transformation. brands in the luxury apparel sector? Ahrendts put it our conversational muscles. When we do that, we are  www.conversationalintelligence.com For many, it may be a new concept to think that this way. “Trust is truly at the heart of it all. If trust much more likely to achieve organizational goals and what we hold in our head — as our reality — is not nec- is your core value, you hire accordingly. I interview perhaps our personal ones as well.  Illustration:

16 BRIEFINGS TALENT+LEADERSHIP 17 Moreover, a reliable succession process — with as Cross-train, maintain flexibility Investing in few surprises as possible — is something for which Where “development” may previously have had a reme- companies are increasingly rewarded in the market- dial ring to it, those who know they may be tapped for place. It is being demanded by shareholders, required leadership roles are now more likely to view coaching Next-Generation to be reported in the proxy, and is a metric of “good as a signal that they are headed for bigger things and governance” for shareholder proxy services that vote that the organization is investing in their future. Talent Reaps Rewards companies up or down as solid investments. Global leaders today need a wide range of skills and often, because of the sheer speed of change, Demonstrate commitment boards and CEO’s may not know precisely the mix of Any company that wishes to be known — inside capabilities and experience required in a successor here are clear and outside — as a development-oriented culture until fairly close to the transition. benefits to should start at the top. The board and CEO must So it’s important not only to ensure that any de- T “homegrown” make it clear that growing and advancing talent is velopment gaps are addressed for leading contenders, a priority, and that message should be understood but also to maintain a range of candidates. The goal talent — including in every corner of the company, particularly with is not to pit one candidate against another like jockeys lower cost and less high-potential executives who know their career and in a horse race, but to ensure the right CEO for a par- turnover — but their future matter. ticular stage of the company’s growth, as well as for a perhaps the most It’s easy to repeat platitudes about the importance particular industry and global environment. Let the important reason of leadership and valued employees — as many com- strategy lead the way, keep options open, and don’t to invest in up-and- panies do — but the real priorities quickly become choose a successor until the timing is right. comers is a simple apparent to insiders through the words and actions of those at the top. The board at the center and logical one: Companies that do it right understand that man- The board’s role in every phase of the succession and The best managers, agement succession is not an occasional exercise, but management development process is crucial. those who can make muscle that must be flexed regularly and continually On the most elemental level, while the board a real difference strengthened. Further, leadership planning should doesn’t manage development day-to-day, it should in corporate be closely linked to the organizational strategy. make sure that these topics are regularly on the performance and agenda. The board should identify an immediate, Focus on the critical few are wooed by emergency successor — which may change over time For those who will add the greatest value as leaders, — who can step in on a moment’s notice, as well as many employers, long-term, boards and CEO’s should look beyond promising next-generation leaders who will be critical are attracted to the most obvious choices. The goal is to build the to the future. Most companies that have implemented companies that excel best talent, and many CEO’s get consumed with the a rigorous succession process ensure that the board has at development. “what,” not the “who” and the “how.” ample opportunity to get to know future leaders, both They seize the Consider tapping the organization for input in board meetings and in less formal settings. opportunity to build on future internal successors. The best may be While CEO succession and passing the baton from their portfolio of highly capable and respected by their colleagues, one star CEO to another is the sort of news that regu- skills and experience, but “hidden” from leadership. And it’s important to larly makes headlines, the less glamorous process — the engage the organization in identifying promising plain old hard work — that ensures successful transi- whether ultimately leaders for another reason. When you make a lead- tions gets far less attention. to use in a senior ership change, of course you want the market to CEO’s and their boards are finally waking up to position at that respond positively, but you want company insiders the fact CEO succession is not an event, or even a company or to to be enthusiastic, too. That can be a powerful moti- process that exists in isolation, but part of a larger pick up and take vator throughout the organization. development effort that reaches deep down into the with them to apply To mobilize the critical few who will become the organization. By focusing on succession planning, elsewhere. Illustration: future leadership of the company, the first step is boards are executing their most important fiduciary identifying them, but the more important part is en- duty: ensuring a steady flow of leadership for their gaging them in regular communication organizations. How fortunate that

JO about their development progress. It’s Nels Olson is doing the right thing for shareholders HN HN Vice Chairman and crucial to gauge what the individual en- also helps to burnish the organiza- By Nels Olson & H Co-Leader, Board & CEO ERSEY Megan Shattuck visions for the future, including interest Services Practice, tion’s credentials as a leadership de- in a plan to prepare him or her for a lead- and Megan Shattuck velopment culture and a magnet for is Client Partner, ership role. Korn Ferry. management talent. 

BRIEFINGS TALENT+LEADERSHIP 19 ALL THE TALK ABOUT THE RELATIVE DECLINE OF THE UNITED STATES IS NOT ONLY BASELESS—IT’S DEAD WRONG. THAT WAS “ America is not a spent power, not by a long shot … [and if you] ask me Unleashing the Second American Century where the country is headed.…in I can answer with a single word: Up.” —JOEL KURTZMAN, TTHEHE GREAGREATTESESTT COMEBACKCOMEBACK SINCE LAZARUS. “Washington and the American public need to get educated on energy and the tremendous poten- tial we have in America to be energy secure. Joel Kurtzman’s book is a great educational read. Now SID WADDELL what we need is leadership. And a plan.” ENGLISH SPORTS COMM ENTATOR AND T ELEVISION PERSONALITY —T. BOONE PICKENS

“ Fasten your seat belts. If Kurtzman … is right, the American economy is fueled for an unprecedented takeoff into a new era of economic growth.” —KIRKUS

www.secondamericancentury.us

Four Legendary Turnarounds Available now in hardcover and e-book, wherever books are sold

TALENT+LEADERSHIP 21

Unleashing ad.indd 1 12/11/13 1:10 PM VINCE LOMBARDI: THE REAL GLORY IS IN BEING KNOCKED TO YOUR KNEES & THEN COMING BACK. sk any executive or leadership guru to name the leaders they most admire, and the majority will place A NELSON MANDELA among the top three, along with andhi and Martin Luther King r. As a young and vocal leader LEADERSHIP of the African ational Congress, Mandela, a lawyer, was determined to bring justice and e uality to black South Africans, who made COMEBACKS up 0 percent of the country’s population but were denied almost all freedoms by the white GLENN RIFKIN Afrikaners’ ruling government. Determined, charismatic, brilliant and resourceful, Mandela became a leader in the A C and was arrested History is replete on treason charges and later on charges of with stories of sabotage and conspiracy to overthrow the Winston state. At 44 years of age, he was sentenced to monumental failure life in prison and sent to obben Island prison followed by inspired near Cape own. He spent the ne t years in CHURCHILL redemption. One prison, most of it at hard labor. During his time in prison, he never stopped believing in the Considered perhaps outside the political world can’t enjoy the cause, and his name became the rallying cry for the 20th century’s most for the first time. full measure of inspiring leader, Winston During what he called the anti-apartheid movement around the world. Churchill, an icon of staunch “The Wilderness Years” success without hen he was released at age 1 in 1990, and exceptional steward- Churchill spent time experiencing the andela emered as an iconic world fiure ship as Britain’s resolute writing and painting, but who symbolized the strength of self-determi- prime minister during after another short stint in World War II, endured a Parliament, he was swept pain and education nation and forgiveness. ather than e press decade or more in which out, along with the Labour of failure, and most hatred and anger at his unjust imprisonment, his career appeared to be Party in 1929. The stock leaders, whether Mandela spoke of the importance of reconcili- in terminal decline. As a market crash left him in ation without retribution as the only hope for young man, Churchill began financial straits, and he all in business, the future of a South African democracy with an upwardly mobile climb in but vanished from the po- Britain’s turbulent political litical scene. As Hitler rose politics, sports, e uality for all of its citizens. He became a scene. He had gained fame to power, Churchill spoke entertainment master negotiator and spent his last years as a military officer who out from the backbenches in prison and first years outside of prison displayed exceptional valor and issued warning after or the military, formulating a plan to work with the white during fighting in India and warning of a coming crisis the Boer War. He wrote with Germany. will acknowledge government, repair the fractures within the best-selling books about Well past the typical that victory is far A C, and to set the stage for majority rule in his exploits, and when age of retirement in his era, sweeter coming on South Africa. In 1994, by an overwhelming he returned to England, Churchill emerged from maority, andela was elected as the first blac he was easily elected to political exile and became a seat in Parliament as a prime minister in 1940. His the heels of defeat. president of South Africa. He served just one conservative MP. He was unwavering courage and What follows are term, though he could have easily won again made home secretary in inspirational voice during some examples of and again. His statesmanship and leadership 1910 and later first lord of the Battle of Britain and skills kept South Africa from descending into the admiralty. He fought in throughout World War II the trenches during World brought that beleaguered inspired leadership a bloody civil war, and he became a symbol of War I and returned even nation through its darkest comebacks. hope for oppressed people around the world. more admired to his home days. After much effort, Nelson In a 00 interview with the ew York imes in England. When the war he persuaded President for his own obituary, Mandela was asked, “After ended in 1918, Lloyd George Franklin Roosevelt to such barbarous torment, how do you keep hatred named Churchill secretary provide support for the of state for war and air. Allies, and as the U.S. en- in check ” His answer was almost dismissive But his promising career tered the war, F.D.R. and “Hating clouds the mind. It gets in the way of stalled when he lost his seat Churchill steered the Allies MANDELA strategy. Leaders cannot afford to hate.”  in 1922 and found himself to victory. 

Illustrations: DAVID JOHNSON 22 TALENT+LEADERSHIP 23 ee Kuan Yew, the father of Singapore, signed this agreement which severed Singapore from is one of the world’s most respected statesmen. Malaysia, it will be a moment of anguish,” Lee said. He served as that nation’s first prime “For me, it is a moment of anguish because all of my minister and held office for more than life…I have believed in merger and the unity of these three decades—from 1959 to 1990—one of the longest two territories.” tenures among democratically elected heads of state in But rather than dwell on the past, Lee began to the world. But LKY, as he is known, had to endure an transform his nation, focusing directly on economic agonizing period of uncertainty and instability early development and creating a strong culture and society in his tenure before building Singapore into one of the in this once-downtrodden colony. In one of history’s most successful and admired Asian economies. great comebacks, Lee single-handedly forged a new Lee, born a British subject when Singapore was a colony, Lee studied at the London School of Nitin Nohria, Economics and Cambridge Uni- dean of the Harvard versity. He began his political career when Business School: he and a group of fellow English-educated Singaporeans founded the People’s Action KUAN YEW Enduring Party (PAP) in 1954. He rose to prominence along with Singapore—using such controversial tactics as corporal his party, and when Singapore merged with Malaysia in punishment in the form of caning, and making such setbacks order to end British sovereignty in 1963, Lee believed vices as chewing gum or spitting punishable offenses— while he had put his country on a path to a successful future. to create a formidable legacy. He also created an ef- But the merger proved to be short-lived as the Malay- ficient, well-paid and corruption-free bureaucracy and maintaining sian ruling party grew increasingly concerned about spent heavily on education and innovation. Despite a Singapore’s Chinese majority. By 1965, the coupling small population, limited land and no natural resources, the ability fell apart and a formal separation was signed. Lee was Singapore has become a much-envied and respected to show devastated. In a televised press conference that day, he nation. Lee, now 90, continues to write and participate was nearly in tears. in the political process. He is among the most widely others the “Every time we look back on this moment when we praised and revered world leaders.  way to go forward is a true test of Diana NYAD leadership. Distance swimmer Diana the Florida Straits at age 29 Nyad refused to give up her in 1978. She made her next dream of swimming the 103 four attempts after the age daunting miles from Cuba of 60. She was beaten on her to Key West, Fla. Having previous tries by rough seas, failed in four previous, a brutal asthma attack and excruciating attempts, Nyad an overwhelming barrage finally conquered the ocean, of jellyfish stings. This time, the currents, the wind, the inspired by the recent death sharks and the jellyfish and of her mother, Nyad wore a staggered ashore on Sept. suit and mask to protect her 2, 2013, to the cheers of from jellyfish. “I got three friends and fans. That she messages,” she told re- accomplished this feat at porters on the beach. “One age 64, when most serious is we should never, ever swimmers are happy to do give up. Two is you never 50 laps in the pool at the Y, are too old to chase your was testament to her dreams. Three is it looks like mantra, “Find a way!” a solitary sport, but it’s a Nyad first tried to swim team that gets it done.” 

