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In February I met with Burke and his fellow search committee member, Tom Murphy, then CEO of Cap Cities/ABC. Jim made an emphatic, even passionate pitch that the board was not looking for a technologist, but rather a broad-based leader and change agent. In fact, Burke's message was consistent throughout the whole process. At the time the search committee was established, he said, "The committee members and I are totally open-minded about who the new person will be and where he or she will come from. What is critically important is the person must be a proven, effective leader -- one who is skilled at generating and managing change."

Once again, I told Burke and Murphy that I really did not feel qualified for the position and that I did not want to proceed any further with the process. The discussion ended amicably and they went off, I presumed, to continue the wide sweep they were carrying out, simultaneously, with multiple candidates.

What the Experts Had to Say

I read what the press, Wall Street, and the Silicon Valley computer visionaries and pundits were saying about IBM at that time. All of it certainly fueled my skepticism and, I believe, that of many of the other candidates.

The foregoing is excerpted from Who Says Elephants Can't Dance? by Louis V. Gerstner. All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced without written permission from HarperCollins Publishers, 10 East 53rd Street, New York, NY 10022.