As I’ve mentioned often, 1999 was the year that I “retired”. Not that anybody would know that, given the schedule that I’ve kept since.

(It’s funny. When you’re running a business, you really keep heads down to the point where you don’t know anything else that’s going on in the world. I often tell the story of Elvis Presley being dead for two and a half years before I knew about it. If you’re doing it right, stories like this happen all the time. You’re oblivious. I’m STILL oblivious to what’s going on.

But in 1999, I decided to “throttle back”.)

(…and if want a good read about “throttling back”, check out a great article by my good friend and Duquesne colleague Chris Allison in the current issue of Pittsburgh Quarterly. He talks about his retirement as CEO of Tollgrade. Very thought-provoking.)

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Thomas Jefferson once wrote that “any organization or institution is the length and shadow of one man. Great words. Thomas Jefferson wrote a lot of great words.

As one of my favorite mentors once said to me, “You wanna know the real culture of a company? Just spend a day with their CEO!”

(Preferably on the golf course…that’s my own aside.)

I often characterize people, especially company leaders, as either “Brake Pedal” people or “Gas Pedal” people.

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