24 BRIEFINGS TALENT+LEADERSHIP By David Berreby

Pollution, debris, What can and waste we do?

have put Every Sunday in the warm months, our seas from May to October, we clean the beach. It’s about 40 feet of shoreline, sandy at on life low tide and all pebbles in high water, support. next to a pier in New York City (techni- How to cally, that makes it part of the estuary that is Upper New York Bay). It curves from that pier to a pile of rocks and Save the boulders, where crabs scuttle and kids clamber. Just a stretch of once-industrial shoreline, whose waters are now free of Oceans the sewage and industrial wastes that poisoned them in the 20th century.

26 Unfortunately, that comeback story, which has made old urban water- fronts so attractive in this century, is not all there is to say about the shoreline. These urban waters, though safe for boats and even swimmers, are also packed with trash. And so every Sunday the group comes down with garbage bags and work gloves and picks up: crumpled bags that once held potato chips or candy bars, plastic cups, bits of Styrofoam, “Coney Island whitefish” (as New Yorkers call floating condoms), liquor bottles, soda cans, tampon applicators and syringes. Once, we found a dead white rat with a huge tumor. Once, we found a grocery-store plastic bag wrapped tight around some clothes, an inhaler and release papers from a Long Island jail. However much we haul away, there’s always more the next week. Almost everything we beach cleaners pick up was thrown away on land, well out of sight of the sea. Krill... choke on Then the trash was carried by wind or rainwater into the sea. It wasn’t malice that put the garbage in the small plastic water — it was an “out of sight, out of mind” attitude that can’t see how even the smallest actions we take “nurdles” floating on land will have an effect on the oceans. In fact, when something human beings produce in the sea; or use “disappears,” it often ends up in the world’s oceans. “People in Iowa are affecting the coastline seabirds swallow hundreds of miles away, whether they know it or not,” says David Samuel Johnson, a marine ecologist at the plastic fragments Marine Biological Laboratory’s Ecosystems Center in Woods Hole, Mass. and bits of fishing As is often the case, the garbage we can see isn’t nearly as harmful as the stuff that is invisible. For line; loggerhead example, the world’s o–cially named oceanic trash heaps — the Great Pacific Garbage Patch, the Indian turtles mistake Ocean Garbage Patch, the North Atlantic Garbage Patch and others — are not dramatic collections of plastic bags for Pages 26-29; 36: CORBIS 36: 26-29; Pages junk on the surface but rather vast clouds of tiny bits jellyfish, swallow of plastic and other materials, much of it below the surface. Krill, the small creatures that feed many fish the bags, and and whales, choke on tiny plastic “nurdles” floating in the sea; seabirds swallow plastic fragments and bits die of intestinal of fishing line; loggerhead turtles mistake plastic obstruction.

28 BRIEFINGS 29 bags for jellyfish, swallow the bags, and die of intes- worse. And among those changes is the possibility centigrade. The reason it matters is also well known: live within their bodies. The algae get protection, tinal obstruction. that the ocean’s capacity to serve as a great mantle of The acceleration of this trend is likely to play havoc thanks to the hard exoskeleton made by the coral; In fact, the product with which we do the ocean soft armor — an absorber of excess heat and excess with fisheries, as many species head north, or go the coral get nutrition from the algae (which are also

most harm is odorless, tasteless and invisible. It is CO2 — has reached its limit. It is in trouble. And that deeper, to find temperatures in their comfort zone. the source of the reef’s gorgeous hues — polyps by carbon dioxide, added to the atmosphere by indus- means we — not just the billion people around the Competition for livable environments will be severe. themselves are nearly colorless). trial civilization and agriculture. world who depend on seafood for their protein, but Moreover, the changes will open up new opportuni- Rising temperatures disrupt this relationship: Increases in carbon dioxide in the atmosphere all of us — are in trouble. ties for pathogens, so that diseases are expected to When waters warm, polyps expel their algae. This are changing the climate and The most severe effects of spread to new ocean regions and new species. Many is known as “coral bleaching,” because it leaves the the biogeochemical exchanges rising carbon dioxide in the species will not survive the disruption (some esti- normally colorful reef looking chalky white. With among land, sea and air that The things we atmosphere have combined into mates say more than half will die out). their main source of nutrition gone, the polyps go on determine the weather. For are doing to a three-part assault on the global Coral reefs around the world — which, in addi- to die. Bleaching is thus a major reason why some decades, the ocean has been ocean, according to the Interna- tion to their natural beauty, are essential to the life 20 percent of the world’s coral reefs are already dead, absorbing a lot of the heat that the ocean are tional Programme on the State cycles of about a quarter of all marine species — are why another 15 percent are likely to be gone by 2030, excess carbon dioxide traps, of the Ocean (IPSO), a collection especially ill equipped to withstand changes in ocean and why coral could be extinct by the beginning of moderating its effects on land. now having of scientists who study the global temperature. The reefs are created by small, soft- the next century. And the ocean is also absorbing such severe sea. First, there is global warming bodied animals called polyps, which use calcium car- Warmer oceans are also altering the chemistry a great deal of carbon dioxide itself, which is causing average bonate from seawater to build themselves an external of oxygen in water: The warmer water is, the less directly, keeping it out of the consequences temperatures of seawater to rise. skeleton. (The hard forms of a coral reef are actually dissolved oxygen it can contain. A typical million atmosphere and, again, pro- Second, there is an ongoing re- the exoskeletons of countless polyps.) To eat, many molecules of water will harbor a few molecules of ox- tecting us. (Oceanographers that it appears duction in the amount of oxygen of these polyps depend on sugar made by algae that ygen, like the carbon dioxide in a bottle of soda (the estimate that the global ocean bound to change in seawater worldwide. Third, has absorbed some 525 billion the pH of seawater worldwide is tons of carbon dioxide from the for the worse. changing, making the oceans less atmosphere over the past two alkaline and more acidic. Each of centuries, including about a these effects, in isolation, could

quarter of all the CO2 generated by humans.) This have horrendous consequences for world weather protective effect helps perpetuate our “out of sight, and for life in the oceans — and thus for the billion out of mind” mentality about both our cast-off prod- people who depend on seafood for their protein. But ucts and the effects of global warming. they are all occurring simultaneously, and each one is But recently, signs have been accumulating that made worse by its interaction with the other two. this era of ignorance cannot continue — the things Ocean warming is well documented — over the we are doing to the ocean are now having such severe past century, the average temperature of ocean water consequences that it appears bound to change for the at or near the surface rose by more than half a degree

30 31 in Louisiana,” Johnson told me. Third, after they’ve eaten, humans themselves produce nitrogen-rich waste. When we flush it down to the local sewage treatment plant, that waste is cleared of smelly solids and disease-bearing pathogens. But until recently sewage systems did not concern themselves with removing nitrogen before emptying treated sewage into the nearest river or harbor. The “dead zones” near coasts are dismaying enough but over time the “deoxygenation” of the oceans far from coastlines may prove the larger problem. Fish and animals can, after all, move out of a “dead zone,” even one that is bigger than Lebanon. But if the entire world ocean harbors less oxygen, they may find no place to go. Finally, there is another way in which excess carbon in the atmosphere is changing ocean chem- istry. Absorbed from the atmosphere, excess carbon dioxide reacts with seawater to create carbonic acid, which makes the water less alkaline and “The Gulf of more acidic. Already, according to the National Oceanic and Mexico’s dead Atmospheric Administration, the pH of ocean surface waters has zone in 2013 was declined from an average of about 8.21 to 8.10 since the beginning the size of a small of the Industrial Revolution. On current trends, that pH could country. And drop to 7.8 by 2100. One effect of higher acidity is that carbonate that’s only one ions become scarcer in seawater. Unfortunately, those ions, when dead zone.” they bind with calcium to form calcium carbonate, are the building material of seashells, miles (about the size of Connecticut), Johnson told me. coral reefs and plankton. The more acidic the ocean, gas in the soda escapes into bubbles when you lessen at depth. “Deoxygenation” is thus another serious No one intended to kill or drive millions of fish off in other words, the harder it is for all these creatures the pressure on the liquid by flipping the cap, but the threat to the well-being of many individual species the coasts. It’s “out of sight, out of mind” thinking that to maintain the structures they need to live. air and water pressure that hold oxygen in water can’t and a menace to the food chain as a whole. unintentionally promotes algae blooms. First, we fer- Pondering this triple threat — warming, deoxy- be altered). This dissolved oxygen supports billions As if this weren’t bad enough, human activity tilize our crops ine–ciently. Of the 200 million metric genation and acidification — can make the ocean of creatures (which absorb it through their gills or, if is compounding the problem on the coastlines. tons of nitrogen applied to farmland each year, 140 mil- seem beyond repair. Yet geology offers some good very small, through their skin). There, over the past 60 years, we’ve been pouring lion are washed away into streams and rivers, and then news: The last time the ocean acidified in response to The trouble is not simply that warmer oceans will vast amounts of fertilizer into the ocean. This into nearby seas, according to Johnson. excess carbon in the air (after volcanic eruptions harbor fewer oxygen molecules per gallon. It’s also leads to gigantic algae blooms. When all those Second, we grow animals for food, and those 120 million years ago), it eventually returned to that warmer water tends to stay at the surface, be- algae die, the bacteria that consume them also animals produce what we can politely term manure. the pH levels we are used to. On the other hand, cause it is lighter than cold water and because it is fed consume all the available oxygen in the water. If Those wastes are also rich in nitrogen (which is why geology also offers some bad news: That recovery by fresh water from rain and melting ice. (Fresh water you can imagine a stagnant pond on a hot summer they were used as fertilizer, before the discovery of took 160,000 years. That fact clarifies that human- is lighter than saltwater.) Unfortunately, the oxygen day, covered with green algae and completely chemical means to get nitrogen from air). Despite ity’s ocean problem is one of time. We don’t just supply for deep-dwelling fish and other creatures divested of fish, you can see the problem. Except the our efforts to contain and use animal waste, a lot need a recovery; we need a recovery that is, in the depends on the sinking of oxygen-rich surface water. “dead zones” we cause extend for thousands of miles. of it also washes down to the sea. “A cow standing context of millions of years of geology, practically If less surface water sinks, less oxygen gets to animals The Gulf of Mexico’s dead zone in 2013 was 5,800 square in a stream in Tennessee is affecting the coastline instantaneous.

