If  you sowed in excellence, you'll reap excellence.....   A.R Bernard

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Pofiles : Mike Armstrong  CEO AT&T (PRESENT)

" I don't expect anyone to be perfect. It's not human nature. What I do expect is that you'll take risks, correct mistakes, and learn from both. And if you don't - judging by market results -- then we'll make a change. It's nothing personal. And I'll do it, even if you're my best friend. We must have this company execute to its full potential." - Mike Armstrong

C. Mike Armstrong disappeared for 90 days immediately after being named AT&T's new chairman and CEO in OCT 97. He came to work everyday, but no one outside of the company -- with the exception of keys clients -- saw him. There were no press conferences. No speeches. No meeting with securities analysts.

"I closed the top management team in a conference room for 3 months", Armstrong explains. "That's a long time. But during that time we did something exordinary. We hammered out a complete redefinition of our strategy for AT&T."

Ironically, Armstrong's lack of visibility spurred frentic press coverage. It seems that everyone had an opinion about what Armstrong would- or should - do with AT&T.

" The thing you have to have to do is have the courage to be competitive. There's no strategy, or redefining idea, that will overcome a noncompetivity group."

Every single Monday, the company's top executive -- 8 to 10 people -- meet for the whole day. And we pull, drag, and inspect this company to make sure we're responding to the market and the competition. It's not a 'command performance'. You don't have to attend, if the subject matter we are going to discuss  that day is irrelevant to your area. But it is a command performance if it is. And if you miss the meeting, we just make the decision without you.

Mike, " We all spend so much time working, it's got to be fun as well as rewarding for people. They've got to smile more often than they frown. They got to feel good about themselves as well as where they work. They need to feel that the best day of the week is Monday. If you create that environment, people just work their bloody tails off for you. And if you've got an organization of people doing that, you're going to win.