LEADERS WHO BEGIN WELL
Great leaders understand the importance of good beginnings. This is true whether you happen to be the leader or the follower. How we begin those relationships can have lasting effects in many ways. Some leaders begin very well, and then there are those who do not begin as well.
Douglas Merrill is the CEO at ZestFinance. He reflects upon a beginning that was not nearly as good as it could have been and the effect that it had upon him (Arianne Cohen, “Good Boss, Bad Boss” Bloomberg Businessweek , 4/13/15–4/19/15, p. 76):
“ The head of a hedge fund recruited me. When we were negotiating salary, he asked how much of my previous salary I needed, and I answered ‘Roughly half.’ I expected him to say, ‘That’s silly. You shouldn’t take a 50 percent cut.’ He didn’t—he gave me half. I resented that until I left. ”
Leaders who begin well are the people we should seek and the people we should become.