32 BRIEFINGS TALENT+LEADERSHIP 33 Can humanity turn this around? The only honest answer is: Nobody knows. Nonetheless, people can take steps, as individuals and as organizations, which could slow the current damage and in some cases reverse it. Consider those “dead zones” caused by the runoff of fertilizer into the sea. One major cause is the fact that 70 percent of the nitrogen used in agriculture Is That is not absorbed by crops. So, Johnson notes, finding Probably Not. ways to make agriculture more eƒcient — for ith existential unfamiliar or unpopular example, by giving farmers detailed analyses of threats fish as a better-known their fields, so they can apply fertilizer differently to W to ocean species that consumers different parts of their terrain — would help both species mounting and prefer. For instance, overfishing a worldwide 59 percent of the tuna farmers and the global ocean. So would better man- Tuna Fish problem, fish stocks face samples nationwide were agement of wastes, both animal and human. Sewage enormous pressure. One actually some other fish; treatment plants that remove nitrogen from treated sign of that pressure is in New York City, almost water, for example, would benefit nearby coastlines. the mislabeling of fish by all the fish samples food retailers. called “tuna” (94 So would a change in diet: Meat-eaters’ excretions From 2010 to percent) were not. Some have a lot more nitrogen in them than do vegetar- You’re 2012, the nonprofit of these substitutions ians’, Johnson notes. One way to help the ocean, advocacy group Oceana raise questions about then, is to eat less meat. genetically tested fish health impacts. For bought from 674 retail instance, tilefish is so Johnson, who is not a vegetarian, isn’t holding his outlets (stores and high in mercury that breath on that one. But the point underscores a fact restaurants) around the government advises about the ocean crisis that is worth remembering as Eating? the United States pregnant women and we struggle to find solutions. The damage that hu- and found that one- other sensitive groups manity is wreaking on the global ocean doesn’t result third of the samples not to eat it. Yet the were mislabeled. In Oceana study found from big policy decisions or leadership directives. It sushi restaurants, the tilefish frequently is, rather, the consequence of billions of small, daily, study found, nearly being passed off as red personal choices made by millions of people. One step 75 percent of samples snapper, for which no you can take toward helping the ocean come back, were not what they such warning has been were supposed to be. At issued. And in Chicago, then, is to align your personal choices with that goal. other restaurants, the the study found, one Consider the problem of overfishing, which mislabeling rate was sample of supposed “red increases stress on the species that people harvest close to 40 percent. snapper” was a slender for food. Fisheries now are managed according to (Grocery stores came pinjalo — a Southeast out better, with only Asian fish that is not national jurisdictions. Management by region or 18 percent of samples even on the Food and species would remove incentives to put national bearing false labels.) Drug Administration’s needs ahead of global ones, and thus improve protec- Often this involved list of seafood sold in the tion of overfished species. It would then be easier Up to 75% Is Fake misrepresenting an United States. to take important steps to conserve marine species. Mislabeled fish makes it from the ocean According to the IPSO report, these could include to your table more of en than not. eliminating subsidies for national fishing industries, which encourage overfishing; banning harmful tech- niques like bottom-trawling and long-line fishing; and declaring certain areas off-limits to all fishing. Meanwhile, on a personal level, you could take steps immedi- ately. Apps like the Monterey Bay Aquarium’s Seafood Watch, for example, can supply real-time information about which species are being sustainably fished (or farmed) and which ones are not. (It will, for ex-

34 BRIEFINGS TALENT+LEADERSHIP 35 ample, tell you that Chilean sea bass is a good choice because the fish is abundant and is being harvested It’s still not in a way that protects its long-term population while minimizing harm to other species.) too late to Such actions can serve as a personal contribution to the ocean’s comeback. They also can act as re- look out over minders that everything in our planetary ecosystem is connected — they can help cure us of the mentality the ocean of “out of sight, out of mind,” which created the cur- rent crisis. waves and That brings us, of course, to the ultimate cause of the problem. Bringing the ocean back from the see what brink will require that humanity reduce its output of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere. And if, for the people have moment, there seems to be no will or method to dras- tically lower global emissions, that could change, and change fast. In 1791, when William Wilberforce first always seen introduced his bill to abolish the slave trade in the British Empire, it was easily defeated. Sixteen years there, for later — an eyeblink in the timespan of human his- tory — Parliament voted to abolish the trade. Political as long as will can develop quickly, and the means to act appear once the will is manifest. It may well be that the there have ocean’s current crisis will help produce that kind of change — that the will to do something about global been people: warming could come in the aftermath of collapsed fisheries or the death of all coral reefs. hope. 

substances moving that the one-celled Salmon Restoration put it, the world’s first through both living algae called diatoms Corporation, to join “geo-vigilante.” The A Dose of Geritol? organisms and through were iron gluttons. him in dumping Canadian government land, sea and air — is Diatoms with access to 100 metric tons of quickly announced he play of data global carbon dioxide from dust storms human consumption, not a simple discipline. iron took up more than powdery green iron that the dump violated and uncertainty increases is by seeding and the occasional sold in drugstores as Some studies have they needed — like sulfate from a fishing Canadian law, the T about the the ocean with iron. volcanic eruption). a cure for “iron-poor suggested that the someone in a cafeteria boat some 200 miles U.N. Convention on ocean crisis doesn’t The idea is simple: In the 1980’s, the tired blood.”) Then, Geritol hypothesis line taking two pieces west of the islands Biological Diversity suit everyone — Algae, the simple oceanographer John the theory goes, might be correct. of cake and eating only of Haida Gwaii off of (CBD) and the London certainly not anyone plant-like organisms Martin suggested that those organisms will On the other hand, one, Ingall said. British Columbia. A Convention, which with an executive that abound in water, algae failed to grow die and sink deep a careful look at This suggests that few weeks later, there governs dumping temperament — who gulp down carbon in some parts of the into the sea, taking how some algae use massive amounts was indeed a sudden at sea. Plans for a wants to identify dioxide as they engage ocean because those excess carbon with iron suggests that of iron would not and massive bloom second fertilization problems and solve in photosynthesis. areas lacked iron. them. “Give me a half it might not. In that generate the expected of algae in the area, scheduled for June them. But the growth of Hence the “Geritol a tanker of iron and I work, published payoff in algal blooms. covering some 3,800 2013 were canceled, Consider Russ algae is limited hypothesis”: Give the will give you another last year (2013) in None of this square miles. George and the Haida George, a businessman by the availability ocean a shot of iron, ice age,” Martin boldly the journal Nature mattered to Russ had been advocating Salmon Restoration who is convinced of the nutrients and algae will bloom announced in 1991. Communications, George, who in 2012 this Geritol strategy Corporation that one way to help they need, one of and swallow up CO2. So goes the theory. researchers Ellery D. persuaded a local for years, but with this announced that the ocean and the which is iron (which (Geritol is a vitamin But biogeochemistry — Ingall, Julia M. Diaz and Native American act he became, as the George had been planet cope with comes to the ocean and iron tonic for the study of chemical their colleagues found organization, the Haida writer Michael Specter “terminated.”

36 BRIEFINGS TALENT+LEADERSHIP 37 STORY BY D ORON LEVIN THE GRITTINESS REMAINS TRUE, THE INGREDIENTS ARE IN PLACE AND THE ARROWS SEEM POINTED IN THE RIGHT DIRECTION. MOTOR CITY HAS A NEW PAINT JOB, TIRES AND RIMS, AND THE ENGINE OF RECOVERY ComE bac k CITY IS REVVING UP.

“A CI TY LYING IN WAI T” PORTFOLI O BY M ATTHEW GUSH

38

38 39 As old factories come to life while other buildings lie dormant, downtown Detroit offers a dynamic juxtaposition of recovery and decay.

etroit’s factories spit out millions of cars and trucks. They manufac- tured the tanks, artillery and bombers that secured an Allied victory in World War II. Those feats enshrined Motown as one of the richest and proudest cities on Earth. Motown’s tumble from glory took a few decades and was just as memorable. Deindustrialization, depopulation, blight, crime and a ghastly fraying of the social fabric fueled the unraveling. The world watched with a mixture of incom- prehension, sympathy and disgust. Now, engulfed in the granddaddy of all municipal bankruptcies, Detroit is pivoting from bust to boom once more. A groundswell of economic activity is spreading from the city’s center to the neighbor- hoods, fueled by an influx of young, educated, tech-savvy workers. Once-worthless buildings are being snapped up and renovated. Developers, attracted by land and structures recently thought to be worthless, are announcing building projects and investments weekly.

40 BRIEFINGS TALENT+LEADERSHIP 41 The view from Realtor Austin Black II’s midtown office spans the entire city- a panorama that reveals the amount of work to be done

“We’ve seen attempts at renewal before, supported governance once agreement is reached on resolution “I saw this as a place where I could make a difference. Young people by public money. What’s different this time is that pri- of Detroit’s $18 billion of debt. Orr said an agreement heard all the stories about Detroit. We were brought up in the suburbs; vate capital is rushing into the city. They’re coming on with creditors and pension funds is possible before his their own dime,” said Doug Rothwell, chief executive 18-month term expires next September. we’ve traveled extensively and have a strong desire to live differently.” ocer of Business Leaders for Michigan, a CEO forum As breathtaking as the city’s deterioration has been, Austin Black II (left) Detroit real estate agent representing the state’s biggest companies. “We’ve likewise has been the determination and grit of those never seen this much momentum in our lifetimes. in the vanguard of the city’s rebound. Nonprofits and Now, the change is systemic.” foundations for years have been investing in projects to Today, six agents work at his firm, City Living Detroit. the market are leased as soon as they’re painted. In March 2013, when negotiations broke down stimulate renewal. Lately, reinforcements are joining “In my business, the residential real estate sector, The New Cadillac Square Apartments, built as a between Mayor Dave Bing, the City Council and public them from the private sector, betting their capital that we are getting a whole new message about Detroit hotel in 1927 and converted to apartments in 1966, was employee unions to cut costs and avoid insolvency, the city is a deeply undervalued asset, a market that has from people buying homes, and it’s a positive one,” 80 percent occupied two years ago. Now it’s virtually Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder exercised his authority bottomed, a suddenly ripe opportunity. Black said. Blight remains pervasive, to be sure, with full, said Chris Schim, the rental agent. Rent for a to override elected ocials and install an emergency The human commitment to Detroit cuts across de- perhaps as many as 80,000 structures that must be one-bedroom has risen to $850 a month from $625 manager. The criminal convictions of former Mayor mographic, geographic and ethnic lines. Austin Black torn down and countless empty lots that must be in that period. Most of the influx has been young Kwame Kilpatrick and other public ocials for of- II, 32, was born in the city, raised in nearby suburbs cleared of debris. Yet, once-grand neighborhoods, professionals and students, many former suburbanites fenses tied to municipal corruption lent weight to the and educated at Cornell University. He decided to where homes sell for a fraction of what they once hungry for an urban setting. rationale for a state takeover. return to his birthplace “because I saw this as a place fetched, are getting fresh consideration from buyers, “They don’t want to drive, they don’t like cars, they Gov. Snyder appointed Kevyn Orr, a Washington where I could make a difference. Young people heard including families with young children. don’t want to commute,” said Schim. “They want to D.C.-based bankruptcy attorney, as the man in charge. all the stories about Detroit. We were brought up in The downtown’s roughly nine square miles – of the walk to work. They like riding bikes and going places Four months later, Orr petitioned for Chapter 9 the suburbs; we’ve traveled extensively and have a city’s 138 square miles – had been for years a warren of after work on foot.” under the federal bankruptcy code while directing an strong desire to live differently than in the manner we buildings, many empty, and its littered streets mostly The Motor City has been, as its name suggests, a overhaul of the city’s dysfunctional and cash-starved were brought up.” deserted. Oces, apartments and hotel rooms gathered place where life and livelihoods revolve around the operations. A mayor newly elected in November, Mike After an internship in commercial real estate, dust. Today, practically all housing that can be refur- car. But starting in the 1980s, the Detroit-based auto Duggan, and a new City Council are poised to resume Black started out on his own as a residential broker. bished has been leased. Apartments and condos new to industry’s contraction clobbered southeast Michigan,

