Transcripts

"Commentary"-Invaluable Wisdom

SUSIE GHARIB: Tonight's commentator says the most valuable business lessons he has learned came from his father. He's Bill Baker, executive in residence at Columbia University's school of business.

BILL BAKER, EXECUTIVE IN RESIDENCE, COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY SCHOOL OF BUSINESS: I've been in business for 40 years now, but my first lesson on being an effective leader came long before that when I was still in grade school. My dad, who was a sweet and gentle man, was a machine operator in a factory that made precision aircraft parts. Each night, he'd come home frustrated, because his supervisor wasn't interested in his ideas for making the factory more efficient. He was puzzled why when he wanted to give his heart and mind to his employer, they would only take his hands. Eventually my father was promoted to foreman and grew to be well-liked and respected by all those who worked under him. When I was a junior in college, I asked him his secret for being such a good leader. He told me that he just tried to give the best advice he could on how to get the job done and done right and to treat the people under him fairly. He died not long afterwards. His lesson has taken me a long way in the business world. And it's one that I've heard echoed by many of the best leaders I've studied for my new book about leadership. But in this new world of global business, simply expecting that you can hang on to your best employees because they are getting a paycheck is clearly a fallacy. So if America is to regain its luster as the place where the best minds in management are delivering for the shareholders, our shareholders had better think about how progressively these businesses are being led. I'm Bill Baker