Winners Dream by Bill McDermott

Author:Bill McDermott
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Simon & Schuster

ITHACA

Back in Chicago, before we moved to Rochester, New York, I had been accepted into the executive master’s program at Northwestern University’s J. L. Kellogg Graduate School of Management, one of seventy students. The timing had not been ideal. In addition to trying to lead change through XBS and assist with Xerox’s welfare-to-work initiative, I wanted to be spending time with my family. Sitting in a classroom was not how I wanted to fill my hours away from the office, listening to professors talk over the tick tock of a wall clock. But both Julie and I recognized education’s value.

I’d already completed the Wharton Executive Development Program at the University of Pennsylvania. Still, Norm had urged me to apply to Kellogg, believing that it would broaden my financial acumen and sharpen my marketing skills. Round out the businessman. Having a degree in my back pocket couldn’t hurt, I figured, but not having it could put me at a disadvantage one day. Plus, Xerox would pay the annual tuition.

Sponsoring my MBA may also have been Xerox’s way of sending me to finishing school, which was ironic. Despite the rawness of my personality, some execs, although not Norm or Tom, complained that I was too polished. A management coach assigned by Xerox to up-and-coming executives told me to tone down my style. “Bill,” he said, “you suck the oxygen out of a room when you dress sharper than your bosses. You look too pressed. Too perfect.” He implied that some people were uncomfortable around me. It was suggested—at least for casual Fridays—that I swap the navy blue suits, cuff links, and black shoes for chinos, Ralph Lauren sweaters, and loafers with little tassels.

I went to the mall and bought some of their clothes. And for a short time, I wore them, but it was like being in someone else’s skin. I could have kept up the charade, worn their clothes and cut my hair, parting it on the side like other execs. But I went back to my style, which reflected the styles of the Xerox executives I admired most, like Barry Rand, Al Byrd, and Emerson Fullwood. If it made me feel like myself, I stuck with it. There was a difference between aligning with people’s needs and conforming to other’s behaviors. If I accepted senior management’s safe attire, would I also accept its safe business strategies?

Eventually, with Julie’s support, I applied to Kellogg. I was honored to be accepted. Although I first saw graduate school’s value as a stepping-stone to future opportunities, I was surprised how much I enjoyed and benefited from the learning at Kellogg. One of my fellow students, Amos, nicknamed me “Helicopter View” because, when we studied complex business cases, I tended to focus on high-level issues rather than get mired in unimportant details. We all learned from one another.

After two years, in December 1997, an MBA from a great school was in my back pocket. I had gone for the degree, but in retrospect I left with so much more.

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