42 BRIEFINGS TALENT+LEADERSHIP 43 idling tens of thousands of adults, limiting employment opportunities and increasing the poverty rolls. As tax revenue and services shriveled, city residents by the hundreds of thousands moved to the suburbs or left Michigan altogether. From a peak of over 1.8 million in the early 1950s, population fell to the current 680,000 — “We have great neighbors, they love what we’re doing. Just because a third of the total in the last decade. residents leave, doesn’t mean the place has to look ugly.” Looking for better prospects, young Michiganders in their 20s moved to New York, Chicago and Los Angeles Mike Score (below) of Hantz Farms to pursue jobs after college – often never to return. Snyder and governors before him fretted publicly about the devastating impact on the state from brain drain and the loss of human capital. While it won’t be clear until the next census whether A community garden grows next to a crumbling midtown residence; the flight of longtime city residents has slowed, stopped Mike Score clears brush on a ruined residential plot. Tractors will finish demolition.

or reversed, signs clearly indicate that a new variety place are the people who are here. No one came to Association team and other sports teams. Osei earns of newcomer is arriving. A typical example is Alex make money big and fast; they came because they’re $36,000 to $38,000, “plus stock options.” One of his Kaufman, 22, a graphic designer from Los Altos, Calif. invested, committed. There’s a real allure to being part jobs is assisting the chairperson of an anti-blight coali- After graduation from the University of Michigan, she of the mission, a real solidarity. Detroit is bigger than tion. He’s also helping to build a system called “the moved downtown to take a job in her profession. Her the sum of its parts.” brain” that will track the variety of Gilbert’s activities parents initially were troubled. Kwaku Osei, 24, graduated from Virginia Common- and initiatives “to make sure that we’re not duplicating “What they knew about Detroit, they read or they wealth University in 2011 with a degree in marketing efforts among our 21,000 team members.” saw on TV,” she said. “They called me every night to and accepted a job from Deloitte Consulting. He found “I’m playing a small part in what is the biggest op- make sure I was O.K.” consulting to be “good experience but unfulfilling.” A portunity in the United States right now,” he said. “I Kaufman, who lives alone in a $1,155-a-month native of Alexandria, Va., he left Deloitte to join Venture hope to ramp up and play a bigger role soon.” apartment, said she doesn’t regret switching from her for America, a program patterned on Teach for America, John Rakolta Jr., chief executive o¥cer of Wal- original post-college plan to move to New York. She that matches budding entrepreneurs with private bridge, an international construction firm based in expects to earn $44,000 this year, which she says “is companies. Detroit, said, “The neighborhoods, which make up more than enough,” given what she sees as “a lower cost Osei is employed by Rock Ventures, the umbrella the vast majority of the city, are lagging behind” the of living.” organization for companies started by Dan Gilbert, downtown’s resurgence. “I think the neighborhoods “I came to Detroit not expecting to make a com- who is best known for starting Quicken Loans and for are now turning the corner by electing a mayor who is mitment,” she said. “What’s most important about the buying the Cleveland Cavaliers National Basketball going to put a big emphasis on services.

44 BRIEFINGS TALENT+LEADERSHIP 45 “The neighborhoods deserve much better police and fire protection than they’ve been getting, better schools and lighting,” he said. “For decades the city was run for the sake of employing as many people as possible, not delivering the best possible services.” Federal and state subsidies to improve services and stimulate economic activity have been massive Matt Cullen, and continuous, though untold millions of dollars chief operating officer remain unspent and often are returned to government of Quicken Loans, is due to disorganization, miscommunication and poor spearheading an effort management. to revitalize Detroit. Public money was spent in 2000 on the construction of Comerica Park baseball stadium, in 2002 for the Ford Field football stadium and in 2003 for the Compuware Building o­ce structure in a renovated Campus Martius public square. The pace of development took a quantum leap in August 2010 when Gilbert moved his Quicken Loans mortgage and associated businesses into the Compuware Building, vowing to play a central role in the city’s rebound. Today Quicken and its associated compa- nies employ 12,500 people in buildings downtown. “I’ve spent the first 50 years of my life building Quicken and my other businesses – and I intend to spend the next 50 fixing Detroit,” Gilbert has said on several occasions. Recognizing that a youthful cohort working at Quicken Loans and associated companies prefer a lifestyle that eschews commuting and parking, Gilbert and other business leaders and foundations have cham- pioned the construction of a 3-mile light-rail system that will connect the midtown and university districts to downtown. The M1 project, as it’s called, has been financed by corporations, foundations and governments. It is scheduled to break ground within months. Gilbert also has underwritten scores of start-up companies, sponsored classes to train budding entrepre- neurs, sprinkled donations on civic organizations and hired a private security force that conspicuously patrols downtown’s business district on bicycle to enhance public safety. Gilbert, who grew up in suburbs surrounding Detroit and still lives in one, has been the most active buyer of downtown real estate, acquiring 40 buildings – in- cluding the Greektown Casino – and spending $1.3 bil- lion on their purchase and refurbishment. In mid-October, a Chinese company outbid him for the partially occupied 38-story David Stott Building, an Art Deco masterpiece, and the empty Albert Kahn- designed Detroit Free Press Building. Shanghai-based Dongdu International Group paid $9.4 million for the skyscraper and $4.2 million for the 13-story former newspaper headquarters.

46 BRIEFINGS TALENT+LEADERSHIP 47 Rather than completely gut the basement of the Federal Reserve Building, the renovators decided to utilize the original bank vaults as contemporary meeting spaces.

Kwaku Osei, a young professional residing in Detroit, is working with the revitalization efforts of Quicken Loans A frozen downtown Detroit is slowly emerging. to transform the city.

According to a manager for the group that sold the If creditors and the court accept Orr’s “plan of for a profit. A few city oƒcials disparaged the urban doesn’t mean the place has to look ugly.” buildings to Dongdu, the Chinese company — which adjustment,” Detroit could find itself in arguably farming concept as insulting, an atavistic throwback Clearing and mowing lots and returning them to owns other North American properties — was “as- better financial shape than many U.S. cities, counties to the plantations of the rural South. the tax rolls, Hantz theorizes, will boost property tounded” at being able to buy a U.S. skyscraper for less and states that are likewise facing enormous debts, After city oƒcials stalled his entreaties to buy 1,700 values, making homes in the neighborhood more than $10 million. unfunded pension liabilities and insuƒcient cash to mostly overgrown lots near his home on the East Side of desirable and giving owners an incentive to stay and, “All of us are very excited and optimistic at the support police, fire, schools and other services. the city, a pact finally was signed in late October by the perhaps, to invest in their property. Score scoffs at ac- convergence of all this commercial activity and the The sheer number of lots that have reverted to city emergency manager and, later, the governor. Under the cusations from opponents that Hantz is a speculator. bankruptcy, which may sound odd. But bankruptcy ownership due to taxpayers vacating their proper- agreement, Hantz will pay $550,000 for the land; he’ll be “John lives in Detroit because he likes it here,” said gives the city a chance to restructure, a clean slate and ties— perhaps as many as 40,000 — has led one permitted to cultivate up to 15,000 hardwood trees and Score. “His decision to live here has shaped his decision a clean balance sheet,” said Matt Cullen, chief execu- Detroit partisan to propose a remedy for widespread be obligated to tear down up to 100 abandoned homes in to put resources into the community for himself and on tive oƒcer of Rock Ventures LLC, which coordinates abandonment of residential neighborhoods: urban a two-year period. His land will return to the tax rolls, behalf of his neighbors. We’ll recover costs over time.” the activities of Quicken Loans with Gilbert’s portfolio agriculture. John Hantz, owner of a Southfield, Mich.- generating about $2.5 million in revenue for the city. The racial polarization that fueled a wariness of of companies. based financial services company with 600 employees “We are buying a liability to the city, not an asset,” white public oƒcials is subsiding. Duggan, 55, the Orr, the city’s emergency manager, said, “Bank- and 35,000 clients, started Hantz Farms in 2008. said Mike Score, who runs Hantz Farms, which de- newly elected mayor, is a white lawyer and politician ruptcy will relieve us of grievous debt service. It will Hantz Farms faced opposition from community cided to clean up the lots, even though the sale hasn’t who moved to the city in 2012 so he could qualify establish us as a creditworthy municipality. That’s groups, including some that grow crops, on the been completed. “We have great neighbors, they to run. A former prosecutor, he switched careers in what any lender or underwriter wants to see.” ground that Hantz wants his enterprise to be run love what we’re doing. Just because residents leave, 2004 to accept the job of chief executive oƒcer of the

48 BRIEFINGS TALENT+LEADERSHIP 49 THE RETURN OF Detroit Medical Center and led its financial turnaround. Despite an electorate that is 83 percent black, Duggan overcame legal challenges to his candidacy, made it onto the ballot with write-in votes and defeated a well-liked black sheriff by a healthy margin in the runoff. SHINOLA Duggan’s role under the emergency manager — they were law school classmates at the University of Michigan — will be part improvisation, part balancing act. Duggan op- posed the state’s emergency manager law during his elec- tion campaign. O cially, he has no authority until Orr’s tenure expires next September. But Orr has said his chem- istry with Duggan is “good,” so an ad hoc partnership to run the city together could happen. U-turn for Motown Orr, who grew Investors are fixing up historic buildings near up in Miami and the renovated Capitol Park, top. The 1915 David remembers watching Whitney Building, center, will become a boutique the 1980 riot in hotel. The East side’s popular Dequindre Cut will Liberty City from his be connected to other greenways. o ce on West Flagler Street, said “I’ve seen a comeback in Miami, and that same change and same opportunity can happen here.” In Detroit’s case, the transi- lege for Creative Studies in the But risks remain. Orr said his financial plan is based tion may take place overnight Art Deco Argonaut Building on $1 billion of revenue annually, assuming the city’s because of individuals like Tom that once had housed a Gen- population stops its decline. “Only about half the people Kartsotis, founder in 1984 of eral Motors design studio. A in the city are paying taxes,” he said. “We can’t raise Fossil Inc., a trendy watch and study to find what value, if The early buzz for Shinola taxes, because we’re at the limit of our taxing authority.” accessory company in Rich- any, customers might attach to and its products has been quite Recovering from economic failure could give Detroit ardson, Texas. Fossil is now a merchandise made in the city positive, resulting in demand the chance to create a healthier, more youthful social publicly traded company with a showed the name Detroit con- that its 100 workers have been framework, with less racial tension and acrimony. New $6.7- billion market capitaliza- ferred premium status. struggling to meet. residents and investors, especially among the young, tion, run by his brother, Kosta. The watches sell for as little The company’s promotional won’t have to carry the baggage of history. Tom Kartsotis, who left Fossil as $500 and up to $3,000 at material alludes to Detroit’s “With its first white mayor since the early 1970s and in 2000, was searching for the swank stores like Barneys, Saks, onetime pre-eminence in manu- a diverse City Council, we could be a story of cultural platform from which to launch Neiman Marcus, Bloomingdale’s facturing, its fall from grace and diversity as well as comeback,” Orr said. “Outmoded his next big fashion merchan- and Nordstrom. Shinola also the energy of its revival. It’s concepts of race and their limitations will be thrown out dise hit. He selected Detroit in operates a shop in New York’s almost as if by the purchase of the window.” 2012 and purchased the name TriBeCa neighborhood and a watch or bicycle, the buyer Score, the manager of Hantz Farms, agrees that Shinola, once famous as a shoe one on a quiet street between is being recruited as an active Detroit’s economic prospects are looking up. He bristles, polish brand, and in popular Detroit’s downtown and the participant in the city’s budding however, at the label of “comeback city,” insisting that argot as “you don’t know midtown university district. turnaround. Detroit has always been great, its di culties exaggerated (expletive) from Shinola.” by the mass media. The company’s products During five years of acquiring and cleaning up East consist of locally assembled Side lots, “I’ve never been threatened once,” he said. “The watches and bicycles, as well as neighbors bring water. They smile, they give us a lot of leather goods, including jour- a rmation. It’s insulting to think we need anyone to nals. The style is retro, perhaps root for us; we are who we always were.” an homage to a Packard or a The grittiness remains true, the ingredients are in Studebaker. place and the arrows seem pointed in the right direction. Shinola leased a 30,000- Motor City has a new paint job, tires and rims, and the square-foot space at the Col- engine of recovery is revving up. 

