The New Breed is a very interesting article that describes the transformation from the over confident, playboy CEOs of a few years ago to the new diligent, hard working CEO of today. The old CEO was primarily concerned with growth and had little, if any relationship with their employees. However, the new CEO is more concerned with cutting spending and creating relationships with co-workers and subordinates. Although both types of CEOs were concerned with making a profit, they had considerably different methods of achieving them. As the article states, the old CEO would "set profit goals too high; they overbuild capacity and inventory, and then they must overspend on deals and discounts to try to meet the target." This process is known as the "circle of doom." By contrast, the new CEO is earning profits through "lowering capital spending, cutting inventories, and increasing advertising," just to name a few.
             The key characteristics of these new CEOs include: a focus on the long-term, diligence, integrity, responsibility, and a focus on being interactive. In addition to these, there are also two unusual characteristics that many of these CEOs possess, having a tendency to be a bit dull and hailing from the Midwest. Not only do these CEOs claim to have these characteristics, they display them through their actions. When GAP CEO Paul Pressler first began his job, he "listened and learned" for his first 100 days, and even spent time in the stores stocking shelves. Bob Eckert's idea of a great vacation is renting a motor home and spending time with his family.
             The list of this new breed of CEO is growing rapidly as companies learn how successful their methods are. Although they may not be as well known as their predecessors, these executives are quickly making a name for themselves by doing things the right way. Some of them are: Bob Eckert, Mattel; Paul Pressler, Gap; Jim Ki...