Questions for Steve Hamm

[Betsy]

Add questions for Steve Hamm to this thread.

[Steve]

I'm going to be out of pocket a bit this morning. Something came up. But I'll be checking in this afternoon.

[Betsy]

Do you have a favorite story or anecdote that didn't make it into the book?

[Steve]

Yes. John Opel, who was the CEO in the early 1980s, told me about an encounter he had with the founder, Thomas Watson Sr.. It was the 1950s, and Opel ran a sales division in the midwest. His unit had missed its sales target an he was summoned to a meeting with Watson in the New York headquarters at 590 Madison Avenue. When Opel arrived at the office in he morning, he was told to sit on a bench outside Watson's office. It was like sitting outside the principal's office when you have been a bad boy at school. Open sat there all day waiting for his audience with the boss. At the end of the day, Watson's secretary told him he could go home. There would be no meeting. Opel got the point: Don't miss your sales targets. Watson Sr. was a progressive leader in many ways, but he was also a stickler for making the numbers.