50 BRIEFINGS ENN RIFKIN TOM

BY GL LEIGHTON, AKAMAI AND A RETURN FROM THE EDGE

Few start-ups, already under intense pressure to survive, are faced with the tragic loss of one of their co- founders just a few short years into their existence. When Daniel Lewin, the 31-year-old American-Israeli math prodigy, was killed on board American Airlines Flight 11 on Sept. 11, 2001, his company, Akamai Technologies, a Cambridge, Mass.-based start-up, was already reeling after the bursting dot-com bubble pulled the rug out from under its heady beginnings. Of all the people left behind, F. Thomson (Tom) Leighton, Akamai’s cofounder and the M.I.T. mathematics genius who had mentored Lewin, was perhaps the most devastated. Nothing could have prepared him for the events of 9/11.

53

52 The Ultimate Comeback

It is unusual for a founder to wait 14 years to become CEO of his “company, but Leighton, characteristically, made his decision based on a logical assessment of the situation and of his own skill set, which he believed was now complete enough to allow him to take charge. ”

In classic Alphonse and Gaston fashion, Lewin The son of a nuclear engineer who designed nu- asked Leighton if he wanted to be CEO, a position clear warships, Leighton displayed remarkable math Leighton quickly declined, and Leighton, in turn, skills early in his childhood in Arlington, Va. He was asked Lewin the same question. Lewin also refused. a finalist in the Westinghouse Science Talent Search Both decided that the fledgling company required a and ended up with a scholarship to Princeton, where certified tech industry business leader to run things. he studied computer science and math and became eighton, now the chief They reached out to former I.B.M. executive George fixated on the field of theoretical computer science, executive of Akamai, traveled an Conrades and former Time Inc. executive Paul Sagan, which married those disciplines. Inevitably, Leighton unexpectedly circuitous route to the CEO suite. It who both signed up with a mix of enthusiasm and was drawn to M.I.T., where he did his postgraduate took him 14 years to get there, only at the last mo- skepticism. This was the height of the dot-com mania, work and stayed on to teach. Ensconced in this ment realizing that he was ready for the job. As an when any cockamamie Web-based idea was reaping fortress of virtuosity, Leighton emerged as a genius M.I.T. math professor known for his breakthrough vast sums of venture money. Akamai, which had a in the esoteric field of algorithms and became a lure work on algorithms, Leighton attracted Danny breakthrough technology concept that actually worked for the best and the brightest young minds. He was Lewin, a brilliant former member of Israel’s most along with a small cadre of brilliant M.I.T. computer content in academia and hadn’t considered leaping elite special forces unit, to Cambridge where the scientists on board to develop the concept, looked to into the start-up fray until he met Lewin. pair formed a symbiotic relationship that led to Conrades and Sagan as a bet worth making. Conrades It is unusual for a founder to wait 14 years to Akamai’s founding in 1998. Together, Lewin and became the founding CEO and Sagan, the president. become CEO of his company, but Leighton, char- Leighton envisioned a method using algorithms to Leighton was content to remain as cofounderer and acteristically, made his decision based on a logical speed up the Internet at a time when the disheart- chief scientist, and when Conrades stepped down in assessment of the situation and of his own skill set, eningly slow Web was known as the World Wide 2005, Akamai turned to Sagan to succeed him. which he believed was now complete enough to Wait. They were responding to a challenge from Flash forward to December 2012. Sagan, who ran allow him to take charge. It was no slam-dunk. The the Web’s inventor, Tim Berners-Lee, an M.I.T. the show for eight years, was stepping down, and a Akamai board of directors conducted an eight-month colleague, who foresaw the potential congestion search was on for his replacement. After 14 years as external search for Sagan’s successor and had to be on the Internet. Lewin persuaded Leighton to join Akamai’s chief scientist, Leighton decided, with some convinced that Leighton was the right choice. Yes, Tom Leighton him in transforming theory into start-up, and the urging from Conrades and Sagan, that it was his turn he knew the company better than anyone, but he company was born. to take the reins of the company. had never managed a business. With Conrades and

54 BRIEFINGS TALENT+LEADERSHIP 55 The Ultimate Comeback

situations like this, most founders simply cut their losses and head for the exit. But Conrades, Sagan and Leighton, driven by Lewin’s gritty spirit, refused to thusiasm that Lewin brought to every sales call and concede defeat. Taking the Hill customer encounter (see book review, page 70). “We never felt like we were going to turn out the For Sagan, meeting Lewin and Leighton in their lights and lock the door,” Leighton said. “We weren’t in Before Danny Lewin M.I.T. lab had been life-changing. The original “big La-La Land. We knew how many quarters of cash we was to board American idea” was built upon changing the Internet, making it had left, and we knew the challenges we were facing. work better and faster through the radical application But we also knew we had a plan. And we believed in Airlines Flight 11 to Los of mathematics. Using its algorithms, Akamai would the plan, and we were going to execute that plan.” Angeles on Sept. 11, allow Internet service providers to host content on he and Leighton stayed thousands of servers around the world and thus be able up most of the previous to handle the flood of tra¡c and provide fast, impres- The Comeback Danny Lewin sive content distribution and even data-intensive mate- A week after 9/11, the company paused for a formal night planning Akamai’s rial like video and graphics, without crashing the sites. memorial service for Lewin at M.I.T.’s Kresge Audito- next layo. This was “The big idea is what affected George and me,” rium. Speakers tearfully recalled the remarkable life Sagan said, “along with the incredibly smart people force that was Lewin. Rumors were already spreading Sagan, both board members, singing his praises, and the painful, unexpected and the opportunity to work with them.” that Lewin had tried to stop the terrorists on Flight Leighton’s own impressive self-evaluation in front dark side of life at a With early customers like CNN, Apple, Disney and 11 but was stabbed to death before the plane hit the of the board, the decision was made. On Jan. 1, 2013, start-up. Akamai was Microsoft, Akamai made a stunning debut. When it World Trade Center. If anything, the event reinforced Leighton became the company’s third CEO. went public in October 1999, shares skyrocketed to the company’s determination to push on, as Lewin The analysts who track Akamai were not con- plummeting. $145 on the opening day, and both Lewin and Leighton would have wanted, and find a path to success. cerned about his lack of CEO experience. “He’s had When the charismatic Lewin was killed on 9/11 were suddenly worth nearly $2 billion on paper. By At the genesis of the comeback was a wellspring a C-level position at the company for pretty much along with nearly 3,000 other innocent civilians, the the end of the year, the stock was trading above $340 of talent at the top. No one could replace Lewin, but that entire period, and in addition to that he’s sat stunned employees at Akamai had no time to grieve. a share, and euphoria enveloped the young company. Leighton was more than his equal in understanding on the company’s board,” Scott Kessler, an analyst Government Web sites, suddenly flooded by millions But when the bubble burst on the dot-com era, harsh and propagating the underlying technology of the with S&P Capital IQ, told Bloomberg News at the an- of hits, turned to Akamai to help stay online through reality set in quickly. As the dot-com start-ups began company’s offerings. Having had two cofounderers nouncement. “The understanding of the company is the crisis and beyond. With tears flowing down their to fall like dominoes, Akamai suffered as well. During was a saving grace. Lewin had focused on customers unequaled by any individual.” faces, the team rallied. the crash, panicked investors saw no distinction and outward-facing issues, while Leighton had Akamai’s history has been tempestuous. The “Everyone knew it was what Danny would have between a start-up with a viable raison d’être and the handled internal assignments. But because they had company burst on the tech scene like a moon rocket, wanted,” Leighton said. “It was a culture of ‘Take the pretenders built with smoke and mirrors. Akamai’s worked so closely together, with a shared skill set, soared instantly to dizzying heights and just as hill, get the job done, make it work, do the impos- shares tumbled so far—to less than a dollar a share Akamai’s complex technological underpinning was quickly plunged back to earth. Along the way, it sible, never give up.’ It was Danny’s spirit. Yeah, we — that it was nearly delisted from the Nasdaq. not compromised. Leighton, who had continued to endured a tragedy on 9/11 that shook the foundations were devastated, no question about that. But we were Losing Lewin was an emotional body blow. teach in the algorithm unit at M.I.T.’s Computer Sci- of the nascent company. Though it was hardly a fighting for our lives as a company at that time, and “Danny was irreplaceable,” Leighton said. But the ence and Artificial Intelligence Lab, gave up his aca- “dot-com” venture, it came to symbolize for many the on top of that, the government needed us. We had to darkest fiscal days for Akamai were still ahead. “We demic role for several years and pulled his Akamai frenetic nature of that short and volatile era. Many keep them online because it was chaos.” had nowhere near reached the bottom financially by team together to fill in the gaps. industry pundits and naysayers wrote the company What happened to Akamai was complex on the 9/11,” Leighton said. “We reached bottom emotionally Added to the seemingly short list of positives was off, and even internally, there was a quarter-by- one hand, but a simple case of guilt by association when Danny was killed, but financially things were the presence of Conrades and Sagan, seasoned busi- quarter survival watch. “How much cash,” employees on the other. In the midst of the dot-com run-up, going to get a lot worse before they got better.” ness leaders who had made deep commitments to wondered, “is left until the end arrives?” Akamai emerged as one of the brassiest new players. Akamai’s market capitalization sunk from $35 Akamai and were determined to spearhead a come- Leighton endured the trauma and never consid- Akamai wasn’t a Web site selling pet supplies or toys. billion at the height of the run-up to $50 million by back. Conrades quickly outlined his plan and set it in ered returning full-time to his M.I.T. ivory tower. In It was addressing a serious need — using complex early 2002. The company had $300 million in debt, motion (see sidebar page 58). so doing, he became a crucial player in a comeback algorithms to dynamically map Web tra¡c to avoid which was at junk status. “From the outside world, Conrades also made a public effort to display his story that bears retelling. Along with Conrades and congestion on the Internet — and had the impri- we looked pretty dead,” Leighton said. confidence. With the shares at a dollar, he invested Sagan, Leighton looked down into the abyss and never matur of M.I.T. When Akamai filed for an IPO just The employee count, which had grown to 1,300, $1 million in Akamai stock. The employees saw it. flinched. To some, his elevation to CEO seemed a bit over a year after its founding, investors were wowed had to be slashed to around 500. Given the tight-knit Prospective customers saw it, as did investors. At the odd. But from the inside looking out, it was inevitable. by the young company’s bold initiative and imposing nature of a start-up with its intense, take-no-pris- same time, “we suffered together,” Conrades said. management team, as well as the unparalleled en- oners culture, laying off so many was nightmarish. In The top three executives set their cash compensation

