The Bard on CEOs.

Would William Shakespeare have chosen John Chambers of Cisco Systems to be the Chief Executive of the Year 2000? I think--if Shakespeare had been on our Selection Committee--that he probably would have voted for Chambers. Shakespeare liked his leaders to be strong, acquisitive, surrounded by competent lieutenants, and geared for continuing success. As such, he would have appreciated Chamber's credentials.

For further clarification of my plunge into Shakespeare, I suggest that you read John Whitney's article on page 38 of this issue of Chief Executive. It is a preview of the marvelous new book by Whitney and Tina Packer, which Simon & Schuster published last month.

In the spirit of full disclosure, I have a biased viewpoint toward this book because I read first drafts of several chapters, had several discussions with author Whitney, and even sat in on one of his Shakespeare/Leadership classes at Columbia Business School. So, I am beholden and glad of it!

Whitney does a superb job of analyzing and interpreting Shakespeare's writing and correlating his observations to modern business leaders. He makes King Lear, Richard II, Coriolanus, and other ethereal names come alive and go through many of the same managerial problems faced by Bill Gates, Al Dunlap, and, yes, you and me.

Now, I have great gaps in my Shakespearean education and I suspect most of today's CEOs do, too. I managed to slip through Colorado University and Harvard Business School without taking a single course about the Bard. Oh, I read a lot of excerpts, saw a play or two, took in the movie Shakespeare in Love and riffled through King Lear enough to realize he was no relation (having only daughters).

As a result, my Shakespearean sortie with Whitney was an eyepopper. Part of my enjoyment came from the latent educational experience. It didn't make up for my misspent youth, but it gave me enough of an understanding of Shakespeare that I could enjoy the brilliance of his thinking and writing.

Best of all, in his analytical probing of Shakespeare, it gave Whitney a platform to compare many of his own executive philosophies to those of the Bard. Whitney is one of those rare birds who was a successful CEO (Pathmark) and a renowned teacher (Columbia and Harvard Business Schools). Just to get the benefit of Whitney's anecdotal correlations is worth reading the whole book.

Whitney and his co-author, Packer, divide the book into three major theses pertinent to CEOs--power, effective communication, and the responsibilities of leadership. "Power is not necessarily an evil thing," writes Whitney. "Power is a freighted idea, filled with shifting cargo: power to build, power to tear down; power to hasten, power to delay; power to inspire, power to frighten; power to give, power to withhold; power to love, power to hurt; power to do good, power to do evil."

In delving into Shakespeare and effective communication, Whitney says, "The canny leader knows how to perform in public, how to tailor his presence and remarks to the audience of the moment. Such acting skills are crucial to any business leader who must impress customers or win the confidence of bankers or inspire employees when his company is up against it."

And, on leadership's responsibilities, Whitney states, "Good leaders stand for something. They are creative, innovative, and, in many cases, they march to a 'different drummer.' Leadership traits like these nearly always evoke criticism from some quarter, whether employees, investors, bankers, or the press, but effective leaders know that if they try to please everyone all the time, they are doomed to fail."

I wish Shakespeare could have been with us when we chose our last 15 Chief Executives of the Year. I'm sure he would have understood Roger Smith's fall from glory at General Motors, been highly amused by the fun-loving Herb Kelleher of Southwest Airlines, been fascinated by the far-ranging grasp of Jack Welch and, as noted earlier, been impressed by the qualities of our new breed of CEO, John Chambers.

Yes, I would like to see what Shakespeare would write about today's CEOs. But since he's no longer around, we can turn the job over to John Whitney, who does a pretty nice job of commenting and writing himself.

Formerly the CEO of F.&M. Schaefer (1972-1977), Robert W. Lear is chairman of CE's advisory board. He taught at Columbia Business School, where be was executive-in-residence until June, 1999. He has been a director of many companies and is on the advisory hoards of five small firms. He is a partner of Lear, Yavitz & Associates corporate governance consultants.