,of Contents
1. Cover
2. Title Page
3. Copyright
4. Dedication
5. Foreword
1. Learning to Lead from those who have LED
6. Introduction
7. Part I: Adversity
1. Chapter 1: Finding True North
1. The Story of Orit Gadiesh, Bain & Company
2. The Story of David Kenny, IBM
3. Lessons Learned
4. Endnotes
2. Chapter 2: The Dot-Com Crisis
1. The Story of Kris Gopalakrishnan, Infosys
2. The Story of David Kenny, IBM (cont’d)
3. The Story of Raf Keustermans, Plumbee
4. The Unraveling & Lessons Learned
8. Part II: Opportunities
1. Chapter 3: Living the American Dream
1. The Story of Alberto Vitale, Random House
2. Lesson Learned
3. Endnotes
2. Chapter 4: Serendipity
1. The Story of Geoffrey Garrett, The Wharton School
2. The Story of Peter Henry, NYU Stern
3. Lessons Learned
4. Endnotes
9. Part III: Off the Beaten Track
1. Chapter 5: A Shining Path
1. The Story of Paul Bulcke, Nestle
2. Lessons Learned
2. Chapter 6: Brewing in the Brousse
1. The Story of Jean-Francois van Boxmeer, Heineken
2. Lessons Learned
3. Endnotes
10. Part IV: Breaking Free and Coming Home
1. Chapter 7: Breaking Free
1. The Story of Rick Goings, Tupperware Brands
2. The Story of Susan Cameron, Reynolds American Inc.
3. Lessons Learned
4. Endnotes
2. Chapter 8: Coming Home
, 1. The Story of Barry Salzberg, Deloitte
2. The Story of Johan Aurik, A.T. Kearney
3. The Story of Steve Davis, PATH
4. Lessons Learned
5. Endnotes
11. Part V: Role Models
1. Chapter 9: Father's Footsteps
1. The Story of Richard Edelman, Edelman
2. The Story of Andrew Likierman, London Business School
3. The Story of Chris Burggraeve, Vicomte 165
4. Lessons Learned
5. Endnotes
2. Chapter 10: Practical Advice: The Stories of Gail McGovern and Patrick De
Maeseneire
1. The Story of Gail McGovern, American Red Cross
2. The Story of Patrick De Maeseneire, Jacobs Holding
3. Conclusions
1. What They Didn’t Need
2. Building a Career from Interests
3. Climbing the Ladder
4. Learning to Deal with Failure
5. Leaving Home
6. Making Informed Choices
7. Valuing the Importance of Family
8. Surfing the Waves of History
9. Setting Aside Your CEO Ambitions
10. Remembering Lessons Learned
11. Endnote
12. About the Author
13. Acknowledgments
14. Index
15. End User License Agreement
Part I
Adversity
Are CEOs among those rare people who were born lucky, never facing difficulties in life? Have
they faced challenges along the way like anyone else? Or did they live through more adversity
than most, making them stand out from the crowd? In this first part of the book, we'll meet people
whose career is defined by adversity. They emerged as leaders through their ability to cope with it
or even turn it in their favor. But even for those who eventually thrive, dealing with adversity
doesn't always come easy. That's what we'll learn in this first part of the book.
, In Chapter 1, you'll meet Orit Gadiesh, chairman of Bain & Company, and David Kenny, general
manager of IBM Watson. Both are doing extremely well and so are their companies. But back in
1990, the company they both worked for was in great financial trouble. How did they cope with it
and what did they learn from it?
In Chapter 2, we turn to external shocks that affected nearly everyone: the dot-com crisis and 9/11.
We'll meet three individuals who led a company that was active during the Internet 1.0 era, and
learn how they reacted when that bubble came crashing down. One of these people is someone
introduced earlier in the book: David Kenny, then CEO of Digitas. The other two are Kris
Gopalakrishnan, one of the founders of Infosys, and Raf Keustermans, the founder of Cyganet.
Through these individuals' stories, we'll attempt to answer the following question: How do you
deal with adversity?
Chapter 1
Finding True North
The Stories of David Kenny and Orit Gadiesh
BOSTON, 1990
“I got an outside offer,” the man said as he walked into the office of Orit Gadiesh, a 37-year-old
partner at Bain's Boston headquarters. “Should I take it?”
