http://www.karboul.com/2008/08/leadership-lessons-from-carly-fiorina/ common sense but not common practice Mon, 28 Feb 2011 22:08:02 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.1.3 http://www.karboul.com/2008/08/leadership-lessons-from-carly-fiorina/comment-page-1/#comment-78 Claudia Schmitz Sat, 20 Sep 2008 11:40:27 +0000 http://www.karboul.com/?p=44#comment-78 Hi - I loved the book too. Very much the story when they did the M&A with the California IT Company - all in slippers and lazy machos. The Lucent Group from Boston had a very different culture, traditional but 50 % female work force. She had studied the new company very careful and said:” If you have the first meeting with the management, you have one chance that they take you serious, if you underperform, this will be the image they keep in mind.” So she used the symbol of the shoes. They liked to show how easy and relaxed they are with coming in flip-flops to the board room. She put on her Texas Cowboy boots under her suit. She gave a detailed overview of the company and the market, figure based and straight. Than she came in front - showed her boots and said: “You think we are sissies - but we will kick you in the Ass!” Silence in the room - than a burst of laughter from the Californian guys. She made it - she got the acceptance. Carly said: Special people need special treatment, it not ladylike - but effective. - The lessons from this: Know the person you deal with! Good luck for the next negotiation. Claudia Schmitz Hi – I loved the book too. Very much the story when they did the M&A with the California IT Company – all in slippers and lazy machos. The Lucent Group from Boston had a very different culture, traditional but 50 % female work force. She had studied the new company very careful and said:” If you have the first meeting with the management, you have one chance that they take you serious, if you underperform, this will be the image they keep in mind.” So she used the symbol of the shoes. They liked to show how easy and relaxed they are with coming in flip-flops to the board room. She put on her Texas Cowboy boots under her suit. She gave a detailed overview of the company and the market, figure based and straight. Than she came in front – showed her boots and said: “You think we are sissies – but we will kick you in the Ass!” Silence in the room – than a burst of laughter from the Californian guys. She made it – she got the acceptance. Carly said: Special people need special treatment, it not ladylike – but effective. – The lessons from this: Know the person you deal with! Good luck for the next negotiation. Claudia Schmitz

]]>