One of my favorite blogs is by Bruce Nussbaum at Business Week. He has an intriguing post on company leadership.

CEO Legacies: A.G. Lafley Vs. Bob Nardelli
Posted by: Bruce Nussbaum on June 09

Nothing illustrates why US companies have found it so hard to innovate than the strikingiy different legacies left behind by two giants in the world of CEO-dom, A.G. Lafley, who is stepping down as CEO of Procter & Gamble and Robert Nardelli, who is leaving (left?) Chrysler. Lafley is leaving a company he transformed using cutting edge design and innovation methods while Nardelli left two companies–Home Depot and Chrysler in tatters by focussing on conventional numbers games and efficiencies.

Lafley opened up P&G to new networks of innovation, tools of empathy and synergies between silos. Nardelli repeated what he learned at General Electric, applying worn-out mathematical measurements inside two companies based on cultures of service and consumer understanding.

Executive suites are far too full of Nardelli’s and not enough Lafley’s.