Reaping the rewards of a good decision

How do you handle hardships and setbacks?

You are not successful if you don't have hardships and setbacks. But typically, if I have a very challenging situation, I try to slow things down and to understand what is happening, which allows me to sort out the issues and make tough decisions. My true measure of people is how they come back from mistakes or from losing a battle. One of my styles is definitely creating challenges in the organization, so that you weed out the weak people and bring in better people. I get nervous if things are going too smoothly.

Could you describe a typical day for you?

Everyone has different body chemistry. I am morning person because I think better in the morning. I wake up at around 5 am. I will make coffee if I am at home, and then I log on to computer to check what is happening around me in the world of business. I also use the time to have some internal communications with my employees. I do intense exercise workouts five out of seven days and on the other days, I will also devote some time for training. Sometimes I work out during lunchtime. I am usually home by 6:30 pm or 7 pm. After dinner, I retire to my home-office and work from 8 pm to 9:30 pm. After that I read a book, or just relax or sometimes just go to bed to prepare for the next challenging day.

CV

Age: 60

Career:

1981: Joined the Emerson Electric Co in corporate staff position and held senior staff and management positions at corporate and the business units later.

1993-97: President of Emerson's Asia-Pacific operations based in Hong Kong.

2000 onwards: CEO

2004: Chairman

Education: Bachelor's degree in chemistry from Wake Forest University

Master's degree in business administration from Vanderbilt University

Family: Married with two adult children