Known and Unknown - Donald Rumsfeld [132]
One of the single most important tasks of a senior executive is to recruit and rely on the right people. A rule I had observed was that “A’s hire A’s; B’s hire C’s.” I’ve seen terrible organization charts that worked because of the people involved and impressive organization charts where the enterprise struggled because of the people involved. At Searle, I was looking for people who brought knowledge and expertise different from mine. I favored candidates with high energy and a sense of humor because I knew we’d be working long hours in a tough environment.
The senior management also needed to work well as a team. We could have the brightest, most capable people in the world, but if there was no commitment to the company’s broader mission, their talents would not be enough. I learned that lesson as a midshipman on the USS Wisconsin, when the battleship ended up stuck on the New Jersey shore. A dozen tugboats tried to push the Wisconsin free. One tug would hit the ship, then another. It wasn’t until all of the tugboats were organized in a coordinated effort that they put their bows against the hull of the battleship and pushed it free.*
At Searle, two people stand out as leaders of our team effort.† I invited John Robson to serve as Searle’s chief operating officer. Robson had played a critical role in my congressional campaigns, was an accomplished lawyer, and also had public service experience as chairman of the Civil Aeronautics Board, among other appointments. He took the lead in legal and regulatory affairs and I trusted his judgment implicitly.
I also turned to Jim Denny, a man I’d known in college who was serving as the treasurer of Firestone Tire & Rubber Company. Denny’s name appeared on a list of three candidates for the important position of Searle’s chief financial officer from an executive search firm I had engaged. To my surprise—since I wasn’t eager to hire an acquaintance—he turned out to be the unanimous choice for the job. Given my modest business background, I made sure Denny’s office was close by. Not a day went by that I didn’t step over to ask his advice on business questions. Robson, Denny, and I were so engaged in what we were doing that we tended to overlook the traditional niceties of an executive suite. We were perhaps too informal for some directors who, as Denny later put it, “expected more than ham and Swiss on rye with cole slaw for their board meeting lunch.”2
The board of directors, too, saw changes. A few of its members had joined when the company was still a family-oriented enterprise, rather than a global conglomerate. I worked to ease some members off the board, particularly those who were also in Searle’s management, in favor of experienced outsiders who could bring the company a fresh and broader perspective.*
There is a danger that CEOs and senior executives can get too engaged in details, which can prevent them from having the necessary distance to see trends and the broader picture. When I was a flight instructor in the Navy I noticed novice pilots often took control of an airplane by grabbing hold of the stick too tightly and overcontrolling. As a result, the motion of the plane became jerky. It can be similar in any organization, whether in business or government. An executive who holds on to everything too tightly can lose sight of the larger issues. “Find ways to decentralize” is a guideline