China and Lenovo – International Business News – Portfolio.com
This article in Portfolio taught me something about our CEO I didn’t know — he was a wrestler (apparently a very, very successful wrestler), which makes him my second boss in a decade who was a champion mat-man.
“Amelio used to wrestle for Lehigh University, and at 49 he still has the bearing of a guy who might enjoy pile-driving an opponent into the mat. He has a short, neat beard and eyes that lock onto whomever he’s talking to like a sniper’s laser sight. “
The other was Lowell Bryan at McKinsey, who was an NCAA Heavyweight champion in the 1960s. I was captain of my high school wrestling team — and I sucked and I am not a CEO — but with other noted wrestlers like Donald Rumsfeld occupying position of leadership the question to be asked, are there certain sports that lend themselves to certain professions or titles?
I recall an article in the Wall Street Journal years ago about investment banks recruiting college rowers because of their proclivity for suffering and great teamwork. It would be interesting to look at various leadership profiles and determine if there is a correlation between say quarterbacks and presidents, defensemen and attorneys. etc. etc.
There was a NY Times article a while back about how pharmaceutical companies recruit cheerleaders for sales positions – I’d believe it