56 BRIEFINGS TALENT+LEADERSHIP 57 The Ultimate Comeback

at $25,000 each without a bonus. “Everybody knew go to Detroit to talk to them and tell them exactly with strong persuasion by Leighton and Conrades, this, and it was an important way to communicate what had happened.” When they were called into the took over. Former head of Time Inc.’s New Media our commitment,” he said. “It was a Dannyism that conference room with G.M.’s CIO Ralph Szygenda, division, Sagan steered Akamai to unprecedented he got from the military: You have to suffer together.” Conrades began by thanking him for the opportu- growth, with sales jumping from $250 million to didn’t present a problem. “I was playing a leadership Leighton demonstrated his own commitment by nity to explain what happened. Szygenda, a bit of a $1.5 billion and headcount up to 3,500 employees. role throughout my 14 years here,” he said. “Plus sponsoring parties at the company’s o€ces, which he taskmaster, laughed. “You know, George, all the years Sagan never intended to stay so long at Akamai’s George and Paul have always been fantastic mentors, paid for out of his own pocket, to celebrate important we’ve been doing this, nobody has ever thanked us helm, and when he announced his decision to step so I got good advice from them. And I did go out and milestones. for this opportunity.” down in early 2012, Leighton had no designs on the get some books on management.” But all the internal morale-building would have Conrades replied, “We know what went wrong, CEO suite. “I was very happy during those 14 years Leighton’s rise comes at a time of relative stability been for naught without a restructuring of the busi- and we want to explain this to you and how we do it.” working for those guys,” Leighton said. “I learned for Akamai, but he is acutely aware that economic ness and a slow but steady influx of new customers. He then introduced Leighton, who deftly explained a ton from both George and Paul and worked very volatility and the ever-present twists and turns of Ironically, it was Akamai’s performance on 9/11 and how a human error had affected the rollout and that closely with them all through those years.” the technology sector make complacence impossible. in the immediate aftermath that became the focus it would not happen again. Szygenda was more than As a national search for his successor was proving There is no “hockey stick” of growth around the corner, of its short-term sales pitch. During the worst chaos mollified—he was so impressed that he asked the pair di€cult, Sagan sat down with Leighton for a conver- and he must fend off ceaseless rumors of mergers and on that terrible day, Akamai’s networks had worked! to wait and sit in on another meeting to explain how sation. “Tom said, ‘Well, aren’t there more candidates takeovers while keeping the product pipeline full. Word spread quickly that Akamai was the place to Akamai could update software in a running system. out there?’” Sagan recounted. “I said, ‘There’s one For smart executives, a comeback never ends. go to make sure your Web site didn’t crash. On 9/11, Conrades invited him to Cambridge for a further obvious candidate and he’s right here. And that’s Leighton accepted the baton from Sagan and made CNN’s site was flooded with tra€c. But its Akamai- meeting, and G.M. upped its commitment to Akamai. you... but you have to want it.’ He did the Tom thing. no fundamental changes in the company’s strategic based network was able to handle the crush without It remains a loyal customer to this day. He thought about it and came back and said, ‘O.K., planning. Leighton recognizes the importance of cul- a glitch. According to a 2005 article in Business 2.0, tell me everything I don’t really understand. What ture, and at Akamai the culture was forged through the homeland security business that sprang up after else is there?’” cataclysmic events with which few companies must 9/11 “helped resurrect the company.” The FBI, for example, had been outraged when part of its Web Shaping a site went down during the attacks. So the bureau The focus would be on three key agenda reached out to Akamai and by March, the FBI had Does the Is it the right business model? become one of Akamai’s first major government items: productive revenue, reduction in technology If we grow revenues and keep customers. In short order, the new Department of spending, and keeping up morale. work? costs down, we will be profitable. Homeland Security, four branches of the military and Despite the crushing loss of Akamai co- By 2005, Akamai had revenues of $200 People need to understand this. the Internal Revenue Service signed on as well. founder Daniel Lewin and the company’s million, achieved sustained profitability and The promise of uninterrupted Web service also struggle to survive in the afermath of the had a positive cash flow. Conrades stepped drew in new business from companies like ETrade, dot-com bubble, industry veteran and Akamai down and Sagan reluctantly took the helm, a FedEx, L.L. Bean and MTV. Do you The people. Look to your left, CEO, George Conrades committed to stay. post he held for the next eight years. Sagan Behind the scenes, Conrades and Sagan drew still believe look to your right. “Do you love “We shall return,” he told employees. He and up a new organization chart and divided the key then handed the keys to Leighton. Both in the big these people? Do you want to responsibilities. The important thing was to put the Akamai President Paul Sagan had a plan. Conrades and Sagan remain on the board. idea? work with them?” right people in the right boxes. “We made choices,” Conrades said. “Who was on the team we would go with? We’d hold them accountable in transparent Leighton’s reluctance had nothing to do with a lack contend. “Part of our culture is that we’re always ways with frequent reviews. We had quarterly meet- A New CEO of self-confidence. He had displayed business skills looking up at the next hill,” he said. “Coming from ings, and we’d put them all in a room and reviewed With a slow but steady pace of progress, Akamai throughout his tenure as chief scientist, negotiating M.I.T., there’s a sense that you can solve any problem the commitments they had made and whether that emerged from its crisis as the major player in a small many of the company’s first network and colocation if you work hard enough and smart enough, and as a commitment had been met. ‘We’re going to acquire but crucial market sector. Its customer list is now deals with customers. He was a shrewd negotiator and team. It’s intense.” so many accounts, ship so many servers, get so many populated by hundreds of multinational enterprises born leader, Sagan said. “People loved to follow him.” A year into his tenure, Leighton is confident that new networks.’ We worked this as a team.” such as Merck & Co., Airbus, the British Broadcasting More likely, his comfort in his long-held position he made the right decision. Eventually, he said, he Leighton’s team had to bulletproof the company’s Corporation, BMW, Best Buy, Nintendo, National coupled with the company’s culture kept him from realized “that this would be the best outcome for offerings and make sure new releases were timely and Public Radio, Charles Schwab, Dow Chemical, Fox throwing his hat into the ring. Self-reverence is the company. Because I really care most about the reliable. On this precarious perch, glitches could be Broadcasting, Hitachi, I.B.M. and Verizon Wireless. anathema at Akamai. It is never about “I.” company. You put more than 14 years of your life into fatal. Inevitably, they came anyway. After one software At any given time, 15 to 30 percent or more of “People who talked about themselves or thought something and you really believe it has the potential rollout onto a live network, a malfunction hit some of Internet tra€c flows through Akamai servers around about themselves in that way at almost any level here to change, maybe not the world, but at least the the company’s big customers such as General Motors. the world. When he reached his self-determined are rejected by the culture,” Sagan said. “You have to Internet for the positive. You want to do what is best “G.M. had a practice of calling in vendors who targets of growth and profitability in 2005, Conrades, be all about the team.” for the company. And if I look back now, I’ve been failed them,” Conrades recalled. “Tom and I had to in his late 60s, stepped down. Sagan reluctantly, and For Leighton, the leadership aspect of the job training for this job for 14 years.” 

58 BRIEFINGS TALENT+LEADERSHIP 59 THE AM A ZON is calling for help. Deforestation is back on the rise, and to protect the rain forest, says SEBASTIÃO S A LGA DO, consumers must demand certificates identifying Brazilian products grown on denuded rain forest land — so they can refuse to buy them. It’s the kind of plan you’d expect from a Ph.D.-level economist like Salgado .

STORY BY CHRISTOPHER O ’DEA

60

60 61 But Salgado is also the world’s foremost photographer of indigenous people struggling against environmental catastrophe and industrial civilization, and he’s made it impossible to ignore his campaign to protect the Amazon— by giving the rain forest a face. ✸ In capti- vating black-and-white images, Salgado’s latest campaign por - trays the lives of the nomadic Awa of Brazil’s eastern rain forest. The tribe of indigenous hunter-gatherers with fewer than 400 remaining members today find themselves on the front line of a struggle with industrial agriculture interests that are aggressively logging, slashing and burning their way into Brazil’s rain forest. Photographs 60-63: AM A 60-63: Photographs algado spoke with Briefings on Talent & ordered in early 2013 by Brazil’s highest court the country’s constitution in order to wrest for rain forest protection. Between 2003 and Leadership from Amazonas Images, the to enforce laws against rain forest logging, control of the rain forest from the executive 2011, Brazil cut its deforestation rate in half. Paris-based agency he founded in 1994, a the Ministry of Justice has not removed the branch and hand it to a friendly group in the Salgado says Brazil’s oœcial policy against day before heading to Central America in loggers who have razed the rain forest where Brazilian Congress. He proposes a solution on logging is appropriate, but a controversial new November for a two-month project. “It’s very the Awa live. their terms; “economic pressure” he says. “We law passed in 2012, the Forest Code, sparked important that people know the dangers that Salgado brings technical credibility to the must do serious pressure on [agribusiness].” a resurgence in logging, despite President ZON all these Indian cultures face,” he says. “We task. He trained as an economist in Brazil and The Amazon rain forest is Earth’s genetic Dilma Rousseff’s veto of nine sections of the A

must, I believe every one of us, fight for this Paris, worked at the International Coffee Or- S IM laboratory, and more than 60 percent of it law that heavily favored loggers. Today the

forest, and fight for the Indian culture that ganization in London, and then tried his luck A lies within Brazil. In what the World Wildlife Awa confront loggers illegally clearing rain GES/CONTAC holds this forest.” as a freelance photographer in his mid-30s. Fund calls the “decade of discovery” between forest land to make way for soybean produc- Brazil’s annual deforestation report He and his wife established a foundation on 2000 and 2009, scientists identified more tion and cattle grazing – and Salgado portrays for 2013 brought renewed urgency to the the site of his family’s farm in central Brazil, than 1,200 previously unknown species in the divide between intact rain forest and land

struggle. After nearly a decade of steady de- the Instituto Terra, to study and promote sus- IM T PRESS the Amazon, and the WWF’s latest report stripped of its pristine vegetation. clines in the rate of rain forest loss, deforesta- tainable farming; since 1998, they’ve planted last October reported the discovery since “The major problem is agricultural devel- tion rose nearly 30 percent in the year ended more than 2 million trees. Salgado also then of more than 440 additional new species opment,” says Salgado. Large farmers, he says, A

in July 2013. Salgado has no illusions: saving understands the threat posed by the effort GES believed to exist only in the Amazon. “are fighting against the Indian lands, against the rain forest will be a battle. Despite being of Brazil’s agribusiness industry to amend The decade of discovery was a golden age the Amazon forest. This is the biggest fight of

