After my MBA studies at the University of Wisconsin I got a job as VP of Production and R&D in one larger international company in North Carolina. Together with my staff we were responsible for planning and building factory plants around the world. Top management also included the VP of IT, a very central position for our type of operation. We hired the best and most knowledgeable people possible from the best universities, but to no avail. Also the last one that was hired did not live up to our expectations. Departments did not get their things on time and there were constant misunderstandings. So again we had to look for a new chief of IT.

Among the applicants was one that stood out. He had no formal IT relevant education but had been fortunate enough to sell certain software that he and his son had developed to Microsoft. So he new something about the business. The interesting thing was that he had a background as a priest. His picture on the application showed a smiling, round faced and half bald person. Since none of the highly educated applicants from earlier had proven capable we included him in the line of interviewees. When his turn came we met a kind short and somewhat chubby man. At first glance we did not give him much chance since the organization was rough and not very understanding towards the constant flow of new VP’s of IT. But looking at our lack of good fortune with our traditional way of choosing applicants we decided to give him a chance. To our great surprise he functioned really well. People most often got their things on time and when asking the department about him they all said that he took time to understand what they wanted, he spoke their language and did not complicate things. In other words this was a true leader. He new the one most important thing about leadership and that was how to communicate, respect and understand the people he worked for and with. No IT or any other theory can help you here only respect for your fellow man and humility.