Freedom, Inc_ - Brian M. Carney [90]
Thus, Szulevicz was back on the field, though this time he needed a team. He gathered twenty IS specialists from the toughest project he had won for GSI: operating IS for a steel giant in the French smokestack industrial north. “They would start every day at 6 a.m. and lived in a region where there was nothing to do but work and work,” Szulevicz said later. “I couldn’t help with this situation, and when visiting them would take them for a good meal, to have a good time, to provide moral support for them. So I decided that all these guys who had sweated there would now go to Florida for three weeks. As a salesman, I had no formal authority to pick them but I just did it. And they became strongly dedicated, with a real will to fight for this contract.”
Despite having no formal authority, Szulevicz became not only a natural leader of a business opportunity to win a big contract but also a nourishing leader of the people he enlisted into the effort.
After the U.S. beauty contest, Szulevicz rolled out the decisive—though unofficial—contest in France. He soon learned that Euro Disney had a lot of difficulties, unsurprisingly, with the Kafkaesque French local political authorities and government regulating bodies. So Szulevicz organized a cocktail party in a fancy hotel and, using his personal network, invited all the concerned mayors, administrators, and Euro Disney executives. “Imagine,” he commented, “the surprise of the Disney executives, who for months had tried to get in touch with this or that French official, and here I am introducing these guys to them? Don’t ask the cost of the event!” Why would he do that? “I wanted to show them that if we worked together I could help with the most intricate challenges of running their company here in France.” The sideshow can sometimes be more important than the main show, particularly if the sideshow is French.
Running against EDS, the uncontested number one provider of IS outsourcing, GSI was like a 180-pound French NBA rookie (say, Tony Parker, drafted in 2001) defending against the 330-pound Shaquille O’Neal, the most dominating center in the NBA. Szulevicz had to find something other than a frontal challenge. A huge fan of cartoons—recall his knowledge of Disney history—he had his “Eureka!” moment: Instead of writing a formal document, he would make a cartoon in which the viewer discovers GSI and its proposal like a visitor to a Disney theme park. When he announced his plan to the executive board, the head of finance, who until now had put up with all of Szulevicz’s extravagant expenses, exploded. He was now convinced that all this fuss would never lead to a contract with Disney. But Szulevicz persevered and found a great creative cartoonist—whom he paid only his costs, with a promise of a share of future revenues if GSI won the contract, in order to appease the head of finance. He got what he believed was a really great film, sent it to Disney, and waited.
Soon, the verdict came: As expected, Texas-based EDS won, getting 75 percent of the $300 million a year contract; but second place went to…GSI, which got 25 percent. Szulevicz later learned that his assistance in France and the creativity of the cartoon proposal convinced Disney that GSI could be both a valuable and resourceful partner.
So, exhilarated and extremely proud of himself, Szulevicz ran to announce the great news to Raiman. The chairman listened calmly, lighting—as he often did—a cigar.
And then Raiman said, “I want it all.” Not in French—“Je le veux entier”—but in English, so that the symbolic impact wouldn’t be missed. Szulevicz couldn’t believe his ears. Here he is, announcing the biggest contract ever for GSI with the biggest client the firm had ever landed, and his chairman was not happy. But there was an even unhappier player in this story than GSI’s chairman: EDS. And the giant showed its frustration. Imagine if the slam-dunking Shaquille O’Neal was blocked by rookie Tony Parker and fell on the floor in front of his hometown crowd.
“EDS was extremely