I have made many mistakes over the years. I am very human.
The one that I consider my greatest mistake was at Solectron, where the situation as I joined was far more fluid than I had been told.
During the interview process for the vice president of internal audit, I met with many people. They included the CFO, Corporate Controller, VP Tax, VP Treasurer, and the CEO as well as the chair of the audit committee. I liked them all and the interviews were excellent.
The CEO, Ko, was very welcoming and we had an excellent wide-ranging conversation. It was less an interview than a discussion of many topics. He told me stories, and I listened and learned from this dynamic individual who had taken the company to great heights. It not only dominated the industry (contract electronics manufacturing) but had won two Malcolm Baldrige awards for quality.
Ko told me that I could stop by anytime and lent me a book to read.
As you might expect, the position was to report functionally to the chair of the audit committee and administratively to the CFO – a lady I liked and respected.
But things changed even as the interviews were proceeding.
The day that I joined, I found out that the CFO had delegated my reporting to one of his direct reports. Within a week, during which I saw neither the CFO nor her delegate, I heard that the…