62 BRIEFINGS TALENT+LEADERSHIP 63 the Awa Indians today, the loggers that go in we must be very aware about,” says Salgado. the front line that take out the wood, and the Clearing rain forest isn’t the only way to This is a game changer, required farms that come back inside the Indian land.” farm in the Amazon. A research team led by Tactically, Brazil’s large ag companies “were archaeologist and paleoethnobotanist Jose “ very smart,” he says. “Agrobusiness [compa- Iriarte of the University of Exeter believes reading for all who seek to bring nies] in Brazil, they produce 4-5 percent of the indigenous people also used sustainable national income, but through advertising and methods to farm savannas at the edge of political pressure they have given the impres- the rain forest as long as 800 years ago, out the best in their boards. sion that they are responsible for half the constructing small mounds that provided national income in Brazil. They organized big drainage, soil aeration and moisture reten- — Alan Mulally, President & CEO, Ford Motor Company political backing. There are a lot of senators, tion. The practice, called raised-field farming, ” suited the Amazon’s cycle of drought and flooding. Resuming “raised-field agriculture area of detail: Belem can become an alternative to burning down Sao Luis River Awa locations Am azon tropical forest for slash-and-burn agricul-

BRAZIL ture,” Iriarte says. Brasilia But time is short. Salgado says the best Rio de Janeiro way to protect the Awa and the rain forest is to strike at the financial core of large-scale farming. “These are public lands, and there Belem is a lot being done to destroy these lands in order to produce soyabeans, to produce JUST IN TIME FOR PROXY SEASON Sao Luis fish” and other products, he says. “Countries such as the U.S., China, the E.U., that import Leadership at the top is being redefined all these products that come from farms in as boards take a more active role in Brazil must pay attention to where these decisions that once belonged solely to BRAZIL products are coming from. We must have cer- the CEO. In this new book, leading tificates – if it is Indian land that we destroy, boardroom and CEO advisors Ram Teresina if it is rain forest public land that we destroy Charan, Dennis Carey, and Michael to go to those farms, we must stop importing Useem reveal the emerging practices those products.” It won’t be easy. Agribusiness and the that are redefining shared leadership bancada ruralista are pushing back. In early of directors and executives. A practical December, more than 500 people, many guide for businesspeople everywhere—

0 100 Miles members of indigenous tribes, marched on whether they occupy the boardroom the presidential palace in Brasilia to protest or the C-Suite. the proposed amendment to the constitution that would give Congress sole authority to decide which land to protect as rain forest a lot of elected deputies in Brazil that defend or indigenous territory. Security forces dis- their interests.” persed the protestors with pepper spray. Congressional supporters are known as the Salgado’s Awa campaign marks his bancada ruralista, the rural workbench, which second major collaboration with U.K.-based was instrumental in passing the Forest Code. Survival International, which works to save The code weakened enforcement by shifting endangered tribes around the world. With Map: S Map: responsibility for many aspects of rain forest deforestation back on the rise, Salgado

protection to state and local government modestly urges renewed vigilance. “I’m just a TEVE agencies that lack the resources to counteract photographer,” he says. “This is a way that we STA illegal logging and development. “Brazil is can call attention to these problems.” Those

NK NOW AVAILABLE GLOBALLY WHEREVER BOOKS AND EBOOKS ARE SOLD

a federation like the United States. There is facing the problems, he says, “are the people I EW hbr.org/books

huge pressure on local authorities, and the that are living inside this forest, protecting IC pressure is very strong. It’s this kind of thing this forest, the Awa Indians.”  Z

64 BRIEFINGS LAWRENCE M. FISHER Indian Triumph Fans of American iron have always Founded in 1902, Triumph Motor- DIVERSION had Harley-Davidson, which has cycles became the iconic British vastly improved the performance brand, and there was no more and reliability of its timeless “hogs” iconic model than the 650cc Bonn- in recent years. But now they can eville, produced in great numbers also buy a new bike from a even through the 1960’s and 70’s. older brand, Indian, which manu- Though it was decades ago, the factured motorcycles in Springfield, author well remembers Mass., from 1901 to 1953. Stel- taking a friend’s Above, 1960s Triumph lican Ltd., a British private equity 1965 Bonneville for Bonneville ad. firm, purchased the brand out of a ride, reveling Below, the 2014 bankruptcy in 2006 and restarted in the motor’s Bonneville model production in Kings Mountain, N.C. ample torque line retains In 2011, Indian was acquired by Po- at low revs, and signature styling laris Industries, parent company of the light weight details from Victory Motorcycles, which moved and low center of past iterations. production to Spirit Lake, Iowa. gravity that made The new Indian lineup consists it feel as nimble as a Feast your eyes of three bikes, the Chief Classic, bicycle. Joy turned to sorrow at a with bigger displacement motors, on some glorious machinery. For motorcyclists of a certain which starts at $18,999; the Chief busy stoplight when a sticky car- higher performance and rock-solid age, the gleaming tailpipes, wire spoke wheels and majestic big twin motors Vintage, at $20,999; and the buretor caused the engine to flood reliability. Triumph failed. $22,999 Chieftain, all of which fea- and no amount of frenzied kicking Enter John Stuart Bloor, who had of the bikes on this page evoke a golden era. In that bygone time, the surest ture the brand’s classic look, with would bring it back to life. become wealthy in the residential thick, valanced fenders, oodles of Unfortunately for Triumph, and construction business. In 1983, way for a young Bob Dylan to project the right air of jaded cool was to don chrome and real leather saddles. the British motorcycle industry, a he bought the Triumph name and The Thunder Stroke 111 engine, lot of riders had a similar epiphany manufacturing rights from the a Triumph T-shirt for the cover of “Highway 61 Revisited.” But look closely: Indian’s first all-new power plant in during the 1970’s, as the Japanese official receiver. He hired a few 70 years, is a 49-degree, air-cooled manufacturers began making bikes veteran Triumph designers, but these are not your fathers’ Triumphs, Vincents and Indians. These are all new V-twin with six-speed overdrive sent them to Japan to learn modern motorcycles, available for purchase today, and selling very well, thank you. transmission. Like Rolls-Royce, ways. Triumph introduced six new Indian does not quote horsepower, models in 1990 with nary a retro but road testers have found it more machine among them. Neverthe- The growing popularity of reborn bikes and search of their misspent youth. While there than adequate. less, demand for a more traditional “A television ad developed for Triumph never went away, and in brands — the term “retro” is disdained — stems is an element of that, it’s only part of the 2014 Indian Chief Classic O the introduction shows a Harley 2000 the company reintroduced from several antecedents, but the most obvious story. With their timeless lines and machine owner lavishly cleaning, buffing and the Bonneville. Reviews and sales one is that they look and feel fabulous. There is N elements that look, feel and sound like ma- shining his bike; in the ad’s punch have been strong, and besides, a sensuality in the subtle curves and a visceral chinery, the new classics fit right into the new line, he slaps a ‘For Sale’ sign on it Bruce Springsteen owns one. and walks away,” Jerry Garrett wrote appeal to the throbbing two-cylinder engines authenticity movement, which stokes con- How cool is that? in the New York Times. “After riding that make an enthusiast’s heart beat a bit faster. sumers’ hunger for something real, whether the new Indian, I get it.” In comparison, today’s modern motorcycles T in shirts or shotguns. The same impetus that may be masterpieces of mechanical engineering drives Levi’s new Made & Crafted brand draws that accelerate like jet fighters, but they are for W customers to motorcycles that look like a mo- the most part generically anodyne and generate torcycle ought to look. little emotion. O D’Orleans says that price defines the “Somewhere in the late 70’s motorcycles demographics of the reborn motorcycle became much less sculptural, more appliance- market, with younger riders drawn to the less like,” says Paul D’Orleans, editor of The Vinta- expensive machines, like the new Triumph gent, the world’s No. 1 vintage motorcycle site. W Bonneville, Scrambler and Thruxton, or Designers of the newer bikes “shape the frame H Moto Guzzi’s V7 models, all of which cost and bodywork in this somewhat ergonomic way, about $10,000. The stubble-bearded hipster but ultimately it looks more like a blender or a E looking for the perfect café racer to make the toaster than a motorcycle. There was a genera- Brooklyn scene need look no further. “At some tion that walked down a path it thought was E point it becomes an aesthetic option and not progress, and I think we’ve realized it was an il- a memory. The people I know who are buying lusion. That’s not a choice we needed to make.” L Bonnevilles are in their 20’s. They just want a At first glance, these reborn bikes might cool bike. Being resonant in history isn’t neces- seem to appeal primarily to graybeards in S sarily retro, or worse, nostalgic.”

