Liz Claiborne recently named a new CEO.  This was notable because the new head of a fashion company was picked from an entirely different industry—the pharmaceutical giant, Johnson and Johnson. William McComb is his name.  I scanned the article in the newspaper quickly, even took a look at the photo of Mr. McComb and thought, “looks like a nice enough fellow.” 

Later that morning, I received an email from my best friend in high school, Stacia. The subject line was “Our own Bill McComb named CEO of Liz Claiborne.” Bill had been a friend of Stacia’s and lived in her neighborhood. They rode the same bus to high school.  I remember seeing Bill at Stacia’s house. He was a couple of years younger, energetic, bright, and quirky.  He had a quick wit, threw parties for his cat and was incredibly creative (a necessity, if you think about what’s required to come up with a party for your cat.) Thirty years later with an MBA from the University of Chicago (known for turning out managers who know the numbers backwards and forwards), this same person is running a fashion company.

A quote from the article:  “Mr. McComb has an amazing ability to protect the genius in an organization.”  What I see is someone who put to use both right-brain and left-brain capabilities to spell a whole new mind. And that equates to genius in today’s business world.