I was the surprise guest speaker at a meeting of the top fifty CEOs in the United States.
It was a surprise for two reasons. First I was having lunch in the Bois de Boulogne Park in Paris when a friend Gifford Pinchot asked me to talk to the group he was teaching upstairs from the restaurant. Lunch in Paris turned into a talk with the top CEOs and some future business.
Second, by the time of the lunch, over more than a decade, I had become a prominent advocate of openness in business but the 50 CEO's had read about my exploits as a bank vice president as described in a whole chapter of Gifford's book Intrapreneuring. My exploits, which significantly changed the credit card world and banking, were mostly based on sophisticated manipulation of top management.
I explained that I was now a firm advocate of openness in business. I had an audience revolt on my hands. They wanted to know how I had so successfully manipulated management.
They had good reason to want me to talk about my old self. They wanted to immunize themselves.
It was a surprise for two reasons. First I was having lunch in the Bois de Boulogne Park in Paris when a friend Gifford Pinchot asked me to talk to the group he was teaching upstairs from the restaurant. Lunch in Paris turned into a talk with the top CEOs and some future business.
Second, by the time of the lunch, over more than a decade, I had become a prominent advocate of openness in business but the 50 CEO's had read about my exploits as a bank vice president as described in a whole chapter of Gifford's book Intrapreneuring. My exploits, which significantly changed the credit card world and banking, were mostly based on sophisticated manipulation of top management.
I explained that I was now a firm advocate of openness in business. I had an audience revolt on my hands. They wanted to know how I had so successfully manipulated management.
They had good reason to want me to talk about my old self. They wanted to immunize themselves.