66 BRIEFINGS TALENT+LEADERSHIP 67 At the upper end of the price stratosphere, bikes like the new Brough Superior SS100, remains and moved production uses the best components money at about $65,000, are bought mostly by well- Moto Guzzi Norton to the U.K. Though the made- can buy. These factors, along heeled collectors, who are not likely to use in-England bikes look just like with the absence of economies Play word association with “Italian motor- As the golden era motorcycles Dreer’s prototypes, which means of scale, result in a list price them on their daily commute. “Any time you’re cycle” and the most likely reply is Ducati. aged, parts became hard to find, they look very good indeed, of $20,000, roughly twice the buying a motorcycle that’s over $40,000 or Ducati offered the SportClassic line of retro- and many repair shops became Norton officials say they share cost of the superficially similar $50,000, you’re not looking at a rider,” says styled motorcycles from 2006 to 2010, but small-scale manufacturers, no parts. “About 80 percent Triumph. But Norton production has since stuck to its stock-in-trade super- crafting the bits they could no D’Orleans. “They may ride them occasion- of the bike is actually made in is in the hundreds of units, while bikes, like the marvelously named Monster. longer buy. Some grew so skilled England, and that is important to Triumph made over 50,000 bikes ally, but they’re really interested in owning Ducati’s exit created a wonderful opening for that they could remanufacture us,” Garner told MotorcycleUSA. last year, and the Commando is a something that’s cool.” Nevertheless, the Moto Guzzi, another venerable Italian brand, everything needed to make an “We do buy in things like Ohlins much more handmade affair. new Brough Superior company, founded by which was conceived by two aircraft pilots entire new motorcycle. One such suspension and Brembo brakes, MotorcycleUSA’s tester said and their mechanic serving in the Italian Air craftsman was Kenny Dreer of but this is because they are the the new Commando is like “the Austrian businessman Mark Upham, reports Corps during World War I. Like many motor- Portland, Ore., a restorer of vin- best available anywhere in the best possible day’s riding you taking deposits for fifty SS100’s in a few weeks cycle brands with a history, Moto Guzzi has tage bikes, who founded Norton world. If we could make them ever had on a classic motor- after its introduction late last year. gone through multiple owners and is now a America to bring the classic better here, we would. What you cycle,” without the problems. unit of Piaggio, which is best known for the Commando back to life. Dreer & won’t find is us manufacturing “Somehow, the Commando Another appeal of the new classics stems Vespa motor scooter. Company fought for the rights lumps of the bike in cheap labor manages to simultaneously feel from what they don’t Like the new Bonn- to the Norton trademarks and countries. Buy a Commando and like a traditional classic and a have: oil leaks, intermit- eville, Moto Guzzi’s produced several working pro- you will buy the best of British modern bike. Just as important, tent electrical systems, V7, introduced in totypes, burning through about engineering -- made in England. it also looks the value for the 2014 Moto Guzzi V7 Racer 2008, pays homage $11 million before shutting down That’s a promise.” money. Nothing about the bike balky kick starters and to a well-loved prede- in 2006. The Norton Commando 961 is feels cheap, or built to a price, weak brakes that just cessor from the 1960’s, Stuart Garner, a British fire- impressively light, at about 400 but rather the Commando looks might eventually stop but with up-to-date works entrepreneur, bought the pounds, and as Garner noted, totally honest.”  technology. Instantly you, sometimes. While recognizable, the some of the handmade V7 features Guzzi’s efforts from boutique trademark air-cooled 90° V-twin with a makers preserve the old longitudinal crankshaft machines’ caprices — orientation and the en- and invent some of their gine’s transverse cyl- own — production ve- inder heads projecting prominently on either side of the bike. As on hicles like the Triumph and Moto Guzzi bikes all modern Moto Guzzis, a sturdy shaft drive are as easy to ride and own as any modern sends power to the rear wheel, and the right motorcycle, which in fact is what they are. handbrake operates just one of the front disc brakes, while the foot pedal operates the Unlike a real vintage bike, these reborn mo- other and the rear. torcycles don’t need to be babied. As Peter Egan Moto Guzzi offers several variations on put it in Cycle World: “Riding an older British the theme, but the concept reaches its pin- nacle in the V7 Racer, which honors what motorcycle can be, at times, like going dancing Guzzisti have long done to customize their with your great aunt. You have to take it just a 70’s bikes into café racers. The chromed little slow, show some respect and hope to God gas tank, complete with period leather she remembered her heart pills. The GB500, on hold-down strap, emulates custom hand- hammered aluminum tanks. So many parts the other hand, takes you backward in time, to 2014 Norton are refinished as compared to the other V7 Commando when your great aunt was young and beautiful models that the V7 Racer appears more like 961 Café Racer and could go all night and drink you under the a hand-built custom than a production bike, yet it still costs just $10,090. table.” The GB500 (“GB” as in “Great Britain”) The V7 is less powerful than the new is a now-discontinued Honda that evoked Bonneville, but it’s also lighter, which makes vintage British bikes. it easier to handle for new riders and smaller Yamaha and Kawasaki have also made, and people. “Many modern bikes are overweight, mostly due to heavy ABS anti-lock braking continue to make, motorcycles patterned after systems and large, restrictive silencers,” the British classics, and many of these are fine says Chris Hunter, editor of Bike EXIF, a site machines, often better than their forebears in devoted to custom and classic motorcycles. “I bought a Guzzi V7 over a Bonneville myriad ways. But for riders seeking authenticity, because the Guzzi is hugely lighter, and the there’s no substitute for going to the original Bonneville felt ponderous to me,” he said. source, and thanks to a British industrialist The new classics mark “a return to the simpler pleasures of motorcycling.” named John Bloor, they can do just that. 

68 BRIEFINGS TALENT+LEADERSHIP 69 dangerous missions. He emerged as a leader of his unit. Though Raskin provides an excellent account No Better Time On one visit home in Jerusalem, Lewin met a of the birth and early struggles of Akamai, she is young Belgian woman named Anne Pardes and less successful in illuminating Lewin as a fully

IN REVIEW quickly fell in love. They were married when Lewin developed character in his own story. Raskin relies was 21 years old. With a child on the way and a on countless interviews with friends and colleagues The Brief, Remarkable Life of yearning to continue his education, Lewin requested but eventually comes up a tad short. We read again a leave from the military to attend the Technion in and again a rehash of an early quote from M.I.T. Danny Lewin, the Genius Who Haifa. While there, he came across Professor Alfred Bruckstein, who the work of a little-known M.I.T. encountered Lewin in 1992, sev- Transformed the Internet professor and math genius named eral years before Lewin enrolled Tom Leighton. He knew immedi- at M.I.T. as a student. ately that he had to study with this “His brightness was a given, HEN DANNY LEWIN, the 31-year-old cofounder of Akamai Technologies, man. He chose to leave his wife but it was his enthusiasm that and two young sons in Israel and I remember the most,” said settled into seat 9B on American Airlines Flight 11 to Los Angeles, he was trying to find head to M.I.T Bruckstein. “His eyes were a way to save his fledgling company. After a record-setting IPO in 1999, Akamai’s for- Once at M.I.T. and under scintillating. He was immersed, Leighton’s wing, Lewin’s intellect interested and had this fan- Wtunes began to tumble soon after and the company was hanging on by a thread. and matchless enthusiasm af- tastic drive.” fected everyone he met. Though Lewin, with an unmatched Lewin, the young American-Israeli math whiz with In Molly Knight Raskin’s new biography of they began as teacher and understanding of algorithms, a thousand-watt personality, had thrown his entire Lewin, “No Better Time: The Brief, Remarkable Life student, the two men eventually an eclectic and little-under- being into building Akamai into an engine that of Danny Lewin, The Genius Who Transformed the joined forces to start Akamai. stood subset of math, was able would drive the growth and capability of the Internet. Internet” the incidents of 9/11 form a coda to a life The company was based upon to spark a fire inside Leighton Unfortunately, Akamai, a real company with a sound that was indeed remarkable. an innovative algorithm con- that lured the professor out of product and business model, was caught in the same Lewin, born in Colorado, was uprooted at age 14 ceived by Lewin and enhanced the ivory tower into the world irrational bubble as the countless dot-com ventures by his parents so the family could make aliyah (to im- by Leighton that aimed at of tech commerce. Akamai that had burst on the scene and proved as evanescent migrate) to Israel. After a rough indoctrination to the dramatically increasing the today is a $7-billion company as morning mist. When that bubble burst, those Israeli lifestyle, Lewin embraced his new country, and speed and reliability of the Internet. The goal was to with 3,500 employees around the world, and Leighton startups went down in flames, and it looked like though he was not obligated, joined its military. A bear abolish the “World Wide Wait” and allow servers to was recently named CEO. Using its unique tech- Akamai might as well. On this morning, Sept. 11, 2001, of a man who could bench press 300 pounds when he host corporate Web sites. nology, Akamai regularly controls between 15 and Lewin, despite his company’s foibles, believed his was 16, Lewin had more than a stunning intellect. He By October 1999, though Akamai was less than 30 percent of all Internet traffic. future would be bright. was a physically imposing man who was accepted after a year old and had not reached profitability, the According to Raskin, “Leighton said he thinks The world knows what happened next. Flight 11 was a grueling selection process into Sayeret Matkal, the company joined the IPO frenzy and hit the jackpot. often about Lewin, but no longer in the context of the first plane to crash into the World Trade Center most elite of Israel’s special forces. Opening at $29 per share, the stock soared on its first Akamai. Over time, he said, the feeling that Danny in New York City. What few know, however, is that “By the 1990s, the selection process for Sayeret day of trading and closed at $145 a share. Lewin and might charge into the room — smiling and wild-eyed Danny Lewin, a former member of the Israeli military’s Matkal had expanded significantly,” Raskin writes, Leighton went home that night worth nearly with a big new idea — has faded. When he does think most elite special forces unit, tried to fight off the “but for soldiers who were not Israeli-born, recruit- $2 billion each on paper. The stock closed out the year of Lewin, Leighton often recalls the time when they terrorists that morning, and based on evidence from ment to Sayeret Matkal was almost unheard of. Still, at $327 a share. The fantasy didn’t last long, however. could talk for hours about their shared dream of transmissions from the plane, Lewin was the first pas- Lewin made the first of many decisions in his short The dot.com bubble began to burst in March 2000 proving mathematical theorems for a living. It was senger murdered on 9/11. Everyone who knew Lewin life to defy the odds.” and Akamai shares tanked. In 18 months, the shares the moment in time before they took what they both was convinced that he leaped out of his seat and used The two-year training period was daunting, but had dropped so far that the stock was delisted from knew, as theoreticians, to be a rare chance.”  his training to try to take down one of the terrorists. Lewin had the right stuff and was assigned an array of NASDAQ. Akamai’s obituaries were being written.  www.facebook.com/NoBetterTimeBook

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JOEL KURTZMAN briefi[email protected] The Essence of Comebacks 90067 CA Angeles, Los PARTING THOUGHTSPARTING UROPE IS ARGUABLY THE BIGGEST COMEBACK STORY SHARE THE THRILL in modern times. In the aftermath of World War II, amid rubble, rationing E and lingering enmities, a group of visionary leaders built an organization — Circulation Customer Service: Service:CustomerCirculation the European Coal and Steel Community. That organization, launched in 1951, Reprints: Advertising:LevynStacy evolved into the European Union decades later. The European Coal and Steel

Community was the first of many steps leading to Europe’s resurgence as an TiffanySledzianowski economic and technological powerhouse, and as a stable political entity.

What’s so interesting about this story, Harley-Davidson’s overhaul followed and reflective of all successful comebacks, a similar script. It took place in the 1990s +1 (310) 556-8502 (310) +1 is that the resurrection was an improve- when a group of executives, including the

ment on what preceded it. Before the scion of one of the founding families, took 556-8585 (310) +1 +1 (310) 226-6336 (310) +1 European Union, the Continent was over the company and recreated it. They FROM divided into nation-states, guarding did it because they were passionate about THE their sovereignties and vying for political the brand and their customers. And while COVER and economic power the company’s motor- Some marine scientists say through constantly Joel Kurtzman cycles may just look the rate and changing alliances. is author of the new as “bad” as they did in impact of book ocean change After the E.U., Europe Unleashing the “Easy Rider” days, are greater is a strong, stable, the Second the way the company than anyone American Century. had previously partially integrated makes and finances  kurtzmangroup.com realized. This community of states those “hogs” is alto- issue’s cover suggests that that have voluntarily gether different. FSC U.S.A. THE IN PRINTED the next big surrendered some of their sovereignty for That’s the paradox of a comeback. The manner.responsible environmentally and sustainable comeback can ® -

begin with us. the greater good. The present is based on, worst outcome would be to duplicate the fully a in inks soy-based and paper certified but transcends, the past. organization that just went under. And yet, That’s the part of comebacks we for the turn-around to succeed, the soul sometimes forget. The job of leaders of the original must survive. That essence and their supporters during a must be transmitted to everyone working comeback is not to resuscitate an at the company, to the markets where the organization or enterprise on products are sold, and to investors. its deathbed, but to construct When France, Germany, Italy, Spain something new. Yesterday’s and the other European countries gave power, solar with EXPERIENCE THE 2014 MASERATI GRANTURISMO MC. China was “the sick man of up sovereignty to create the E.U., they did Asia”; today’s is powerful not give up being French, German, Italian Drivers with a passion for the Trident are invited to experience the fastest, most powerful, best handling GranTurismo to ever and dynamic. or Spanish. Fans of football in Barcelona, come to America. Featuring performance, aerodynamics and an interior inspired by Maserati Corse, the GranTurismo MC Apple’s renaissance, led by Steve Jobs, Manchester and Madrid did not give up embodies the essence of Maserati’s legendary competition heritage. Blending advanced technology with supermodel looks and transformed that company radically. Had cheering for their teams. And, when Jobs

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