For the past several months, managers and partners had been leaving the firm in droves. The up-
and-coming consulting firm had gotten in trouble through a dangerous cocktail of poorly managed
1. Cover
2. Title Page
3. Copyright
4. Dedication
5. Foreword
1. Learning to Lead from those who have LED
6. Introduction
7. Part I: Adversity
1. Chapter 1: Finding True North
1. The Story of Orit Gadiesh, Bain & Company
2. The Story of David Kenny, IBM
3. Lessons Learned
4. Endnotes
2. Chapter 2: The Dot-Com Crisis
1. The Story of Kris Gopalakrishnan, Infosys
2. The Story of David Kenny, IBM (cont’d)
3. The Story of Raf Keustermans, Plumbee
4. The Unraveling & Lessons Learned
8. Part II: Opportunities
1. Chapter 3: Living the American Dream
1. The Story of Alberto Vitale, Random House
2. Lesson Learned
3. Endnotes
2. Chapter 4: Serendipity
1. The Story of Geoffrey Garrett, The Wharton School
2. The Story of Peter Henry, NYU Stern
3. Lessons Learned
4. Endnotes
9. Part III: Off the Beaten Track
1. Chapter 5: A Shining Path
1. The Story of Paul Bulcke, Nestle
2. Lessons Learned
2. Chapter 6: Brewing in the Brousse
1. The Story of Jean-Francois van Boxmeer, Heineken
2. Lessons Learned
3. Endnotes
10. Part IV: Breaking Free and Coming Home
1. Chapter 7: Breaking Free
1. The Story of Rick Goings, Tupperware Brands
2. The Story of Susan Cameron, Reynolds American Inc.
3. Lessons Learned
4. Endnotes
2. Chapter 8: Coming Home
, 1. The Story of Barry Salzberg, Deloitte
2. The Story of Johan Aurik, A.T. Kearney
3. The Story of Steve Davis, PATH
4. Lessons Learned
5. Endnotes
11. Part V: Role Models
1. Chapter 9: Father's Footsteps
1. The Story of Richard Edelman, Edelman
2. The Story of Andrew Likierman, London Business School
3. The Story of Chris Burggraeve, Vicomte 165
4. Lessons Learned
5. Endnotes
2. Chapter 10: Practical Advice: The Stories of Gail McGovern and Patrick De
Maeseneire
1. The Story of Gail McGovern, American Red Cross
2. The Story of Patrick De Maeseneire, Jacobs Holding
3. Conclusions
1. What They Didn’t Need
2. Building a Career from Interests
3. Climbing the Ladder
4. Learning to Deal with Failure
5. Leaving Home
6. Making Informed Choices
7. Valuing the Importance of Family
8. Surfing the Waves of History
9. Setting Aside Your CEO Ambitions
10. Remembering Lessons Learned
11. Endnote
12. About the Author
13. Acknowledgments
14. Index
15. End User License Agreement
Part I
Adversity
Are CEOs among those rare people who were born lucky, never facing difficulties in life? Have
they faced challenges along the way like anyone else? Or did they live through more adversity
than most, making them stand out from the crowd? In this first part of the book, we'll meet people
whose career is defined by adversity. They emerged as leaders through their ability to cope with it
or even turn it in their favor. But even for those who eventually thrive, dealing with adversity
doesn't always come easy. That's what we'll learn in this first part of the book.
, In Chapter 1, you'll meet Orit Gadiesh, chairman of Bain & Company, and David Kenny, general
manager of IBM Watson. Both are doing extremely well and so are their companies. But back in
1990, the company they both worked for was in great financial trouble. How did they cope with it
and what did they learn from it?
In Chapter 2, we turn to external shocks that affected nearly everyone: the dot-com crisis and 9/11.
We'll meet three individuals who led a company that was active during the Internet 1.0 era, and
learn how they reacted when that bubble came crashing down. One of these people is someone
introduced earlier in the book: David Kenny, then CEO of Digitas. The other two are Kris
Gopalakrishnan, one of the founders of Infosys, and Raf Keustermans, the founder of Cyganet.
Through these individuals' stories, we'll attempt to answer the following question: How do you
deal with adversity?
Chapter 1
Finding True North
The Stories of David Kenny and Orit Gadiesh
BOSTON, 1990
“I got an outside offer,” the man said as he walked into the office of Orit Gadiesh, a 37-year-old
partner at Bain's Boston headquarters. “Should I take it?”
For the past several months, managers and partners had been leaving the firm in droves. The up-
and-coming consulting firm had gotten in trouble through a dangerous cocktail of poorly managed
