ambitious, but he was also a tyrant. He was impulsive and
frequently abusive of people who worked for him. They would
actually cower in his presence. He had a desperate need to
control both people and events. He was incapable of thanking
anyone for a job well done—he couldn’t even give a compliment.
And, of course, he was a sexist.
Ed tackled his problem the way he tackled everything else—
at full speed and with all of his resources. In the course of my
work with him, he became easier to get along with. He man-
aged to smooth away his rougher edges. He became less abra-
sive, more polite, as he fine-tuned himself in the same way he
fine-tuned the company. That was the good news.
The bad news was that, for all Ed’s effort, the people who
worked with him continued to be wary of him. They just didn’t
trust the “new” Ed. And the board remained divided. The
members who liked the “old” Ed and his no-nonsense, bottom-
line philosophy were somewhat thrown by his new, milder de-
meanor, while the ones who had originally blocked Ed’s
ascendance now found new flaws. They argued that, for all his
drive and competence, he lacked both vision and character.
Believing that character is as vital in a leader as drive and
competence, I had to agree with them. And character was
something I couldn’t help Ed find—he would have to do that
on his own. As I’ve said before, it is not enough for a leader to
do things right; he must do the right thing. Furthermore, a
leader without some vision of where he wants to take his or-
ganization is not a leader. I had no doubt that Ed could run the
company. I had grave doubts about where he might take it.
After telling Ed that, while I was impressed with his progress,
I could not recommend him for CEO, I filed my report with
Baxter and the board. Baxter, I discovered, was actually relieved.
On Becoming a Leader