Interlude - Index of

90 | Turbulent Adolescence
Brian does extremely well when he has a mission he cares
about and is let off the leash to accomplish it. He is a natural
leader and motivator. Brian’s test for leaders is simple: “Look
behind you. If nobody is following, then you aren’t one.”
After a few years with NetApp, he decided he wanted to
move to Australia. He had recently visited the country and liked
it, and the idea of conquering an entire continent appealed to
him. He went to Dan to ask if he could work down under as
a sales engineer. Dan said no: our Australian business was too
small. But if Brian wanted to move to Japan, he could work the
entire Pacific Rim, including Australia. There was one caveat,
however. Brian must dye his hair “back to a color found in
nature.” It didn’t have to be his own color, but it had to look
human. Brian’s hair at the time was, I believe, fluorescent pink.
I don’t know how many CEOs would allow a senior em -
ployee to have pink hair in the first place, much less represent
the company overseas. But Dan saw that Brian was too strong a
talent to waste on a small market. He not only wanted Brian to
be an international representative of the company, he wanted
him to handle a more important area. His talents were what we
cared about, not—except in front of conservative customers—
his hair color. Brian, likewise, did not care about business
superficiality like wearing power ties; he just wanted to follow
his passions, trust his colleagues, and get things done. So he
dyed his hair brown and spent a year in Japan.
••
Effective communication is an important tool for building culture,
and Tom Mendoza is one of the best public speakers I’ve
seen. I’m more of a writer myself. It’s useful for an executive