Page 151 - The Way to the Top

After the meeting was over, Dale asked to see me privately in his office.
I prepared myself for the worst. Surprisingly, Dale seemed calm. He asked

me whether I had seen the movie The Godfather. I said I had. He then
asked me to recall the scene where the Don (Marlon Brando) and his eldest
son, Sonny, were meeting with the other families, discussing whether they
should get into dealing drugs. The Godfather was firmly against it, but
Sonny questioned his father during the meeting and clearly showed to the

other families he disagreed with his father’s position. Of course the other
families saw the dissension and attempted to “whack” the Godfather so
that they could cut a deal with Sonny and get into drug-dealing.

The moral of the story, Dale said, was that disagreement and debate

within “the family” is necessary and appropriate but dissention outside
“the family” shows weakness to the competition. He wanted my views and
independent thinking, but once a decision was made, we needed to work
together and be united in implementing it. Otherwise, it just wouldn’t get

done.

This story illustrates how leaders should act. They should surround
themselves with people who are not too timid to give their independent
views and opinions, people who are open and candid, not a bunch of yes

people who agree with everything the leader says. Within GE we call it
constructive conflict. Then, just as importantly, when a decision is made,
in order for it to be effectively implemented, the leadership team has to be
fully supportive and engaged to sell it throughout the organization.

A leader needs to have the confidence, courage, conviction, and vision

to lead. Leadership is not necessarily a popularity contest. Building
consensus through success is more important than sensing what direction
the wind is blowing and following it.

Finally, I’ve had the opportunity to observe firsthand some great

investment styles from some of the real investment pros of my generation,
people like John Angelo, Lee Cooperman, Larry Fink, Bill Grant, Ken
Langone, Julian Roberston, Art Samberg, and Fayez Sarofim. But probably
the most influential investor I’ve known—certainly the most eccentric—is