High-Stakes Leadership

Introduction

Some years ago, Bart Becht was named CEO of Reckitt Benckiser, an organization formed through the merger of two global companies, Reckitt & Colman and Benckiser. Becht knew that, in addition to merging global operating units and functions, he would need to bring together the cultures of each company. He would need to meld the corporate cultures, yes, but also ethnic cultures.

Becht has many talents. One that is pivotal is his ability to establish a direction and simplify the path to get there. He has the courage to accept risk, let people try things, and remove whoever or whatever stands in the way. He does the equivalent of removing drag from an aircraft’s skin, streamlining it in the process. No matter how much fuel you have, you ...