Cover Story
The Koen file
Smart Business St. Louis | January 2009
Born: Dallas
Education: Claremont McKenna College, Claremont, Calif., bachelor of arts in economics; University of Virginia Darden School
of Business, MBA
Whom do you admire most in business and why?
Lou Gerstner. He was the guy that was brought into IBM at a very tumultuous time. IBM had lost its way. There were shareholders
screaming to break the company up into various pieces. It was a company that had tremendous talent, an unbelievable asset base. It had
all the elements that on the outside, you’d say, ‘Why can’t these guys be successful?’
What Gerstner did was, first of all, he quickly sized up the situation. He made a tough call at the very beginning and said he wasn’t
going to break the company up. And boy, did he just get bashed about for that. But he had conviction, he had vision, and he went about
communicating that to the team.
He went about rebuilding the greatness that had been lost. He did it in a way that was not flamboyant. I just admire the way he went
about doing that.
What’s your favorite movie?
‘Star Wars’ — I love movies that entertain. The entertainment factor on that was just off the charts. What was really interesting was
how Lucas put that together. What forethought and vision he had. You didn’t realize when you were seeing that film was there was actually a whole series behind it.
It was fun to watch that whole series evolve. Even how they roll it out. Normally stories are told with a beginning chapter and you get to
the end. Not that one.
